-»^---'rTi-'j^ m^SmimmmmMmimilm^ m/iff HISTORY OF ENGLAND DURING THE REIGN OE GEORGE THE THIRD. ISAAC FOOT LIBRARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND DURING THE REIG^ OF GEORGE THE THIRD B¥ WILLIAM MASSEY M.P. VOL I 1745— ^770 LONDON JOHN W. PARKER AND SON WEST STRAND 1855 LONDON : IRINTED BY J. WERTHEIMER AND CO FINSBURY CIRCUS. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAiNTA BAltUARA 5 OS PREFACE. TT has been my aim, in undertaking this work, to illustrate not only the Political and Military, but the Social History of England, during the period to which it refers. The public transactions of the reign of George the Third are now perhaps com- pletely elucidated by recent publications, and by documents which are easily accessible. But the progress of manners is to be traced through various sources of information, which have hitherto been little consulted by the professed historian. I do not undertake to write in any detail the history of India, of Ireland, of America, or of wars, each of which is properly the subject of a separate work; but shall refer to these collateral topics to such an extent only as is necessary for tlie purpose of the history of England. I shall also pass over lightly many occurrences which have appeared to b IV PREFACE. me to possess only a temporary interest; to illus- trate no moral or political truth; or to have left no trace in the institutions of the country, or in the manners of its inhabitants. Instead of dwelling on such matters, I propose to follow with some minuteness the Progress of Society, and to describe the manners of its various orders, the Court, the Aristocracy, the Middle Classes, and the Labour- ing People. By thus sifting the materials, and retrenching unnecessary details, I propose to complete the work in Four Volumes. London, i/cf7n/fln/, 1855. CO_NTENTS. Volume the First. Chapter I. Introducl.ion — Fall of Sir Robert Wulpole — His Successors — Seven Years' War — Pitfs great Administration — Conquest of Canada — TVar in Germany — Death of George the Second. 1742 — 1759. PAGE Fall of Sir R. Walpole i Death of the Prince of Wales, 1751 4 Party jealousy 5 The opposition dissolved 6 Death of Pelhara, 1753 6 Character of the Earl of Chatham 7 Chatham's affectation 8 Chatham's reverence for Royalty 9 Lord Mansfield 10 The Duke of Newcastle as a statesman 11 Newcastle's policy ■ 12 Newcastle addresses himself to Fox 13 Negotiations with Fox 14 Quarrels among the new ministers 15 Preparations for war. Supineness of the King .... 16 Timid measures of the ministry 17 Conduct of the King 18 Lord Chatham applied to 19 Fox becomes Secretary of State 20 Pitt, Legge, and Grenville dismissed 20 h 2 viii CONTENTS.— CHAP. I. PAGE Hostilities commenced by France, 1756 21 Minorca lost 22 Admiral Byng shot 23 Offensive alliance between France and Austria . . . . 23 Dissolution of the ministry 25 A new ministry formed under the Duke of Devonshire . . 27 Pitt's vigorous conduct 27 Pitt becomes personally distasteful to the King . . . . 28 Intrigues for a new administration 29 Waldegrave sent for 3° A new administration formed 3 ' Pitt elevated to power, 1757 3' Battle of Kolin 32 Affairs in America 32 Expedition against Rochefort. Its failure 33 Return of the fleet 34 Cause of failure at Rochefort 35 Plan for recovering Minorca 3^ Pitt's vigorous prosecution of the war 37 Hanover recovered 3^ Expedition to North America 38 General Abercrombie 39 Cape Breton taken 39 Improvement in affairs 39 Blockade of the French coast 40 Expedition to the West Indies 40 Capture of Guadaloupe 40 Expedition to Canada 40 General Wolfe 42 City of Quebec 42 Attack on Quebec 43 Wolfe's despatch 45 English troops land 47 Montcalm defeated 47 Death of Wolfe 48 Death of Montcalm 48 CONTENTS.— CHAP. IF. ix PAGE Surrender of Quebec 40 Subjugation of Canada 40 Sir Edward Hawke 49 Naval victory at Belleisle 50 Frederick the Great • ... 51 Dresden bombarded 52 Daun defeated 53 Addknda : — Queen Caroline's character of her son 55 Pitt's opinion of himself 55 Burke's speeches 55 Chatham's vanity 55 Boast of General Wolfe 55 Townshend's concurrence with Wolfe 55 Chapter II. Accession of George the Third — His Character — His Policy — Earl of Bute Chief Minister — Progress of the War — Negotiation for Peace - Family Compact — Pitt advises a Declaratio7i of War against Spain — His Counsel rejected — His Resignation — War with Spain — Triumph of the British Arms — Treaty of Peace. 1760 — 1762. National prosperity at the accession 56 Enactment that the judges hold their oflB.ces for life • • • 57 Education and early years of George the Third . . . . 58 Death of his father 58 Waldegrave's character of George the Third 60 George the Third as a king 61 Character of public men 62 Mental capacity of George the Third 63 Power of the Crown 63 The Tory party 65 Policy of the King . 67 X CONTENTS.- CHAP. II. PAGE Conduct of Lord Bute 68 The King's treatment of Bute 68 His connection with Scotland 69 Lord Bute as an orator 70 Changes in the ministry 71 Peace-policy of the Earl of Bute 72 The royal speech to the council 72 Negotiations for peace 73 Conditions of the treaty 75 Differences between the courts 76 Interference of France in Spanish affairs 78 Pitt is offended 78 The Family Compact 79 Our Spanish policy 80 Rigorous policy of Pitt 81 Retirement of Pitt 82 Review of Pitt's policy 83 War policy of Pitt 84 Character of Pitt's agents 86 Provision for the war 86 Results of the war 87 Exultation of Newcastle on the fall of Pitt 88 Misgivings of Lord Bute 88 Influence of court favour on Pitt 89 Lady Hester created Baroness Chatham 90 Lord Mayor's day 91 Parliament meets 92 A new leader of the House of Commons 92 State of parties 93 Spanish affairs 94 War declared with Spain 94 Spanish professions of peaceful motives 94 Hopelessness of peace 95 Noble conduct of Pitt 96 The 'Family Alliance' 97 Parliament proroijued Q7 CONTENTS.— CHAP. III. xi PAOE Our Prussian policy 98 Consequences of the Prussian alliance 99 iMuragements with Prussia '.vvcastle treated with indignity 't-astle resigns .- ^ cl Bute's conduct Policy of Lord Bute Expedition against Martinique . Fall of the Havannah Attack on the Philippine islands Humiliation of the House of Bourbon Negotiations for peace Treaty of peace signed. Nov. 3, 1762 Conditions of the treaty Addenda : — Self-possession of George the Third Chatham's opinion of the war . Duke of Bedford's opinion Temple to Wilkes Colebrooke's MS Palm expelled Bute's letter to Mitchell .... 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 06 07 07 09 10 13 13 13 13 13 14 '4 Chapter III. Prop-ess of Commerce — MaiTiage of the King — Means em- ploijed for procuriyig a Vote of Parliament in Favour of the Treaty of Peace — Proscription of the Whigs — Wilkes and the North Briton — Resignation of Bute — Negotiation ivith Pitt — The Bedford Administration — The American Colonies. 1757 — 1763. Domestic events i ' 5 Increase of the National Debt iio Private life of George the Third 117 Domestic policy ' ' ^ xii CONTENTS.— CHAP. III. PAGE Negotiations with Pitt 119 Condition of the Court party 120 Fox apphed to 1 20 Corruption of Parhament 122 Insults offered to the Duke of Devonshire 122 The Duke of Devonshire disgraced 125 Fox excuses himself . , 125 Parhament meets 126 Appearance of Pitt in the House of Commons . . . .126 Fox's management of Parhament 129 Triumph of the Court 130 Pohcy of George the Third 130 Corruption extended 132 Financial measures ....132 Resignation of Earl Bute 134. Grenville becomes prime minister 135 Duration of Bute's administration 136 Final retirement of Fox '37 Character of Lord Holland 138 Fox and Pitt compared 140 Addenda: — Contemporary objections to new projects 143 Rockingham's speech to the King 143 The King's partiality for Bute 144 Bute's clandestine intercourse with the Court . . . -144 Bute not consulted after the Rockingliam administration . 144 Grenville's cure for corruption of public men . . . -144 CONTENTS.— CHAP. IV. xiii Chapter IV. Attempt to form a new Administration under Pitt — Its Failure — Duke of Bedford at the Head of the Government — Conduct of the King — Wilkes and the '■North Briton — General Warrants — Essay on Woman — Expulsion of Wilkes — Grenville^s Financial Measures — The Colonial Question. 1763 — 1764. PAGE Grenville as prime minister 145 Lord Bute's intrigues with Pitt 145 Independence of Grenville 146 New intrigues 147 Pitt proposed as prime minister 148 Ai'rangements of Pitt 149 Bute begins to falter 150 Negotiations with Pitt resumed 151 Endeavour to secure the Duke of Bedford . . . . . .152 Bedford appointed president of the council 153 Treacherous conduct of the King 153 Dispute about patronage 154 John Wilkes 155 The 'North Briton' 156 Criticism on the royal speech 156 Validity of general warrants 157 Decision of the King's Bench 159 The question really left undecided 160 Proceedings against Wilkes x6i Vengeance of the court 162 Parliament appealed to 162 Decision of the House of Commons 163 Conduct of the House of Lords 164 Further proceedings of Wilkes and the government . . .165 Theory of libels 166 Popular sympathy for Wilkes 167 xiv CONTENTS.— CHAP. V. PACK Wilkes yields to the storm i68 Sir W. Meredith's motion i68 Grenville's amendment 169 The King is personally interested 170 Wilkes' action against Halifax 170 Addenda: — The King's duplicity 172 Duke of Bedford's opinion of the Grenville administration 172 Sandwich's letter to Bedford written by the King's desire 1 7 2 The King's breaches of confidence 172 Orgies at Memdenham 173 Gibbon on Wilkes 173 Commons' resolution relative to 'the North Briton,' No. 45. 173 Protest of the Lords 174 Lord Campbell's opinion 174 Chapter V. The Colonial Quarrel — Indiscriminate Suppression of Smug- gling — Stamp Act — Right of English Parliament to tax the Colonies — The Equity of Imperial Taxation. 1764. Increase of the minority 176 Character of colonial smuggling 177 Indignation of the colonists 178 Mistaken policy of the government 1 80 Disputes with the Indians 181 Procrastinating conduct of the executive 183 Theory of taxation 184 Lord Coke's opinion 184 Despair of the colonists 185 Innocence of Grenville's intentions 187 Mitigatory measures of Grenville 188 Further arguments 1 89 CONTENTS. -CHAP. VI. xv PAGE Colonies neglected by England 1 89 Eflfects of jealousy between France and England .... igz Addenda : — Reverence of the Colonists for the British Parliament . 194 Their principal grievance 19^ Authority of Parliament 194 Mercantile system 194. Origin of the war witli France 195 Chapter VI. The Stamp Act — Illness of the King — Regency Bill — Mis- conduct of the Ministry and of Parliament on this question — Attempt to form a New Administration by the Duke of Cumberland — Unsuccessful negotiation with Pitt — Marquis of Rockingham Prime Minister — Death of the Duke of Cumberland. 1765. Meeting of Parliament 197 Preparations for carrying the measure 198 The Bill passes the Commons 199 Stability of the ministry 200 Sudden illness of the King 201 The Constitution did not provide a Regency 202 The Regency Bill 203 Insertion of a new clause 205 The King misled by HaUfax 206 Culpable conduct of Grenville and Bedford 207 The King is undeceived 209 Conduct of Lord Mansfield 210 The King and Grenville 212 Intrigues with the Opposition 212 The King sends for the Duke of Cumberland 214 Fate of Morton's clause 215 Final decision of the Lord^- 216 xvi CONTENTS.— CHAP. VI. FACE The King wishes to dissolve Parliament 217 The Silk Bill 219 Eiots among the Weavers 220 Resignation of the ministry 221 Further negotiations 222 Second application to Pitt 223 The negotiation broken off 224 Lord Lyttelton sent for 225 New arrangements of the ministry 226 Feud between the King and the ministry 228 Bedford remonstrates with the King 229 Duke of Cumberland consulted 230 Failure of the new scheme 230 The King sends for Newcastle 232 A new administration and its members 233 The Marquis of Rockingham 233 General Conway 234 The Duke of Grafton 235 Mr. Dowdeswell 236 Lord Northington 236 Chief Justice Pratt created Lord Camden 236 Death of the Duke of Cumberland 237 Addenda ; — Walpole's opinion as to taxing the Colonies . . . -239 Burke on American taxation 239 Deaths of Devonshire and Hardwicke 239 Grenville's character 240 American opinions 240 Holland to Walpole 240 ' Born in England' 240 Grenville's arrogance 240 The King's dislike of Grenville 241 Bedford's insolence to the King 241 Majority on the Regency Bill 241 Northumberland with the King 242 The ' King's Friends' 242 CONTENTS.— CHAP. VII. xvii FAGB The King's prerogative 242 The court cabal 243 Secret influence 243 Bedford's interview with the King 243 Sir Gilbert Elliot 244 Pitt's negotiation fails 245 Chapter VII. Disturbances in America — Assembly of Congress — Irresolution of the Government — Debates in Parliament — Pitt's denial of the right of Parliament to Tax the Colonies — Remarks on this subject — Franklin's examination at the Bar of the House of Commons — Repeal of the Stamp Act — The Declaratory Act. 1765 — 1766. Reception of the American Stamp Act 246 General provincial Congress 247 Resolutions of the Congress 248 Proceedings of the home government 249 Timidity of the ministry 250 The question agitated in Parliament 251 Indecision of the cabinet 251 Re- appearance of Pitt in the House 252 Burke's maiden speech 253 Speech of Pitt 254 Grenville's reply 256 Pitt called to order 257 Pitt's reply to Grenville 257 Advice of Pitt 260 The right of taxing the Colonies 260 Theory of self-taxation 261 The representative principle 262 Measures resolved on 263 Franklin's evidence 264 xviii CONTENTS.— CHAP. VIII. I-AGE Franklin's dialectic skill 265 Declaratory Bill 266 Lord Mansfield's argument 267 The Declaratory Bill 268 Repeal of the Stamp Act 269 Propriety of the I'epeal 270 Addenda : — Supposed prejudice of Pitt 272 Rule of the House of Commons 272 Colonial taxes 273 Popular notion of Parliament in the reign of Elizabeth . 273 Act of Parliament as to Colonial taxation 273 Lord Strange's statement 273 Chapter VIII. Measures of the Rockinyham Administration — Its dismissal — Pitt Prime Minister and Earl of Chatham — His Schemes — His Illness and Seclusion — Distracted state of the Cabinet — Townshend's Rashness and Ambition — Ministerial Changes — Nidlum Tempus Bill. 1766 — 1771. Conciliatory measures towards the Colonies 274 Cider duty re-arranged 275 Foreign silks prohibited 275 Various domestic measures 275 Weakness of the government 276 Insubordination of state officers 277 Overtures made to Pitt 278 Partial resignation of the ministry 278 Pitt forms a new administration 279 Pitt's florid style 280 Interference of Temple 280 CONTENTS.— CHAP. Viri. xix FAOE Pitt's treatment of him 281 Composition of the new ministrv 282 Pitt created Earl of Chatham 283 The Chatham administration 284 Objections to Chatham's ministry 286 Pitt's principles of action 287 Change of pohtical circumstances 288 Overtm'es to the Bedford party 289 Proposed alhances 289 Negotiations commenced 290 Impracticability of Frederick 291 Chatham's projects defeated 292 Imperious proceedings of Chatham 292 Vacillating conduct towards Lord Gower 294 Arrangement of places 295 False policy of the Government 296 Indian policy 297 State of Ireland 298 Exportation of corn restricted 298 The question in the Lords ... 300 The question in the Commons 301 East India Company 302 Breach of parliamentary etiquette 303 Chatham's measure passed 304 Anarchy of the Governnent 305 Disorder of Parliament 306 Revenue from America 307 Chatham taken ill 308 Chatham refuses to consult his colleagues 308 Grafton obtains an interview 309 Movements of the Opposition 310 Lyttelton's proposals to Rockingham 312 The East Indian question 312 Unsettled state of America 313 Suspension of the New York Asrembly 315 Townshend's rash measures 316 XX CONTENTS.— CHAP. VIII. PAGE Physical prostration of Chatham 3 ' 7 The King's confidence in Chatham 3^7 Effect of Chatham's retirement 3 ' ^ Death of Townshend 3^9 Duke of Portland and Sir J. Lowther 321 Sir George Savile's bill 3^5 Litigation with Portland 323 Repeal of Savile's Act 3^4 Influence of Lowther 326 Addenda : — Dashwood as Chancellor of the Exchequer 328 Charles Townshend 32S Depraved state of the country 328 Cabinet councils 328 Meeting at Lord Eglinton's 329 Mixed hauteur and subserviency of Chatham . . . .330 Refusal of Newcastle to accept a pension 330 Burke on Chatham's cabinet 33° Composition of Chatham's cabinet 33° George the Third a real supporter of Chatham . . . .331 Chatham on the peace of Europe 331 Memorial of Egmont 331 Pitt's anxiety about France 331 Chatham's defence of the King's conduct 331 Arrangements with the Bedford party 332 Hardwicke to Yorke 332 Newcastle on Chatham's policy 332 Jenkinson in office 33^ Chatham on East India 332 Right of embargo 333 Bedford's motion for enquiry 333 Chatham in retirement 334 Colonial sensitiveness 334 Insubordination of Townshend 334 Chatham's eloquence 335 Fraud on Wordsworth's father 335 CONTENTS.— CHAP. IX. xxi Chapter IX. General Election — State of the Constituency — Wilkes re- turned to the New Parliament — Disturbed state of the Country — Resignation of Chatham — Expulsions of Wilkes — Letters of Junius. 1768 — 1769. PAGE General election 336 Number of electors 338 Influence of boroughs 340 The people awakened 342 Political popularity 343 "Wilkes re-appears 343 Wilkes elected for Middlesex 345 Embarrassment of the Government 345 Wilkes imprisoned 347 Riots of his partisans 347 Popular discontent increases 348 Universal insubordination 349 Chatham withdraws from the Government 350 Circumstances of his withdrawal 351 Anxiety of the ministry to retain Chatham . . . . . .353 Internal weakness of the Government 354 Determination of the King 354 Popular orators lost in Parliament 354 Glynn elected for Middlesex 355 Wilkes petitions 355 Lord Weymouth's letter to the Surrey magistrates . . .356 Wilkes' mode of defence 357 Expulsion of Wilkes moved by Lord Barrington . . . .358 House of Commons determined to persevere 358 Wilkes elected for Middlesex 359 Colonel Luttrell 359 Colonel Luttrell declared member 3 6° Motion to erase the name of Wilkes 3^° C xxii CONTENTS.— CHAP. IX. Right of the Commons to expel a member 360 Grenville's remonstrances 361 Pubhc indignation excited 362 The county of Middlesex petition the Crown 363 Power of the Press. — Letters of Junius 363 Rancour of Junius 364 Mysterious authorship of Junius 364 Unfounded charges of Junius 365 Junius attacks Lord Mansfield 366 Vituperation of the Duke of Bedford 367 Politics of Junius 360 Junius become a classic writer 371 Junius compared to Swift 371 Supposed authorship of the letters of Junius 372 Deficiency in the Civil List 372 Aggravation of public discontent 375 Disastrous colonial policy 376 Lord Hillsborough's thi'eat to dissolve the Assembly . . .378 The Assembly dissolved 378 Views of Government as to America 379 Disputes with the colonies 379 Attempt to prohibit importation from England 381 Public excitement at Boston 382 Deputies invited to meet at Boston 382 Deputation to the governor 382 No precedent for the convention 383 Indiscretion of the patriots surpassed by the Government . 384 General Gage garrisons Boston 385 The colonists intimidated 385 Opening of Parliament. — King's speech 386 State of opinion in Massachusetts 386 General assembly of Massachusetts 387 Assembly of Virginia. — Resolutions 387 Change of tone in the government 389 Circular of the government 390 Crisis of the dispute with the Colonies 392 CONTENTS.— CHAP. X. xxiii PACE Addenda : — Bribery at elections 393 Bribery of members 393 Whig intrigues 394 Proceedings against Wilkes 395 Amherst's aflfair 395 Burke's opinions 396 Pardon of M'Quirk 396 Authorship of Junius 397 Sir Philip Francis' handwriting 397 Style of Francis 397 Circumstantial evidence 398 Style of Junius 398 Mistake about Sir W. Draper's half-pay 399 Francis at the war-office 399 Taxation of America 400 Statute of 35 Henry VIII. c. 2 400 Washington's prescience 401 Chapter X. Remnant of the Chatham Administration — The Opposition — Re-union of the Grenville Connection — Horned Cattle Session — Chatham's Re-appearance in Parliament — Dis- missal of Lord Camden — Sudden Death of his Successor Yorke — Duke of Grafton's Resignation — Lord North Prime Minister. 1769 — 1770. Rump administration of Lord Chatham 402 Reasons for its conduct 403 Duke of Grafton alarmed 404 Re-appearance of Lord Chatham 405 Coolness of Chatham to Grafton 405 Attempts at accommodation 406 Secessions from the government 407 xxiv CONTENTS.— CHAP. XL PAGE The royal speech 408 Re-appearance and speech of Chatham 409 Speech of Lord Camden 411 Conduct of Lord Camden 412 Anomalous position of Lord Camden 412 Camden's want of delicate feeling 414 Lord Mansfield's speech 414 Motion for adjournment 415 The Great Seal offered to Yorke 416 His political history 416 He accepts the Seals 418 Death of Yorke 419 Resignation of Lord Granby 419 Rockingham's motion 420 Resignation of Grafton 422 Lord North constructs a new cabinet 423 Opinions of Lord North 424 Loyalty of Lord North 425 Addenda : — Illegality of warrant 427 Lord Chatham's views 427 Decease of Lord Chancellor Yorke 427 Camden and Grafton 427 Chapter XL Disunion of the Opposition — Grenville's Bill on controverted Elections — City Address and Remonstrance —Displeasure of the Court — Renewal of Petitions — The Tea Duty resisted in America — Bloodshed at Boston — The Irish Parliament. 1770. Success of Lord North 429 Mr. Dowdeswell's motion 432 Sir George Savile's attack on ministers 433 CONTENTS.— CHAP. XI. xxv PAGE Dowdeswell's motion to disfranchise revenue officers . . .433 Grenville's bill on controverted elections 435 Mode of getting up petitions 436 Transference to committee 437 Rigby and Dyson disparage the measure 438 Corporation of London 439 The Lord Mayor's privileges 440 The city'.s interposition 442 Address and remonstrance of the city 443 The King's reply 444 The city's address censured by the crown 445 The anger of the court 447 Angry feelings of the crown. — Firmness of the city members 447 Lord North's conduct. — Wedderburn's speech .... 448 Westminster remonstrance 449 Popular movements sanctioned by Ijord Chatham . , . 449 Chatham's condemnatory bill 449 Chatham's speech 450 Mansfield's speech 45° Camden's speech 451 Chatham proposes a vote of censure 45 1 Chatham moves an address to the crown 451 Neglect of the American question 452 Proposed repeal of Townshend's act 453 Party feeling in the House 454 The revolution breaks out in Boston 455 Affray between the soldiers and the citizens 455 Immediate results of the tumult^ 457 The non-importation compact 458 Obstinacy of Massachusetts 459 AflFairs of Ireland 460 Duration of the Irish parliament 462 Debate on Irish aff'airs 4^3 Addenda :— Policy of Rockingham's ministry 4^5 Beckford's speech to the Livery 465 xxvi CONTENTS.— CHAP. XII. PAGE Sheriff Townsend's resistance to the land-tax .... 465 The Bill of Rights' society 466 Colonel Mackay's statement of the acceptance of soldiers in Boston 466 Practice of the House of Commons 466 Chapter XII. Disunion of the Opposition — Another City Address — Death and Character of Grenville — of Lord Granhy — of the Duke of Bedford — The Falkland Islands — Prosecution of the Printers — Quarrel between the two Houses — Shoreham Elections. 7770. Mutual dissension of the Opposition 467 Determination of the King 468 Address of the City of London 469 Answer to the Address 469 Death of Beckford 470 Death of Grenville. — His character 47 1 Grenville of no extraordinary ability . . * 472 Death of the Marquis of Granby 474 Death of the Duke of Bedford 476 Affairs of Corsica 48 1 The Falkland isles 482 Satisfaction demanded by England 483 Popular discontent 485 Parliament assembles 487 Barrington's indiscretion . 488 His subserviency to the King 489 Interference of Parliament 492 Independence of the judges 492 Responsibility of the judges 493 Chatham and Mansfield 493 Lord Camden 494 CONTENTS.— CHAP. XIII. xxvii PAGE Unworthy proceeding' in the Lords 495 Debate in the Commons 496 Speech of Wedderb urn 498 Conduct of the ministry 499 Extraordinary scene in the Lords 500 Excitement of the Commons 501 Burke's opinion of Chatham 503 Electoral corruption at Shoreham 504 Operation of Grenville's act 506 Addenda : — Burke's opinion of ' Bill-of- Rights' -people 507 Beckford's speech written by Home Tooke 507 Grenville's opinion of Parliament 507 Grenville not guilty of bribery 507 Grenville's economy 508 Duke of Bedford hooted 508 Madame Du Barri related to Barrymore 508 Choiseul's opinion of Weymouth 508 Chatham rebukes the City 508 Lord Barrington's devotion to the Ring 509 Rockingham's opinion of the debate between Camden and Mansfield 509 Dunning's attack on Mansfield 509 Single-Speech Hamilton , . • 510 Chapter XIII. Parties — The Constitution, its Theory and Practice — Loyalty — Political Adventurers — Neivspapers and Pamphlets — Parliamentary Eloquence — Manners of the House of Commons — Decay of Party. Sketch of Parties 5 ii Whigs and Tories 5 ^ ^ Extinction of party $"^5 xxviii CONTENTS.— CHAP. XIII. PACE Court Whigs and Country 513 Disadvantages and dangers of party 514 Party appeals to the constitution 515 Privileges of the Peers 517 The House of Commons 517 Power of the Commons 518 Former character of the Commons 520 Parliamentary preponderance of the landed interest . . .521 Former loyalty of the people 521 Acceptability of WiUiam the Third 523 Government by party . • 524 Party squabbles • . 525 The people unrepresented 526 Members by purchase 527 Jealousy of the country party '...528 Power of the aristocracy 529 Party policy 530 Employment of political partizans 531 Hired writers 532 Dr. Johnson a partizan 536 The stage a political instrument 538 Satirists employed 539 Parliamentary eloquence 539 Present degeneracy of Parliament 540 Decay of eloquence 540 Rhetoric distinguished from eloquence 542 Chesterfield on parliamentary eloquence 543 Parliamentary nothingness of rant 544 Improvement in parliamentary departments 545 Former rudeness in Parliament • . 547 Present authority of the Speaker 548 Length of modern debates 5 49 Necessity for parliamentary discussion 550 A HISTORY OF ENGLAND DURING THE REIGN OF GEOIiGE THE THIRD. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION — FALL OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE HIS SUCCESSORS — SEVEN YEARS' WAR — PITT's GREAT ADMINISTRATION — CONQUEST OF CANADA WAR IN GERMANY DEATH OF GEORGE THE SECOND. TT was not until the middle of the last century, Ch. i that the Revolution can be said to have rested ,17^ on a solid and secure basis. The last battle of Legi- timacy had then been fought and lost ; and though rumours of a continued struggle were still rife, the conflict between the principles of absolute and responsible Government was virtually decided. The great minister, to whose fidelity and skill the Fail of sir r. nation was chiefly indebted for the maintenance of ly^a the Protestant succession, had at length fallen before the hostile alliance of Jacobites, Tories, Malcon- tent Whigs, and the Faction of the heir apparent. VOL. I. B 1742 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE Ch. 1. Walpole has been censured as a minister who ruled by means of bribery and corruption ; as if he had preferred that mode of government. The truth is, he had no choice ; the Government, during the reign of William, and that of his successor, was considered by the great majority of the nation as merely provisional ; and the return of the Stuarts in the direct male line was generally expected, if not desired, at the death of Anne. The undisputed succession of the Elector of Hanover inspired no confidence in the stability of the new settlement; the restoration of the rightful sovereign was thought to be only postponed. The consequence was an occasional and qualified allegiance on the part of public men. They trimmed their policy with a view to another revolution ; and for a long time after 1688, even the confidential servants of the Crown kept up a secret corre- spondence with the banished family. The selfish- ness and corruption of human nature were brought out by this state of things; and the sagacity of Walpole clearly perceived that the corruption which could not be cured, must be made subservient to the cause of good government. A fastidious temper would have shrunk with dis- gust from the sordid trafiic; a squeamish morality would have suff'ered the commonwealth to perish rather than save it by such means. Walpole may not have been nice ; but to charge him Avith origi- nating a system of venality in public afiiiirs is to confound cause with effect. A minister who could 174-2 AND HIS POLITICAL MORALITY- venture to offer a member of parliament a bank ch. i. note must have found venality ripe to his hands ; and the utmost that can fairly be alleged against him is, that finding corruption, he did not attempt to repress it, but rather turned it to account. The emergency was his justification. Those were not times for a minister to set about reforming public morals. The noble constitution which had lately been delineated by matchless wisdom and modera- tion was neither valued nor understood by an ig- norant people, given up, for the most part, to the political doctrines which had been so long and so sedulously inculcated by a self-seeking Church. Divine, Indefeasible, Hereditary Right and Passive Obedience were likely to prevail against the Original Contract and the responsibility of rulers. Political purists may cavil at the means by which the imme- diate peril was averted ; but 1 leave such politicians to their paper constitutions and impossible Utopias. Quieta non movere, Walpole's favourite maxim, — a wise one at all times, — was especially suited to that critical period. Thus it was that he sometimes de- sisted from a sound course of policy both in foreign and domestic afi'airs, because he would not risk a convulsion, which might hazard the safety of good government. Walpole's mind was not superior to the age in which he lived ; therefore, his character and conduct are doubtless open to reproach; but no candid advocate of free institutions will deny that, in the main, he acted the part of a great statesman and a true-hearted Englishman. B 2 1742 DEATH OF FREDERIC, PRINCE OF WALES. Oil. 1. The chief of the allied opposition, which at last overthrew this brave and honest minister, shrank from the responsibility of placing himself at the head of a new government, and sought an ignoble refuge in the House of Lords. The inferior men to whom the Earl of Bath deputed the administration feebly pursued the same policy which they had so long denounced. The patriots, freed from the coercion of a chief, were soon divided by a fierce contest fop office; and they chose the time when the country was menaced with invasion and civil war, to bring their quarrel to a crisis, by leaving the king and the nation without a government. The Protestant succession had never been in such imminent peril ; indeed, the country was saved rather by the fatuity which attended every operation of the Stuarts^ and now prevented them from taking tlie obvious mode of profiting by their first success, than by the energy of its rulers. But the danger happily passed away, and the cause of the Exile was lost for ever. Death of the An cvcnt wliich happened a few years afterwards Prince of . . Wales. was alonc wanting to consolidate the government. The death of the heir-apparent, instead of being a calamity to his family and to the nation, was, in truth, a relief to both. The prince had, from his earliest years, endured the rancorous hatred of both the king and queen. He reciprocated the animosity of his parents; and, on one occasion, hazarded the life of his consort, and the existence of his yet unborn child, merely for the purpose of wreaking >75i COURT OF LEICESTER HOUSE. r his filial spite. That he caballed against the King's Ch. i. government, and comforted the avowed enemies of ~ his dynasty, at the time when the stability of the House of Hanover was imperilled, might possibly have been owing to faction or folly, and not to the gratification of a base and reckless malignity. These are shades which it is hardly worth Avhile to discriminate in such a character. But without adopting the extreme virulence of his mother,** there is abundant evidence that the character of the Prince was of the meanest order. The Court of Leicester House maintained a Partyjeaiousy. rivalry with that of St. James's ; and the aspirants to Court favour were perplexed by the necessity of making their election between the present and the future reign. Every man who paid his respects to the Heir was excluded from employment under the Sovereign ; in like manner, the service of the King was disqualification for that of the Prince. The demise of the crown had been, of course, expected by the heir- apparent with the greatest impatience. Eleven years before it took place, and at a time when neither the King's age, nor his state of health, ofi'ered any hope of its early approach, the Prince of AVales had taken the trouble to arrange the details of his intended administration.^ His sudden death was a sad reverse to the worshippers of the rising sun; but they showed great promptitude and decision in repairing their misfortune. Of the ^ See Addenda, A., p. 54. ^ Diary nf Bubb Dodington, DEATH OF PELHAM. Ch. 1. 1751 The Opposi- tion dissolve!, Death of Pelham. 1753 -f many great and noble persons who had been de- voted to the Prince of Wales, not a single British peer, temporal or spiritual, except those appointed to bear the pall, ventured to attend his remains to the grave. None of the royal family were present at the funeral, and the office of chief mourner was discharged by the Duke of Somerset, although the Duke of Cumberland was in London. The Opposition, which had been loosely held together by the name of the prince, was dissolved at his death. Parliament ceased for a time to be the arena of party conflict, and the government was jobbed on under the direction of the Duke of Newcastle and his brother, Mr. Pelham. The death of Pelham, in 1753, disturbed the smooth career of government by corruption. There were at this time three men of high political mark, either of whom was fit for the lead of the House of Commons. These were Fox, PJ.tt, and Murray. The first may be described as a politician by pro- fession, and he lived in days when public life was a lucrative calling. For many years he had enjoyed one of the richest places in the government, that of Paymaster. He had made money; and now, like all professional men of a certain standing, he looked to position and advancement. Experienced, able, and ready. Fox was the foremost of that class of public men from which ministers of state are ordi- narily selected ; and if he was distinguished for any quality, it was, that in a corrupt age he exhibited a pre-eminent contempt for public virtue. 1753 EARL OF CHATHAM. The next was of a different mould. William ch. i. Pitt was a genius for brilliant achievements, for extraordinary emergencies, for the salvation of a country.'^ As a statesman, Pitt can endure com- parison with the greatest names of modern history — with Ximenes or Sully, Eichelieu or De Witt. As an orator he is yet unrivalled ; and to find his equal, we must ascend to the great masters of antiquity. Such panegyrics may seem loose and extravagant. I propose to justify the first by a faithful narrative of the political achievements of Chatham; of his unfinished designs ; and, lastly, of his opposition to the rash and shallow policy of the inferior men who supplanted or succeeded him. His fame, indeed, as a master of eloquence I can vindicate but im- perfectly. I may quote passages, grand, affecting, and sublime; these, perhaps, can be matched in oratorical essays, which fell flat upon their audi- ence;'^ but who shall attempt to do justice to those qualities which constitute the essence of oratory countenance, voice, gesture — all that the Greek calls Action ? Yet these were carried by Chatham to a transcendant excellence. Pitt's character had many faults, and one above Character of all, which is hardly consistent with true greatness, ciiuthum. A vile affectation pervaded his whole conduct, and marred his real virtues. Contempt of pelf was one of the traits which distinguished him in a corrupt *= See Addenda, B., p. 54. ^ See Addenda, C, p. 55. 1753 CHARACTER OF Ch. 1. and venal age. But not content with foregoing official perquisites which would have made his fortune, and appropriating only the salary which was his due, he must go down to the House of Commons and vaunt in tragic style how 'those hands were clean.' On resigning office after his first great administration, he could not retire with his fame, but must convert a situation full of dignity and interest into a vulgar scene by the ostentatious sale of his state equipages. Chatham's Somctimcs, to producc an effect, he would seclude nimseli Irom public busmess, givmg rare audience to a colleague, or some dignified emissary of the Court. Then, after due attendance, the doors were thrown open, and the visitor was ushered into a chamber, carefully prepared, where the Great Com- moner himself sat with the robe of sickness artfully disposed around him. Occasionally, after a long absence, he would go down to the House in an imposing panoply of gout, make a great speech, and witlidraw. At a later period, he affected almost r^gal state. His colleagues in office, including members of the great nobility, were expected to wait upon him; at one time he did not even deign to grant them audience, and went so far as to talk of communi- cating his policy to the House of Commons through a special agent of his own unconnected with the responsible Government. The under-secretaries of his department, men of considerable official po- sition, and sometimes proximate ministers, were s reverence for THE EARL OF CHATHAM. expected to remain standing in his presence. Ch. i. When he went abroad he was attended by a 1753 great retinue ; when he stopped at an inn he re- quired all the servants of the establishment to wear his livery.^ Yet all this pride tumbled into the dust before Chatham 1, TT' f ,^ • revercnci royalty. Mis reverence lor the sovereign was Royalty. Oriental rather than English. After every allow- ance for the exaggeration of his style, it is still unpleasant to witness the self-abasement of such a spirit before George the Second and his successor. ' The weight of irremoveable royal displeasure,' said he, 'is a load too great to move under; it must crush any man; it has sunk and broke me, 1 succumb, and wish for nothing but a decent and innocent retreat.'^ At the time when Pitt indited these shameful words, he was the most considerable man in England, and on the eve of an administration that carried the power and glory of England to a height which it had never ap- proached since the days of the Protector. If it were just to resolve the character of such a man into detail, it would be easy to collect passages from the life of Chatham which should prove him a time-server, a trimmer, an apostate, a bully, a servile flatterer, an insolent contemner of royalty. All these elements are to be found in the composition, as poisons are to be detected in ^ See Addenda D., p. 55. ^ Pitt to Lord Hardwicke, April 6, 1754, — Chatham Cor- respondence. lO LORD MANSFIELD. Ch. 1. 1753 Lord Mans-s field. the finest bodies. But taken as a whole, a candid judgment must pronounce the character of Chatham to be one of striking grandeur, exhibiting many of the noblest qualities of the patriot, the statesman, and the orator. Last of this distinguished triumvirate was Wil- liam Murray, memorable, as long as the laws of England shall endure, by the title of Mansfield. He entered Parliament soon after Pitt, with a finish- ed reputation from the other side of Westminster Hall. During the whole of the fourteen years that he passed in the House of Commons he was a law officer of the crown ; and, though in that subordinate capacity, so eminent were his parliamentary talents, that the defence of the government principally devolved upon him. This position brought him into frequent conflict with Pitt; and though he yielded, like the rest; to the irresistible ascendancy of the Opposition leader, his concession was that of moral, not of intellectual, inferiority. His eloquence was, indeed, of the most sterling kind; in it know- ledge, reasoning, composition, elocution, were com- bined in harmonious excellence ; but it wanted a coarser quality — that impetuous earnestness which, whether real or simulated, is requisite for complete success in a popular assembly ; accordingly, it attained its serene perfection on the judgment seat, and in the Upper House of Parliament. Still, overborne as he was by the towering genius of his rival, Murray failed not to vindicate his high pre- tensions; and all men assented to the probability THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. j i and the propriety of his advancement to the most ch. i. important office in the State. . ^753 The choice between these eminent persons rested rpi^^. j^^^^^ ^^ chiefly with the Duke of Newcastle, a man whose g^^;'^g',;f^|[/'' '^ absurd manner has exposed him to ridicule, but who really was not the strange compound of knave and fool which his character has been represented. Newcastle was far, indeed, from being a competent minister, but duller men have filled his office both before and since, and obtained a respectable place in history. He was the successor of Walpole in the management of that machinery of corruption by which the government was carried on. Himself a large borough proprietor, he had a principal share in all the traffic for seats in the House of Commons. Reserving to his own management exclusively the distribution of places, and the dispensation of the Secret Service fund, he administered this depart- ment with considerable skill and tact. His maxim was to avoid giving offence to, or breaking with, any man, however inconsiderable. Those whom he was unable or unwilling to gratify, he held on by promises or caresses. He evinced a shrewd perception of the characters with which he had to deal. At the time when he was doing everything in his power to supplant Pitt, he affected to carry on a confidential correspondence with him, to whisper state secrets in his ear, to pay the utmost deference to his judgment, and, above all, to ply the king's name — a spell which never failed in its influence upon the Great Commoner. Newcastle is a remark- 12 POLICY OF THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. Ch. 1, able instance of the success which usually attends ~ the unwearied pursuit of one object. Without parts or knowledge, or one single quality of a statesman; notoriously false^ fickle, and timid; grotesque in deportment, and absurd in speech, this man con- trived to outwit his competitors, and to maintain his position at the head of affairs during a long official life. His rank, and lavish expenditure in purchas- ing boroughs, was, no doubt, a considerable advan- tage; but he had little other adventitious aid. He was not, as he has been sometimes represented, the head of the Whig party ; for that party, since the lievolution, had been broken up into several sections or clans, as they are termed by a contemporary writer of the highest authority;^ and Newcastle influenced only one, although, perhaps, the largest, of its divisions. Newcastle's Jcalous of powcr, and conscious, it may be sup- P°'^^' posed, of intrinsic weakness, it was Newcastle's policy to have no partner in the Government, but to conduct the public business in Parliament by the medium of agents, who, without having access to the Sovereign, or any independent voice in council, should receive their instructions from him alone. While Pelham lived-, some such arrange- ment was practicable; although the Duke's tena- cious jealousy had, at one time, nearly caused a rupture between the brothers. The difficulty now was to induce either of the distinguished men Avho s Lord Waldcgrave's Memoirs. HE ADDRESSES HIMSELF TO FOX. 13 1753 stood prominently forward as candidates for office, Ch. 1. to accept it on such terms. He dared not hint such a proposition to Pitt, and the King's known repugnance to that statesman was an obstacle, the force of which he himself had fully acknowledged. Murray firmly refused any office out of the line of professional promotion. There remained only Fox, who, though the least able,^vas the most eligible of the three. Public opinion had designated him as the probable successor of Pelham ; and he had, what the others wanted, a large political following. To Fox, therefore, the Duke addressed himself, Newcastle ad- dresses iiiniself through the agency of a common friend, the to Fox. Marquis of Hartington, afterwards Duke of De- vonshire. The terms were unusually liberal : the Secretaryship of State, a seat in the Cabinet, the lead of the House of Commons, and, above all, in- formation as to the expenditure of the Secret Service Money. This fund was then the key to political power, being chiefly employed in pur- chasing boroughs and bribing members of parlia- ment. By these means, Newcastle had procured a House of Commons subservient to his purposes; and now, at the eve of a new election, it was more than ever important to retain a firm hold of this potent instrument of corruption. But no sooner had he made his proposal to Fox, than he began to fear he had parted with too large a share of power, and he hastened to qualify his offer. " He had meant," he said, " to keep the disposal of the Secret Service Money to himself." Fox, with his strong H FAILURE OF Ch. I. 753 Negotiations with Fox. sense, immediately pointed out the inconvenience of such reserve. " How was he to manao-e the House of Commons, unless he knew who had been bribed and who had not?" But remonstrance and reason were in vain addressed to the Duke of Newcastle. A panic had seized him for the loss of power; and he resolved to retain the secret service, the patronage of office, and the nomination of ministerial boroughs entirely in his own hands. It was hardly possible for any man of spirit to accept high responsible office upon such conditions. But Fox was not scrupulous, and never thought of hastily breaking off the negociation upon anything like a punctilio. He consulted his friends, however, and finding them unanimous against his assent to New- castle's proposal, he wrote to the Duke, resigning the seals which he had agreed to accept the day before, on Hartington's commission. The duke, delighted no doubt at being relieved from a colleague who, instead of an official hack, threatened to turn out a formidable competitor for power, would have no more to do with statesmen and orators, but forth- with conferred the seals of office upon Sir Thomas Robinson, a diplomatist whose knowledge of public affairs was confined to the petty politics of the German courts, in which he had practised. To conciliate Pitt, places were given to his only fol- lowers. Sir George Lyttelton and Grenville. Mur- ray was satisfied by the appointment of attorney- general, which happily then became vacant. Pitt and Fox consented to remain in subordinate office : NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATION. ir the new Parliument was constituted pretty much as Ch. i. its predecessor had been, and the duke and his . ^753 royal master congratulated themselves on the satis- factory settlement which had been effected. Such an adjustment of places could, however, Quaneis hardly be durable. Pitt and Fox made common new ministers. cause against a ministry which excluded them from a prominent position. The paymaster of the forces assailed the attorney-general; the secretary- at-war turned the leader of the House of Commons into ridicule ; or, as was observed by a spectator, assisted him in performing that office for himself. Acts of insubordination and mutiny, which had been visited, from the highest to the lowest, with prompt and unmitigated severity, when an imperial mind di- rected the councils of the nation, were now perpe- trated with utter impunity, under the weak, irreso- lute rule of the successors of Walpole. The policy of cowardice and incapacity was resorted to. Over- tures were again made to one of the powerful mal- contents, through the medium of the Earl Walde- grave, a nobleman who stood high in the estimation of all parties, and possessed what hardly any other public man at that time could boast of, the confi- dence of the King. Waldegrave represented to Newcastle the impos- sibility of carrying on the government against the alliance of the two great parliamentary chieftains; and he sought to attach Fox to the administration on terms still less favourable than those last offered by the duke, by assuring him that there was no 1 6 PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 1755 Ch. 1. disposition to engage his services in the highest quarter. Fox, whose appetite for power was not easily disgusted, consented, under such circum- stances, to take a seat in the cabinet, without the post of secretary of state, and without the recog- nised lead of the House of Commons. Events soon occurred to try the vigour and ad- ministrative ability of the re-constructed govern- ment. The ancient enmity of France and England threatened an immediate outbreak. The race for empire, which had already commenced on the vast continent of Asia, and on that of the New World, had become bitter contention, and war was in- evitable. Preparations Early in 1755, t^^ House of Commons received for war. Supineness of a mcssagc from the crown, askmg for a vote of credit, to put the establishments on a war footing. This was readily granted ; and the king shortly after left the country on his annual visit to Hanover. The impropriety of absenting himself from the seat of empire under such circumstances, was in vain urged upon a selfish and un-English sove- reign. The unsettled state of aiFairs at home, the commencement of war, the weakness of the mi- nistry, were considerations which could not out- weigh the personal predilections and convenience of the German king. In peaceful times, a great nation will maintain its prosperity in spite of the supine- ness and incapacity of its rulers, to whom, in con- sequence, a thoughtless public opinion attributes the praise of wise government. But when a state PREPARATIONS FOR IT. 17 '755 of war demands active and decided measures, the Ch. 1. real character of administration is discovered. The imbecility of the person who held the first place in the Council of St. James's, therefore, now became signally manifest. The British interests at the Court of France, then the most important, if not the only important diplomatic post in Europe, had been for many j^ears entrusted to a fop ; and thus, those delicate questions of colonial territory which were in dispute between the two Governments, and which might have been adjusted by a wise and skilful negotiation, were necessarily refen^ed to the disastrous arbitrement of war. Yet, while the dire necessity was recognised, the Timid mea- , , . - , . . , sures of the operations Avere undertaken with a hesitation and ministry. timidity which augured little for the success or glory of England; and, what was worse, were charac- terized by a futile dissimulation, which cast a stain upon her honour. An expedition was sent out after a French fleet, supposed to be destined for North America. An engagement took place, re- sulting in the capture of two French ships of the line, and the withdrawal of the French ambassador from London. Then was the time that a declara- tion of war ought to have been made by this country. But a second expedition was dispatched under Sir Edward Hawke, Avhose instructions were the subject of ridiculous and contemptible perplexity to the government. Newcastle proposed a course by which the responsibility should be shifted from the ministry upon the brave officer in command. VOL. I. c 1 8 CONDUCT OF THE KING. 1755 Ch. 1 . But this being opposed by Fox, on the ground that the admiral had too much sense to act without definite orders, instructions, more intelligible indeed, but certainly falling far short of the stern policy of war, were at last agreed upon. The admiral was to attack any ships of the line that he might happen to fall in with, but he was to spare those of inferior rate, and not to molest trading vessels at all. A pitiful attempt to accommodate naval operations to an impossible condition of compromise between war and peace ! However, these absurd instructions were shortly afterwards superseded by orders to attack every Frenchman in the channel ; and many captures were consequently made. But this proceeding was justly treated by the French government as a violation of public law; and so desirous were they that the whole odium of such an act should attach to the British flag, that they released an English man-of-war which had fallen into the hands of their cruisers. Conduct of the Meanwhile, it was as Elector of Hanover and not as King of England, that George the Second viewed the prospect of war. England, which had no interest in maintaining the integrity of Hanover, had for a series of years subsidised other German States for the protection of the Electoral territory. The first thing, therefore, which the King did, without even con- sulting the English ministry, was, on the threatened rupture, to enter into a subsidiary treaty with one of the minor Principalities, and to open a negotiation with Russia for the same purpose. The Hessian King. INSUBORDINATION IN THE CABINET. 1755 treaty was immediately sent home for official rati- Ch. 1. fication. But public indignation at this gross abuse of the national resources, had now begun to manifest itself in deep murmurs; and one of the ministers, Legge, Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether apprehensive of the coming storm, or ar- rived at the utmost limit of complaisance, positively refused in Council to attach his signature to the treasury warrants for the subsidy which had already been signed by the Lord Chancellor, by Newcastle, and other members of the Council of Regency. , The Duke, astounded and terrified by this un ex- Lord Chatham / pected act of insubordination, hurried away, in his crazy manner, to Pitt, and endeavoured to gain him over by tears, by adulation, by an offer of a seat in the cabinet forthwith, and promises of the most alluring character. But the great parlia^* mentary chief gave the Duke plainly to understand that nothing would satisfy him but a full measure of ministerial power; that he was ready to support a national war, and to defend Hanover if the enemy's attack should be made on that quarter; but that he did not consider the system of subsidies a proper and efficient mode of carrying on war. He added, however, that if the King's honour was pledged to the Hessian subsidy he would not object to it; but he positively refused to consent to the Russian treaty. Pitt being found impracticable, it only remained to bid for Fox, whose value was thus raised in the official market. The seals of Secretary of State, c 2 !i 20 FOX BECOMES SECRETARY OF STATE. Ch. 1. with the lead of the House of Commons, were, therefore, yielded to him without further parley ; Fox becomes and Sir Thomas Robinson was removed to his State. former and more congenial office of Master of the Great Wardrobe. Pitt, Lcgge, The first act of the government, after Fox's and Grenville . „ . . -, dismissed. acccssiou to real power, was one oi mistimed vigour — the dismissal, namely, of Pitt, Legge, and Grenville from office. By this proceeding, an open breach was made with the men enjoying the largest share of parliamentary fame and of public confidence. But a packed and corrupted parliament reflected dimly, and through a distorted medium, the sense of the nation. In vain was heard the stirring eloquence of Pitt, backed by the applause of the people. The government was supported by a ma- jority, the strength of which was in an inverse ratio with that of its merit, or the wisdom of its measures. France threatened, by invasion, to chastise the perfidy of Albion, and insult her weak- ness. England, acknowledging the danger, instead of relying on her wooden walls and her hardy sons, sought the protection of foreign mercenaries ; and an address to the crown to send for Hano- verian and Hessian troops was carried by as great a majority as could support a measure the most conducive to the honour and safety of the realm. The military strength of France was computed, at this time, at 200,000 men, besides militia; and she was preparing a naval force of 60 sail of the PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 2i line.'' In America, her colonists, though inferior Ch, i. in wealth and numbers to those of this country, ~ were for the most part trained to arms; and she had a chain of forts in the rear of the English settlements which lay open and defenceless.' England had neither soldiers nor sailors. She was forced to send to Germany for the one, and she had not enough of the other to man the Western squadron. '^ Her possessions in the Mediteranean — Gibraltar and Minorca, each invaluable as a base for naval operations — were all but defenceless. Such was the state to which the country had been reduced by selfish and corrupt factions. The nation itself was sound at heart ; and if its feelings and wishes could have been represented in parlia- ment, the policy of the country would never have been guided by German court cabals, nor her in- terests postponed to the vile intrigues of the New- castles, the Foxes, and the Dodingtons. A French expedition was fitted out at Toulon, J^mmencedby destined as it soon appeared for an attack on ^^■'"^^'^- Minorca. The punctiliousness which France had hitherto affected in ignoring the breach of peace with this country was now forgotten; and a decla- ration of war was promulgated in London a few hours before the fleets of both nations came into conflict in the waters of the Mediterranean. New- ^ Mitchell to Lord Holderness, Dresden, Dec. 9, 1756. — ■ Chatham Correspondence. ' Waldograve's Memoirs. '' Ibid. 2 2 CONDUCT AND FATE ^^- 1- castle seemed to have found a kindred spirit in the 1757 officer whom he sent in command of the squadron dispatched for the relief of Minorca. I need not here repeat the well-known history of Byng's mis- conduct. Whether it was owing to imbecility or cowardice that he failed to finish a battle which West, the second in command, had half won ; or, that he balanced, with a nicety unusual in a British admiral, the difference in weight of metal between himself and the enemy, is a question of little mo- ment. Certain it is that he abandoned the object of his expedition, which, it must be remembered, was the maintenance of an important possession, not only without adequate cause, but when there was at least a fair prospect of success. Blakeney, the aged veteran, who was left in command at Minorca, did all that military skill and courage could effect with a wholly inadequate force; but, deserted at sea, it was in vain that he protracted Minorca lost, the struggle. Minorca was consequently lost. The English nation, impatient at all times of reverses, was transported with rage at the dishonour brought upon their arms. Byng's delinquency was so flagrant that the people were at a loss whether to attribute it to treachery or cowardice ; in either case, there was but one expiation for his offence. The mismanagement of affairs both at home and abroad had not only imperilled the integrity of the empire, but the stability of social order. Tumult and sedition prevailed throughout the country ; and the language of the ' dutiful and loyal addresses ' OF ADMIRAL BYNG. 23 which were brought to the foot of the throne Ch. 1. resembled that of 164 1.' . ^757 The court-martial acquitted Byng of treachery Admiral Byng or cowardice, but condemned him to death for ' a breach of the twelfth article of war in having failed in his duty. Their sentence was accom- panied, however, by a strong recommendation to mercy. There can be no doubt that this recom- mendation ought to have prevailed. The unhappy offender was completely exonerated from the only charge, which, according even to the rigorous exi- gency of the service, could justly affect life — that, namely, of wilful betrayal of his trust. But the probability is that the life of this incompetent officer was sacrificed not so much to a stern sense of duty and policy, as to a selfish and cowardly concession to that indiscriminating cry for ven- geance which directed full against the prominent offender, passed by those who were, at least, ac- complices in his guilt. A few days before the attack on Minorca, France, offensive ain- T . „ -. • , ^^ j_i'j_ ance between departing from her ancient policy, entered into an n-ance and offensive alliance with Austria. The immediate causes of this great event were, no doubt, those usually assigned by historians. But though Maria Theresa had never stooped to flatter, nor Frederick to insult, the French King's mistress, the altered state of Europe would probably have brought about, at this period, a change in her political ' Waldegrave's Memoirs. 24 CONTINENTAL ALLIANCES. Ch. 1. relations. The house of Hapsburg no longer pos- j_^ sessed that gigantic power against which France had long to struggle for a separate existence. Prussia, from a petty dukedom, had, within little more than half a century, attained the position of a powerful monarchy. Russia, emerged from bar- barism, had taken up a foremost place in the European system. But the real danger which threatened the balance of power at this moment was not the aggression of Austria, but the ambition and the capacity of the Prussian monarch. He had already wrested Silesia, one of its fairest pro- vinces, from the dominion of Maria Theresa. He had invaded Bohemia and occupied Dresden. The annihilation of this new and formidable power was therefore the object proposed by the union of these ancient rivals now threatened by a common foe. Russia, liberated from her engagements with Eng- land, soon after joined the allied powers. England was thus, by stress of circumstances, forced into an alliance with Prussia, which now stood alone in Europe against the confederation of the three great Powers. If personal feelings had prevailed, nothing could have been more gratifying to the court of Great Britain than the humiliation of the Prussian monarch, who had thwarted her policy, who had succoured the Pretender, and had harassed George the Second, both by menacing his German dominions and treating him personally with a degree of derision and contumely exceeding even that which he had lavished on Madame de COMMENCEMENT OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 25 Pompadour. But by the mutability of human ch. 1. aiFairs which sets at naught all political prediction, . the sovereign, whose unprincipled ambition had endangered Hanover, was now to be its defender — the upholder of Popery and arbitrary power, although really a professed scoffer at all creeds, was now to be the popular idol under the endearing title of the Protestant hero. Thus commenced that great struggle known in history by the name of the Seven Years' War. And certainly, never were the commanding qualities of the human mind exhibited with more sustained power than by Frederick the Great during this memorable period. Unshaken fortitude under reverses; prompt energy in repairing them; the happiest combination of military talents with administrative capacity, distinguished this remark- able man, whose whole career is one of the most striking illustrations on record of what resolution, combined with intellectual power, can effect. The dissolution of Newcastle's administration Dissolution was the necessary consequence of a state of affairs ministiy. which demanded able and vigorous councils. The only members of the government who could have sustained it under such a pressure were deter- mined to withdraw from such an unthankful task. Murray, always intent upon professional advance- ment, claimed the vacant post of chief justice, to which he was entitled equally by professional and official position. The duke, seeing the defenceless condition in which he should be left by the removal 26 THE MINISTRY TOTTERS. '^ISl Ch. 1. of this, his ablest champion, from the House of Com- mons, used all his wonted arts to avert the disaster ; but the Attorney General was immoveable, and threatened to leave the government, unless he was gratified by the special promotion which he desired. Fox, thus deprived of his able coadjutor, cared not to encounter single-handed the aspiring leader of Opposition, whose appetite for power was now sharpened by recent privation of office. The Secre- tary, moreover, had little inducement beyond the mere emolument to remain in the government. The first minister hardly admitted him to a share in council, though willing to impose upon hira the fullest measure of responsibility. The King treated him with rudeness and contempt."" Pru- dence, therefore, concurred with pride, in dictating a retreat from a position which was neither respect- able nor tenable. A few days before the meeting of Parliament, Murray was transferred to the Upper House, and Fox ceased to be Secretary of State. Newcastle still clung, Avith convulsive grasp, to power. He made a futile effort to gain over Pitt ; but the great orator was too sensible of his com- manding position to compromise it by a negotiation with the veteran placeman. Lord Egmont, an able speaker, and conversant with affairs, was next applied to ; but, like all the other public men of the day, he never thought of postponing a personal ob- ject to the exigencies of the public service. He want- ed an English peerage, and, as he insisted upon this "" Waldegrave's Memoirs. PITT COMES INTO POWER. 27 1757 condition at the very time when his aid was wanted ch. 1 in the House of Commons, it was useless to carry on the treaty. Lastly, the old rival of Walpole — the witty, classic, and accomplished Granville — was ofl'ered the post of danger, the Duke proposing to take the Earl's equally dignified, but less con- spicuous, place of President of the Council. Gran- ville, however, was no longer susceptible to such temptation. The Duke had exhausted all his resources: and Anew ministry the dreaded hour of resiojnation could no lono^er be fomied 'under ^^ _ ^ the J)uke of deferred. After some negotiation, which resulted Devonshire. in the exclusion of Fox, with whom Pitt refused to act, a new administration was formed under the auspices of the Duke of Devonshire, with Pitt, Secretary of State, and his friend. Lord Temple, First Lord of the Admiralty. Pitt, however^ was the real minister ; and his vigorous councils are Pitt's vigorous discernible in the earliest acts of the new govern- ment. The Speech, on opening Parliament, expressly referred to the menacing and almost seditious addresses of the summer in terms of approbation, and announced the dismissal of the German mer- cenaries who had been brought over in pursuance of an address of both Houses, under the late dis- graceful panic of invasion. A national militia was to be substituted as the more becoming and efficient defence of the realm. Measures were promptly taken by a large increase of the forces, both at sea and land, for a vigorous prosecution of the war. Another measure was the organisation of the disaf- 28 THE KING'S DISLIKE TO PITT. Ch. 1. fected, half-disciplined, Highland clans into regi- ments of the line for foreiorn service. By this fine 1757 . ° . -^ stroke of policy, sufficient of itself to mark its projector as a master-statesman, a nucleus of re- bellion and civil war was eradicated once arid for ever — a paralytic member was converted im- mediately into an arm of strength. From that hour, the cause of the Pretender was extinguished in Scotland. Pitt becomes The Kin^, howcvcr, re2:ardless or unconscious personally ^' . distasteful to of tlicsc g-rcat merits, could only feel repugnance the King. ° ' . . to the disagreeable manner of his minister. The stability of the throne secured; the honour of his arms vindicated ; the confidence of the nation gained : — what were these considerations weighed against errors of tact and taste? Pitt's formal, aff*ected, oratorical style was no doubt wearisome enough when carried into the closet, and Temple's pedantry and arrogance were, perhaps, still more offensive. To his Majesty they were intolerable : ' I must get rid of these scoundrels,' said he to the courtly Waldegrave, ' I do not consider myself a King while I am in their hands.' Accordingly Temple and Pitt were dismissed, and Waldegrave was commissioned to treat with the Duke of New- castle once more. The duke, distracted between his love of power and his dread of responsibility, could decide on nothing. On the one hand, he had a secure parliamentary majority composed of his own nominees and mercenaries, closely attached to him for tlie same reason that all servants are INTERPOSITION OF LORD CHESTERFIELD. 29 attached to a good place and a liberal master. On Ch. 1. the other side he was scared by his consciousness . . . ^757 of utter inability to meet the difficulties of public affairs, and the menacing tone of popular discontent. He had found the great parliamentary leaders im- practicable. To ally himself now with Fox, weighed down as he was with odium, would only be to court weakness. Pitt, confident in consummate ability and unbounded popularity, treated his overtures with such contempt, that he pledged his word to the King he would never again propose him as a colleague. At last he resolved to rely upon his intrigues for a ^ ^ ^ _ . new adminis- parliaraentary following. Sir Thomas Robinson tration. was reluctantly dragged once more from his obscu- rity to be set up again as Secretary of State. The office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, after being refused by Bubb Dodington, was to be conferred on Dr. Lee. This arrangement was about to be carried into effect after the country had been left three months without a government, when the Earl of Chesterfield, who had long retired from the strife of party, and now entertained the most serious apprehension for the safety of the nation, was prompted by public spirit to interpose, for the purpose of combining the only available elements of an effective administration. The parliamentary influence of Newcastle, and the commanding ability of Pitt must be united. This was obviously the best, if not the only practicable, mode of carrying on the public service. Lord Bute, as the repre- sentative of the Princess of Wales and the heir "^ISl 30 A NEW MINISTRY FORMED, Ch. 1. apparent, co-operated with Chesterfield in this de- sirable object. Both Newcastle and Pitt were found accessible to a proposal coming from a mediation so respectable. The King alone refused his assent, and called upon the Duke to redeem his recent promise never again to act with Mr. Pitt. A pledge by one statesman never to act with another is, to the last degree, rash and short-sighted ; but, inasmuch as it is what legists call nudum factum or a promise made without consideration, it would be a mistaken sense of personal honour which should allow it to weigh against the exigency of public duty. Doubt- less the Duke of Newcastle did not trouble himself with the casuistry of the question ; he only saw and eagerly availed himself of a mode of escape from difficulty. So far, therefore, from adhering to his promise, if such it can be termed, he not only repudiated it without hesitation or evasion, but emboldened by the character and credit of his new supporters, he positively refused to have anything to do with the administration, except in connection with Pitt and his party. Waidegrave The Kino; enraged at what he considered, per- sentfor. &) to ^ If ndy, as well as personal ill usage, again sent for Waldegrave, and laid his commands upon that loyal friend and servant to place himself at the head of a new administration. Waldegrave obeyed, though with sincere reluctance, and had made considerable progress in accomplishing the duty entrusted to him, when Newcastle, alarmed at the sight of a government being constructed without 31 1757 AND SUPPORTED BY PITT. his assistance, employed his influence secretly to ch. i thwart the new arrangement, protesting, at the same time, with gratuitous treachery, both to his royal master and the new minister, that he should be injured by any suspicion of such conduct. His intrigues, however, were successful; the King him- self at last saw that a Waldegrave ministry was impracticable, and that there was no alternative but to submit to the coalition of parliamentary corruption with statesmanlike capacity and popular favour. The final arrangements were easily made through a new the dignified agency of Lord Mansfield and Lord formed. Hardwicke. The Duke was re-instated at the head of the government. But really only with the super- intendence of that machinery of corruption by which the routine of government had for many years been carried on, but with which his colleague, with a contemptuous afi'ectation of ignorance in such delicate matters of policy, declined to inter- fere. All real power was centred in the hands of Pitt elevated Pitt, and'Tiow his great genius had for the first 1757 time ample scope, both in opportunity and in the means of action. At this period, the fortunes of the country w^ere at their lowest point. Chesterfield, and other eminent men considered them irretrievable. The administration of public aiFairs, passing for a series of years through the foul channels of parliamentary corruption, had at last become almost stagnant. The people believed, not without cause, that every 22 FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Ch. 1. politician was a mere self-seeker; and that the j-,^- interests of the nation were sacrificed to the foreign connections of the reigning family. Pitt alone, of all the public men, possessed the confidence of the country; yet so deficient was its representation in the House of Commons, that, on his accession to office a few months previously, he had great diffi- culty in procuring a seat in that assembly. The principal cities and boroughs of the empire could present him with their freedom, but the elective franchise was out of their power. That was the property of the Duke of Newcastle, and of the great heads of parties with whom the patriot minister had no connection. Battle of Koiin. Contemporaneously with Pitt's elevation to power, took place the disastrous battle of Kolin, by which the cause of Frederick, England's only ally, seemed hopelessly ruined. This was followed shortly afterwards by the utter discomfiture of the Duke of Cumberland in Hanover, and the con- vention of Closterseven, by which his army was disbanded. Affaks in In America, the English flag had been dislodged from a position of great importance. The fort of Oswego, on the Lake Ontario, commanding the great maritime highway of North America, and the communication between the northern and southern colonies of France, Avas taken, almost without resistance; and with it, 1600 men, 100 pieces of cannon, together with a great amount of military stores and provisions, fell into the hands of the enemy. ATTEMPT ON ROCHEFORT. ^3 Such was the state of the Empire when con- ^^^- ^• signed to the care of Pitt. Dispossessed of her 1757 principal military position in America ; of her only harbour in the Mediterranean; driven from the Continent; the seat of empire menaced; her military fame disparaged ; the policy no less than the arms of her ancient enemy triumphant in every quarter of the globe. But though politicians were dismayed, the public spirit bore up undaunted under this accumulation of misfortune: and the cry was not for concession or compromise, but for redress of grievances, and the vindication of the national honour. The season for active military operations was Expedition •^ ■*- against Koclie- far advanced when Pitt came into power. Never- fort, its , , . ,. in failure. theless, immediate measures were taken for re- lieving the pressure upon the arms of England and of her heroic ally, by an important diversion. Early in September, an expedition sailed for the coast of France, with orders to make a descent upon Rochefort, which contained one of her princi- pal naval magazines. But the enterprize wholly failed, in consequence of the jealousies and mis- conduct of the officers in command. They had every reason to believe that a prompt attack would find the place comparatively defenceless. Yet the general's chief concern was, in possibility of failure, to secure a safe retreat to the ships ; and because the admiral could not undertake to provide for an event, which must always depend upon the winds and waves, instead of an attack, the precious time VOL. I. D ^ -J4 PUBLIC DISSATISFACTION. Ch. 1. was occupied by councils of war. While these 17 r^ councils were deliberating, preparations for defence were being made; the opportunity was lost, and the fleet sailed homeward, followed by the derision of the foe. Some critics, whose judgment is formed by the event, have censured this expedition as rash and ill-planned. But according to the better opiilion, the scheme was perfectly feasible, and, in fact, must have succeeded, had the general in command acted with promptitude and decision, or even in accord- ance with his orders. The French monarch, know- ing the defenceless condition of the place, took it for granted that it had fallen, as soon as he heard of the projected attack;" and one of the ablest officers of the expedition, one v/ho afterwards achieved the highest professional distinction, ex- pressed his amazement at the infatuation of its leader.** Return of the Xhc rctum of the fleet without haviner effected Fleet. ^ ^ ^ ^ their object, or hardly made an attempt towards it, was greeted, as well it might be, with a burst of public indignation. It was affirmed, and exten- sively believed, even by persons of ordinary in- telligence and information, that Mordaunt and Hawke, the general and admiral in command, had acted in pursuance of secret orders, without the knowledge of the responsible minister; and that " Jenkinson to Grenville, Oct. 18, 1751 — Grenville Corre- spondence " Rodney to Grenville. DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. j^ the honour and interests of England had been Ch i. sacrificed on this occasion, as they were by the 1757 treaty of Closterseven, to the sole object of pur- chasing the immunity of Hanover.^ But both disasters can be accounted for, without impugning the honour of the officers in command on these occasions. The military incapacity of the Duke of Cumberland was sufficient to mar the prospects of a campaign far more hopeful than that which he directed; but the treacherous and pusillanimous policy, thus attributed to him and to his father, was utterly foreign to the character of the princes of the House of Brunswick. So far from being a party to the evacuation of Germany, the King refused to ratify the treaty under which it had been made; and the duke himself, though the King's favourite son, and admitted to all his counsels, was so much aggrieved by the stern dis- pleasure which he experienced on his return, that he resigned all his appointments and retired from public life. The failure of the Rochefort expedition may well Cause of failure at be ascribed to the evils of a divided command. Rochefort. But there were other causes, which had long de- pressed the tone of military intelligence and energy. The system of promotion by seniority, which then obtained in the British service, was not calculated to bring forward merit ; and the evasion of responsibility, which characterised the feeble P Potter to Pitt, Oct. nth, 1757. — Chatham Correspondence. Horace Walpole to General Conway. Walpole Correspondence. D 2 »757 J 6 PROPOSED CESSION OF GIBRALTAR. Ch. 1, plans and hesitating orders of the government, had taught the routine leaders of our fleets and armies to consult their oavh safety, by a cautious adherence to the strict line of duty, rather than the pride of their profession and the glory of their country by a more daring course. But the fortunes of the empire were now guided by a statesman ' who sought for merit wherever it was to be found,' and to whose favour or indulgence the only recom- mendations were zeal and enterprise in the public service. Plan for Before the failure of the Rochefort expedition, the recovering Minorca. prompt energy of Pitt had devised a plan for the recovery of that important post which had been wrested from England under circumstances so disgraceful to her arms. He instructed the British minister at Madrid to propose the cession of Gib- raltar to Spain, in consideration of her assistance in the recovery of Minorca. The great natural fortress which commands the entrance to the Me- diterranean, is, perhaps, the last military possession which a government of the present day would think of relinquishing; but it might have been argued, that it was of little use to command the entrance to the Mediterranean when we did not possess a single harbour or haven in that wide sea; and the necessity of regaining Minorca was a primary and urgent consideration. The able and experienced diplomatist, to whom the treaty was entrusted, was, however, astounded*^ at such a rash '1 Sir 15. Keene. — Chatham Corresiiondence. POLICY OF SUCH A MEASURE. 37 scheme ; and, certainly, a more improvident device Ch. 1 , to procure present relief was never conceived by 17^7 the most reckless speculator. Had it been carried into effect, the object might, indeed, have been immediately gained, but at no distant day must have been entirely frustrated. To maintain any possession in waters, our only access to which was to be^at'the pleasure of a Power no longer capable of exercising an independent policy, even if there had been reason to suppose that such policy would be in accordance with British interests, was mani- festly impracticable; the consequence must have ' been the conversion of the Mediterranean into a French lake, the annihilation of our commerce with the greater part of the European continent, and the prevention of that direct communication with our Eastern empire which has so greatly enhanced its value. The proposition, however, wg^s, happily, not en- tertained; and it so chanced that its disappoint- ment was owing to the ill humour of that Court upon the continuance of whose friendly relations the policy of such a measure must have been originally calculated. This was the only war measure open to any con- Pitt's vigorous •"■ •' prosecution of siderable censure. One of the most efficient means of tiie war. prosecuting the war was to assist the^able and indo- mitable chief, who, beaten and apparently ruined one day, shewed again victorious the next. Pitt had no soldiers to send^ the King of Prussia; but he was prompt in procuring him a subsidy. At the 38 CONDUCT OF THE WAR Ch, 1. same time, he re-constructed the Duke of Cumber- ,~ land's late army of Hanover; and, luckily, the in- fraction of the treaty of Closterseven by the French in some important particulars, enabled him to do so without incurring for the country the reproach of a breach of faith. This force, amounting to about 50,000 men, was taken into British pay, and at its head was placed, on the recommendation of the King of Prussia, his nephew and one of his ablest lieutenants, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. Hanover Earlv in the year foUowino;, another expedition recovered. j j o j. • was sent to the coast of France ; and though the immediate success of this armament was not com- mensurate with the magnitude of its equipment, its indirect, but main object, the diversion of the French force from a concentrated energy on the continent was fully accomplished. While the British fleet was menacing the coast of France, Prince Ferdinand wjis enabled to recover Hanover. Expedition to ^t the samc time, on the continent of the New North ' America. World, vigorous cfforts were commenced for the entire expulsion of the French. To dislodge them from the island of Cape Breton, commanding the entrance to the great river which formed the high- way of North America, was the object of the best appointed expedition. Admiral Boscawen com- manded the fleet ; and General Amherst superseded the Earl of Loudoun, an officer of proved incom- petence in the command of the land forces. His second in command was a young regimental officer, who had signalized his zeal and capacity at the IN FRANCE AND AMERICA. 39 siege of Rochefort, the preceding year. This was <^h. i. Brigadier- General Wolfe. i^^^ General Abercrombie, who commanded at New General York, was also ordered to reduce the forts of Ticonderago and Crown Point, on the Lakes George and Champlain^ and so penetrate into Canada from a south-eastern point of the American continent; while a smaller force under Brigadier Forbes was detached from Philadelphia against Fort Duquesne, another strong and almost inaccessible French post. The most important of these operations was Cape Breton ^ ^ ^ ^ taken. completely successful. After an obstinate resist- ance, Cape Breton surrendered, as did also St, John's, since called Prince Edward's Island. The attack on the fortified lakes was mismanaged, and ended in failure. But Forbes, by great perseverance and gallantry, captured Duquesne, which, in com- pliment to the great minister, he called Pittsburg, a name which it still retains, although no longer a possession of the British crown. Thus a few months, under the administration of impiovement .in affairs. an able and energetic statesman, was sufficient to redeem the country from her depressed and appa- rently impotent condition. But Pitt did not stop here; having engaged in war, he carried it on with unabated vigour, until success should enable him to conclude a permanent and honorable peace. The nation cheerfully submitted to the unparal- leled burdens which their favourite minister un- hesitatingly imposed upon it, and seemed to have 40 EXPEDITIONS TO Ch. 1. given hiin an unlimited commission to restore and ,7^0 maintain its honor and glory. Biuckiideof Earlv in 17^9, the Government of France, whose French coast. j i jy> ^ : coast had been so grievously harassed the prece- ding year by the British arms, took measures to retaliate by a descent upon England. But the principal ports of the enemy were blockaded or watched by English squadrons. Havre was bom- barded by Rodney. Boscawen routed the Toulon fleet. Hawke blockaded Brest. A powerful squa- dron rode in the Channel. The internal defences were amply provided for both by a regular and a militia force. Expedition to The offcusivc Operations consisted chiefly of an indiel.^^*^ attack upon the French possessions in the West Indies, and the conquest of Canada, by which England would obtain an undivided empire in the great northern division of the American con- tinent. Capture of The formcr, a small expedition, had an adequate result in the acquisition of Guadaloupe, one of the most valuable islands in the West India Archi- pelago. But the second great enterprize was planned by the minister himself, with the utmost care, and furnished with every means of success. Exi)evn with a heavy heart to write the despatch which should prepare the minister and the country for the disappointment of their hopes. The only benefit that he could hold out, as the result of the well-appointed expedition under his orders, was that by maintaining their ground, they should keep the enemy in check, and so prevent his aiding in the defence of the fortified lakes, in the reduction of which Amherst was supposed to be engaged. Despair, however, had not yet subdued either the faculties or the energies of Wolfe. No sooner had his mind been relieved, by thus preparing his coun- try for the worst, than he resolved upon making the last attempt to accomplish his great object. It is not likely that the plan which he finally adopted with such brilliant success then suggested itself to him for the first time. His eager eye must long since have marked the path which wound along the ruffo'ed heights of Abraham. The track, which one man could follow, might be climbed by thou- sands. On the summit was an extensive plain, upon which an engagement might take place ; and the battle won, the victorious general would march 45 46 ARRANGEMENT OF THE ATTACK. Ch. 1. unopposed into Quebec. But the difficulties were, jITq to an ordinary capacity, insuperable. Montcalm himself had been content to leave this precipice under the protection of a company of 1 50 men, a force apparently sufficient to guard a single narrow pass through a cliff — at least until rein- forcements could arrive from head-quarters, which were only a short distance in rear of the position. As an additional precaution against surprise, sen- tinels were posted along the shore. Even supposing the vigilance of the sentinels eluded, and the heights of Abraham scaled, a general action must be fought, without artillery, agamst a far superior force, and under circumstances which presented victory or destruction as the only alternatives. That such a design was only justifiable after all other resources were exhausted, must, perhaps, be admitted; but that it was unjustifiable at the time when it was carried into effect can be maintained only by that cold imperturbable prudence which never commits itself to a great and daring deed ; and Wolfe knew well that the commission which the great minister had entrusted to him in preference to the accumulated claims of the army list, was not to be satisfied by a mere discharge of duty. Before taking this decisive step, however, the young general held a council of war; and in compliance with the urgent advice of Monckton and Townshend, the two officers next in seniority, some further ma- nceuvres were made for the purpose of drawing the French commander from his impregnable position. MONTCALM DEFEATED. 47 Upon the failure of these tactics, Wolfe, with the Ch. i. concurrence of Townshend,' determined to attempt ^j.g the heights of Abraham. Havino; directe . i n^ . i ^ business. Jjute, however, aiiected a solemn, sen- CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY. tentious elocution, than which nothing could be cii. 2. 1760 71 more foreign to the tone and taste of an English Parliament. A knowledge of affairs would never- theless have overcome even this formidable disad- vantage. But his matter was as jejune as his manner was ridiculous. The process of reducing an able and powerful cabinet to a junto of loyal and subservient placemen was then commenced. No change of importance, however, was made Changes in . . the miuistr}'. before the dissolution of parliament m the ensumg spring. Legge, the most experienced financier of the day, was then dismissed; and Lord Barrington, who had no other pretension to the office than devotion to the King, succeeded him as Chan- cellor of the Exchequer. Charles Townshend, a man of brilliant parts, but whose habitual levity of conduct, and want of judgment, seemed to ex- emplify the favourite maxim of office politicians, that men of genius are unfitted for business, was appointed Secretary at War. Bute himself, long intent upon high office, became Secretary of State in the room of Lord Holdernesse, whom he had induced to resign by the offer of a rich sinecure for life. It must have been long since manifest to Pitt that his power was at an end. Even on the first day of the new reign, he was kept waiting two hours before the King admitted him to an audience. He afterwards had an interview with Bute who offered him his protection ; but Pitt plainly inti- mated, though with profuse expressions of loyalty, 72 LORD BUTE'S POLICY. Ch. 2. that he would be satisfied with nothing less than j~^j the entire direction of the war; and they parted with mutual reserve and distrust. ^ He was not even consulted in the preparation of the King's speech either to the council or to parliament. The great minister, however, determined not to give the Court the advantage by a precipitate resignation, awaited the event with dignity and temper. He was not kept long in doubt as to the policy of the Peace-policy ucw systcm. Butc, witli a portcutous ignorance of Bute. of public opinion, fancied that he should win popu- larity to the side of the Court by putting a summary period to the war, and was only afraid lest Pitt, or some other statesman, should anticipate him in this master-stroke of policy. So eager was he to affect this object, that in the speech to be delivered by the King to the Privy Council, on his accession, and which was framed by Bute alone, without consulting any of the respon- sible advisers of the Crown, the war was referred to as ' a bloody and expensive war,' speedily to ter- minate in ' an honourable and lasting peace.' Such were the terms in which the Groom of the Stole thought fit to speak of that great struggle, which had raised the country from a state of dejection at once perilous and despicable to a position of honour and safety. And it was not Avithout the greatest difficulty that Pitt himself, to whom it properly The royal speech to the council. s Lord J. Russell's Introduction to vol.iii. of Bedford Cori'e- spondcnce. NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 73 belonged to frame that portion of the speech which ch. 2. related to the war, could prevail upon the courtier ~7 to consent to a decent modification of it in the printed report.^ Pitt was not perversely opposed to peace; but the peace which he sought was something more than a mere hasty cessation of hostilities. It Avas not enough for him that his country was no longer in danger of insult. He thought that England was in a position to circumscribe the power of that ancient enemy which after long depression had attempted to avenge the chastisement inflicted by Marlborough. Expelled from Asia and Africa, pushed to extremity in America, it still remained that France should be dispossessed of that import- ant acquisition in the Mediterranean Sea, the retention of which must give her too great a pre- ponderance in the balance of Europe. Negotiations for a general peace had in fact Negotiations ft)!" peace. commenced soon after the close 01 the last cam- paign, and it was settled that the plenipotentiaries of the great belligerents should hold their congress at Augsburg. But as the war involved two quarrels, one exclusively concerning Great Britain and France; and another in which the great European powers were particularly interested, it was agreed between the Courts of London and Versailles that it would be convenient to arrange their differences by a preliminary and separate treaty, to which no ^ See Addenda B, p. 1 1 3. 74 NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. Ch. 2. other parties should be admitted but their respec- ~^ tive allies. For the purpose of facilitating this particular negotiation, two diplomatic agents, M. De Bussy, on the part of France, and Mr. Hans Stanly, on the part of England, were respec- tively accredited to the Courts of London and Ver- sailles. The preliminary discussion as to the basis upon which the treaty should proceed, was pro- tracted by Pitt with the view of gaining time for the capture of Belleisle, which he contemplated as an additional security for the recovery of Minorca, the exchanges which would be discussed at a more advanced stage of the negotiation. Belleisle was taken; and though it was urged with truth that this place could not be compared with Minorca as a military possession; yet the occupation of an island almost within the headlands of the coast of France, and naturally belonging to her as much as the Isle of Wight does to England,^ would be an intolerable memorial of her humiliation and defeat. Accordingly, after this event, the negotiations were resumed on the 17 th of June, with every appear- ance of an early and satisfactory issue. The Court of Versailles now assented without hesitation to two important preliminaries proposed by the British government. The first was, that the pend- ing treaty, when concluded, should be absolutely final and independent of the future negotiations at Augsburg. Secondly, that the definitive treaty, ■ Duke of Bedford to Lord Bute. — Bedford Correspondence. FRENCH PROPOSITIONS. 75 or at least the preliminary articles, should be Ch. 2. siffned and ratified before the ensuino; first of ~7 o & 1761 August. The details of the treaty were distributed under Conriitions of , , , , , T\ -r> *^'*^ treaty. SIX principal heads; and upon these JDe J3ussy delivered a paper containing the propositions of his government. They were, for the most part, mode- rate and reasonable, and presented nothing likely to prove a serious difficulty to parties sincerely desirous of effecting a common object. With regard to America, France could do no less than relinquish all claim to the Canadas absolutely; and some conditions for which she stipulated, being refused, were at once withdrawn. As to Africa and India, she wns in the same predicament; and, therefore, her demands, with reference to those quarters, were not insisted upon. It was agreed, that in the West Indies, Guadaloupe and Maria-galante should be restored to France in exchange for Minorca; that France should be repossessed of St. Lucia, and that England should retain Tobago. The inde- pendence of the neutral islands of Dominica and St. Vincent was to be guaranteed. The next article gave rise to serious disagreement. France had been deprived of Senegal and Goree, her two trading settlements on the coast of Africa, during the war ; one of these she wished to have restored. It was of importance, to her honour at least, that she should be repossessed of Belleisle, which was utterly useless to this country, except for the purpose of the negotiation then pending. The 76 1761 FRENCH PROPOSITIONS. Ch. 2 . French proposition was, that Belleisle and one of the African stations should be given up; and that Hesse, Gottingen and Haynau should be evacuated by their arinies. There can be no doubt that this proposition offered an ample equivalent for the con- cessions required. Pitt, however, not only refused to restore either of the settlements in Africa, but re- quired from France the surrender of her conquests in Westplialia and on the Rhine, in addition to those she was willing to relinquish. With this exorbitant demand, France could not be expected to comply. The conquests in Prussia had been gained by her as the ally of the Empress-queen, to whom they properly belonged. It is clear, that they could not have been made the subject of treaty with England, in accordance with the terms upon which Austria had assented to the engagement, by France in a separate treaty with Great Britain; and by which it was expressly stipulated that such treaty should contain no provision detrimental to the Imperial beuveenThe i^^tcrests. The difference between the two Courts Courts. became still wider when the remaining articles came to be dealt with. These were, that England should restore to France, or give her compensation for, all the captures made previously to the declar- ation of war; and, secondly, that both powers should withdraw their troops from Germany. The first of these demands seems no more than equitable. If the comity of nations requires that hostilities should be preceded by formal notice, it is plain that the belligerent who has violated this rule cannot DISCUSSIONS THEREON. justify the retention of any acquisition so obtained Ch. 2. on entering into a treaty of peace. In fact, no ^"7 prize-court in Europe would condemn a cap- ture taken under such circumstances. Civilized warfare would cease to exist, and nations would descend to the practice of pirates if no distinction was to be made between conquests seized before, and those whicli have been made after, a regular proclamation of war. The unconditional restitution of these captures would seem, therefore, to have been an aiFair which concerned the honour of Eng- land rather than that of France. Had the question been determined on its own merits, it is hardly to be conceived, that the high-minded probity of Pitt could for a moment have hesitated as to the course which it became him to take. The last proposition of the French government, which re- ferred to the war in Germany, properly belonged to the general treaty which was to be discussed at Auo:sburo; ; and on that o-round the Eno-Ush minister would have been justified in his refusal to entertain it in this stage of the negotiation. Still, if the treaty had been really, as it was ostensibly, broken off on these grounds, the conduct of Pitt might have been questioned. But if he was satisfied, from the circumstances with which he had long since been acquainted, as well as from the conduct of France herself, that she was not sincere in her offers,^ these grounds might serve as a pretext for ^ See Addenda C, p. 113. 77 78 DE BUSSY'S PROPOSITIONS. Ch. 1761 Interference of France in Spanish affairs. Pitt is offended. putting an end to a futile negotiation. On the 15th of July, De Bussy, the French envoy, presented to the Secretary of State two papers ; the one contained a draft of the articles for the proposed treaty as above enumerated; the other document purported to be a statement of certain claims which the Catholic King preferred upon the government of Great Britain, and urged the settlement of these claims concurrently with the conclusion of the treaty then pending, and as a guarantee for its stability. This interference in matters which exclusively concerned the relations between England and another Court, and in the presence too of the ambassador of that Court, was sufficiently signifi- cant of the connection which had taken place between France and Spain, and of insult intended to be offered to England by the new Alliance. A proceeding so insolent, was sure to receive its merited treatment at the hands of Mr. Pitt. He returned the offensive paper, informing the Frenchman, that his government must not "pre- sume to intermeddle " in the disputes between Great Britain and Spain ; and peremptorily forbade him to introduce such a topic into the negotiation of peace between the two Crowns. At the same time, he instructed the Earl of Bristol, the ambas- sador at Madrid, to inform that Court, that their claims could not be for a moment entertained on the representation of France; to demand a dis- avowal of De Bussy's conduct, and likewise an 79 THE FAMILY COMPACT. explanation of the armaments preparing in the Ch. 2. Spanish ports. Wall, the Spanish minister, ad- ~ mitted, but in soothing and deprecatory terms, that he had authorised the interposition of France in the matter of the Spanish claims; and added a great many pacific assurances, which effectually imposed upon the credulous Bristol. A few days after the Family Compact was signed. By this famous treaty, the Crowns of France The Fiuuiiy and Spain entered into a perpetual alliance, for the mutual defence and guarantee of their respec- tive dominions. Peace and war were to be made by common consent; and the same commercial pri- vileges were to be enjoyed by the subjects of both Crowns. There were several other articles, all tending to create the closest connection that could exist between independent sovereignties. It was stipulated, that none but princes of the house of Bourbon should be admitted to this alliance ; and in accordance with this provision, the privilege of acceding to it Avas reserved to the King of The Two Sicilies, and the infant Duke of Parma. It was agreed that the treaty should not take effect until after the termination of the existing war. Such a Compact was sufficiently formidable to all the Powers of Europe ; but it contained one provision, the aim of which could not be misunderstood. Spain was not to be obliged to aid France by arms, except in case of invasion, or her being engaged in \ war with a maritime power. Pitt has been censured, as if his intolerable 8o SPANISH AFFAIRS. 1761 Ch. 2. arrogance had revolted the French government, and driven them to seek a new alliance. No doubt the tone of the great minister's diplomacy was haughty and uncompromising, like that which he assumed in the senate, in the council, and some- times even in the closet of royalty itself. His peremptory demands might have precipitated, they certainly did not suggest those engagements, into which the Court of France now entered. The FamJly Compact was simply the consummation of that policy which France had steadily pursued for a long series of years, and which this country had resisted with arms more than half a century before. The futility of that resistance had been acknowledged by a peace, which Pitt had declared should not be his model for the treaty which he was prepared to negotiate. Oiir Spanish gtiU it must be admitted, that except by war policy. ' •'• •' no attempt had ever been made by this country to avert the alliance between France and Spain. Five years before, Sir Benjamin Keene, the able and experienced ambassador at Madrid, had reported to Pitt the extreme irritation of that proud and sensitive Court, at the ill treatment she had re- ceived from England. And it is certain that many of her complaints were well founded. They re- ferred chiefly to violations of her flag during the war with France, and for which England did not afford prompt reparation : to breaches of her fiscal laws by British traders, in carrying on a contraband traffic with the colonies, and which England took POLICY OF PITT. 8 1 no pains to repress. The Spanish government had ch. 2. also preferred a claim founded on an article in the ^Z^^ treaty of Utrecht, to fish on the banks of New- foundland: and. long conferences had taken place both at London and Madrid upon this point, but evidently with little care on the part of the former Court to brins: it to a determination. Yet all these matters were capable of ready adjustment; and without regard to motives of particular policy, should have been fairly entertained by virtue of those broad rules of right and justice, which are as obligatory on governments as they are on indivi- duals. But the resentment of Spain was no longer formidable ; and, according to a state-morality, sometimes as short-sighted, as it is always ignoble, her remonstrances were therefore disregarded. Having made his decision, Pitt took prompt Eigorous measures for the renewal of hostilities. He dis- missed the French envoy, and recalled Mr. Hans Stanly. He then assembled the Council, and urged an immediate declaration of war against Spain. But the reluctant and hesitating support which he had received from his colleagues ever since the commencement of the new reign, now became open opposition. They saw only the bold- ness of his policy; and boldness ever appears temerity in the eyes of ordinary men. It was possible, they urged, that Spain might yet be conciliated, and detached from her new alliance. Bristol believed that her intentions were pacific. Such is the tone which weaker minds assume when VOL. I. G 82 HIS RESIGNATION. 1761 Ch. 2. they dare not look inevitable danger in the face. It was in vain that Pitt endeavoured to convince the Butes and the Newcastles. His brother-in-law, Lord Temple, alone supported him, and accordingly he closed the deliberations of the third council, which had assembled to debate his proposition, by announcing in his lofty style, that he held himself accountable to the People who had called him to power, and that he would not be responsible for measures which he could no longer control. Ectircment A fcw days aftcrwards, Pitt resigned the seals of office. Thus, after a duration of four years, was terminated the most splendid and successful ad- ministration that had ever directed the fortunes of Great Britain. I say the administration was at an end ; for though Temple was the only minister who accompanied the secretary in his retirement, the whole genius and policy of the government began and ended with Pitt. All the other members of the cabinet were merely officers of state, who were required to concern themselves only with the routine business of their respective departments. If Pitt condescended to acquaint his colleagues with his measures after they had been matured and decided upon, it was as much as he did, or as they expected. But after all, did the policy of the great statesman confer any substantial benefit upon his country ? For that is the question which the historian, far removed from contemporary passion and prejudice, must consider and endeavour to determine. REVIEW OF HIS POLICY. 83 The public life of Pitt extended to nearly half a Ch. 2. 1761 century; but the eventful part of it was crowded into these four years. All the rest^ though con- ucvicuof taining some noble and splendid passages, was dis- '" ^ i>oh<^y- figured by faction, by pride, and during some part clouded, I fear, by mental aberration. But if Chatham's conduct, previous to 1756, was deeply marked with the traits of overbearing ambition, it is assuredly not chargeable with any of the diffi- culties in which the country was involved at that period. While the Duke of Newcastle was intent only on the maintenance of mere political ascend- ancy ; while the other members of the Government, Avith limited power and responsibility, were chiefly bent on personal aggrandisement, the interests of the nation, little regarded or understood, were treated as subservient to these selfish objects. The consequence was, that the Government lost all vigour and respect both at home and abroad. In- dignant at seeing his country thus sacrificed, Pitt declared that he, and he alone, was able to save her. His remedy was war. And it is plain there was no other remedy. Loyalty, then the ruling prin- ciple, had for upwards of seventy years remained in a state of suspended animation. This alone would have sufficed to deprive public spirit of all energy ; but, in addition, the upper classes had become so enervated by a long course of corrupt and feeble government, that the distant menace of a French invasion, instead of, as in better days, inspiring a G 2 84 VENALITY OF PARLIAMENT. Ch. 2. genuine spirit of resistance, became a subject of 1761 exaggerated terror and alarm. Pitt had endea- voured to rouse Parliament to a sense of duty; but eloquence, the like of which had not been heard since the days of Greece, was in vain lavished on a packed and venal assembly. Some faint echoes of this patriotic oratory reached many who were not unworthy of the name of Englishmen, and, pro- pagated by report, caused thousands to fix their affections on that Great Commoner, who they fondly hoped was destined to become the saviour of his country. Peace is a great, but not an inesti- mable, blessing ; and when war is the only alterna- tive to a state of national prostration, it is readily to be preferred. Nay, even an appeal to the old animosity between England and her great neigh- bour was better than the demoralising rule of Newcastle and his Parliaments. But, apart from these higher considerations, this country could not then, at least, safely permit her great rival to attain a military preponderance. Moreover, it was evi- dent that England must submit to the dictation of France, and surrender a portion of her foreign do- minions, unless she was prepared to vindicate her rights and her honour by the sword. War policy The principal scene of war had been determined of Pitt. , , T ' 1 T-I 1 by the enemy. it was m the new world that with France strove for mastery her old rival. We have seen how Pitt provided for the conflict in America, and the great results of his wise and ener- getic measures. He formed, at the same time, PITT'S CONSISTENCY. 85 extensive schemes for harassing the enemy at sea, Ch. 2. on his own soil, and on the continent of Europe. ^I^^ The expeditions to Rochefort and St. Malo have been censured, as if their object had been incommen- surate v/ith their vast expense ; but, in fact, these adventures formed part of an extensive scheme of operations, the principle of which was to distract the attention and divide the resources of the enemy. Kor was Pitt to be deterred by any idle charges of inconsistency from availing himself of every means for the successful prosecution of the war. His early Parliamentary fame had been chiefly ac- quired by denunciations against the mode of carry- ing on war by subsidising petty military states; but the practice so reprobated was a gross abuse of a system which, under appropriate circumstances, might be highly recommended to a war minister. For England to take into her pay a petty chieftain, who might or might not bring into the field his contingent of all-appointed troops' — was one thing: to aid a great military monarch, of consummate ability, and already in the field at the head of a splendid army — was another. There could be no just comparison between the w^aste of a hundred thousand pounds upon the Elector of Hesse, and the grant of half a million to the King of Prussia. The Great Commoner had well and wisely de- nounced Hanoverian wars for the sake of Hanover; ' PelhaiB to Duke of Newcastle, Oct. 25th, 1748. — Coxe's Pelham. 86 HIS SUBORDINATES. Ch. 2. but when England was to be attacked through the ^ .^ side of Hanover, he as well and as wisely de- clared that the protection of Hanover should be as dear to this country as that of Hampshire. Character of Still, it was to little purpose that skilful plans Put s agents. ' ••• ^ ^ were devised, unless fitting agents could be found to carry them into execution. The genius of a great minister is never more signalised than in dis- covering such agents. Pitt may almost be said to have created his captains. In defiance of all mili- tary usage and etiquette, he selected a young regimental officer for the conduct of the great en- terprise, which was the leading feature of his plans ; and the fame of Pitt must for ever be associated with that of Wolfe. Such cautious veterans as Loudon and Holbourne, who never committed themselves, Avere not the men for him. Even Hawke and Amherst were difi'erent officers under Pitt and under Newcastle. The whole public ser- vice was animated by his zeal and energy. Provision for If, tlicu, it is admitted — and it can hardly be questioned — that England at this time had no alternative but war or submission, it surely follows that such a war must be undertaken on a scale of magnitude proportioned to the great contending powers, and the cause for which they fought. On the one side it was a war of aggression, which, if sufi'ered to proceed unchecked might have reduced the empire to a province; on the other, not only our colonial possessions, but the civil and religious liberties of the nation were placed in jeopardy. To COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY. carry on a war according to such exigencies, must cii. 2. necessarily involve a vast expenditure. But, though ~ he spent enormous sums, it was the singular fortune of this minister to have it recorded of him that the very treasure applied to the purposes of war at the same time promoted those pursuits which are sup- posed to be fostered only by peace. The merchants of London have commemorated the rule of their revered statesman as one ' which united commerce with, and made it flourish by war.' And in days when the principles of free exchange had never been broached save in the writings of some French theorists, and when the navigation laws were in full force, foreign con- quests Avere valuable as affording markets for home manufactures, and consequently employment for shipping. It must, I think, be agreed, therefore, that this Results of great administration was beneficial as it was glorious. Not only was the national honour vindicated, and the best security for peace taken, in the assurance that England was still, as ever, willing and able to resent an insult, but the physical power of the enemy was, for a time at least, crippled. His fleets were driven from the British waters — dispersed or destroyed. We had conquered all his important pos- sessions in the Atlantic and the Caribbean sea, besides his great dependencies on the St. Lawrence. Lidia was also wholly lost to him, though this was a happy coincidence in which Pitt had no concern. It only remained that the united House of Bourbon 87 88 NEWCASTLE'S INTRIGUES. Ch. 2. should be prostrated, and there can be little doubt jT^j that this would have been accomplished, had not the minister been checked in his career. His plans for an attack on the Spanish dominions in the West Indies and in the China seas were all matured, and would probably have been as successful then, as they afterwards were, when their success was at- tended with less important consequences than must have resulted from prompt hostilities. But medi- ocrity and intrigue had regained their ascendancy in the British councils,™ and Pitt was prevented bringing his great work to an appropriate con- clusion. Exultation of The Dukc of Ncwcastlc who had maintained a Newcastle on the fall of prudent neutrality during the earlier deliberations of the cabinet upon Pitt's proposition, and had only ventured to pronounce against it when he found that it was sure to be rejected, gave utter- ance to much exultation at the fall of his great colleague." A minister who avowed his responsi- bility to the people, and whose policy was directed only to the public good, must have appeared to the last degree mischievous and dangerous to a politician whose only notion of government was the coarsest management of the House of Commons. Misgivinfxs But Lord Bute, thouo;h he probably entertained of Lord Bute. , _ ° ^ •' the same opinion of Pitt, had many misgivings as to the success of the bold step which he had taken in dismissing the popular minister; nor could he "" See Addenda D, p. 1 1 3. " See Addenda E. p. 1 1 3. PITT SUCCUMBS TO COURT FAVOUR. 89 be re-assured by the congratulations of Newcastle, Ch. 2. or even by the magnanimous offer of Bubb Dod- ~ ington to brave public obliquy by filling the vacant office of Secretary of State. ^ There was indeed every reason to apprehend that in his fall Pitt would drag down the government with him. The ominous murmur of public indignation was already audible. The oidy chance of averting the danger was to discredit the popular idol by making him an object of Court favour. That imperious spirit who could dictate his will to Europe, had, as his enemies well knew, a weak and vulnerable part. He could not withstand the blandishments of royalty. Accordingly, a scheme was laid for his ruin. When he entered the closet to lay the seals of office at the feet of his Sovereign he was received with the most gracious affability and kindness. Civil expressions of regret at his retirement were accompanied by the offer of rewards and honours. It is pitiful to reflect that this great public servant, influence of who had but the day before used such noble Ian- on Pitt, guage in quitting the association of a low-minded cabal, sliould be so unmanned on finding that he had not, by doing his duty to his country, lost the favour of his youthful Sovereign, as to weep. Plis tears were aptly accompanied by his words. 'I confess, Sir,' he is reported to have said, 'I had but too much reason to expect your Majesty's dis- pleasure. I did not come prepared for this Lord Melcombe to Bute. 90 CHATHAM BECOMES UNPOPULAR. Ch. 2. exceeding goodness. Pardon me, Sire, it over- "7 powers, it oppresses me.' Lady Hester The success of this experiment encouraged the Baroness Court to perscverc. An intimation was made of His Majesty's gracious desire to bestow large emolu- ments and honours on his late minister. These offers were received with abundant gratitude, and it was humbly signified by the great commoner that a peerage and a pension conferred upon his wife would be acceptable. Lady Hester was after this immediately created Baroness Chatham, with a pension of £3000 a year for three lives. Thus did the Court faction succeed, for the mo- ment at least, in disparaging their illustrious rival, and in averting the danger which threatened their own existence. The populace, of course, exclaimed that Pitt was a traitor and a hireling; preparations which had been made for offering him public honours were countermanded, and for a few davs nothing was heard but the clamour of invective and scurrility. It is needless, at the present day, to vindicate the fame of Chatham from any imputation in respect of these honours and rewards. Every taint of sordid corruption was repelled by the bright integrity of his character. Had money been his object, he might long since have enriched himself by what were then considered the fair emoluments of ofHce, but which his unsophisticated honour did not hesitate to reject. But he did not hold himself precluded from accepting a moderate acknowledg- CLAMOUR AGAINST CHATHAM. 9 1 ment of his services. It is indeed a mean doctrine, Ch. 2. and one essentially dano-erous to monarchical Go- 1751 vernment, that a man who has done good service to his country, cannot, without injury to his fame, accept the favours which it is in the power of the Crown to bestow. Though titles and pensions can- not purchase signal service, that is surely no reason why such merit should contemn inadequate rewards. Honours, which are of no intrinsic worth, but have their value only in public opinion, must be depreciated and ultimately rendered worthless, if genius and virtue will not condescend to wear them. The vulgar clamour against the Chatham peerage Lord Mayor's and pension soon subsided, and when Pitt w^nt into the city on Lord Mayor's day, a month after his retirement from office, he was received with every mark of attachment and veneration. His appearance on that occasion, in the royal procession, in an humble equipage, was a part of that stage play and study of effect which formed so strange a blemish in his character. The parade of poverty is as unworthy as the parade of wealth; and it was quite beneath Pitt's great position to descend into the streets of London and bid for the shouts of the populace against the young king and his consort. It is a satisfaction to add^ that he was afterwards ashamed of the part he had taken in that day's proceedings, into which he had been led, against his better taste, to gratify the zeal of Beckford and the spite of Temple. 92 MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. Ch 2, Parliament met early in November, but the I -6 1 government had no cause to trouble itself as to the Parliament iudo-nient that assemblv misrht pronounce on recent meets. i^ o ./ o i events. It was the same abject and complaisant Parliament which, in the pay and under the guid- ance of Newcastle, had listened with apathy to the eloquence of Pitt in opposition; — had afterwards passed his measures without question, when he was in office, and was ready again to disregard his eloquence, now that he was out of power. The A new leader lead of the House of Commous was entrusted to of the house of Commons, Georgc Grenvillc, a brother of Lord Temple — a man, who by unwearied assiduity and slow degrees, had obtained a considerable position in the House of Commons. His portrait has been handed down to us by the masterly strokes of his great contem- porary, and has been again delineated by the no less skilful hand of a living historian. p Grenville had been destined for the chair of the House of Com- mons; his knowledge of Parliamentary business — his devoted attachment to the House, and the decorum of his manners, would have well qualified him for that dignified position, but his evil fortune and that of the nation placed him in a very different post ; and the firmness of temper, which under the restraint of law and precedent, might have been well adapted to moderate the debates of a popular assembly, Avas afterwards signalised by a fatal P Burke's speech on American taxation. — IMacaulay's Review of the Life of Chatham ; Edinburgh Review. MR. GRENVILLE. j)erseverance in a quarrel, which he had wantonly Ch. 2. provoked, and a policy which he did not compre- "7 hend. Even on the present occasion, when he was not advanced to the responsibility of First Minister, his want of tact was remarkable. According to the classification of a temporary observer, there were at this time four political parties : first. New- State of castle and his Parliament following; second, Pitt and popularity ; third, Lord Bute and the Crown ; fourth, the Duke of Bedford and Fox.^ Grenville was consulted by Bute in making the new arrange- ments consequent upon Pitt's resignation; he must have known, therefore, that it was intended to get rid of Newcastle on the first opportunity. Yet he, himself, must further reduce the strength of the government, which was already weak enough, by refusing the friendly overtures of Fox and his powerful connection."^ A Whig himself, it was with his entire concurrence, if not at his instance, that the administration Avas recruited almost exclu- sively from the Tory party. Lord Egremont, the son of the celebrated Sir William Wyndham, inheriting his father's politics, and some portion of his talents, was, on Grenville's recommendation, appointed Secretary of State in the room of Pitt.^ No sooner was the change in the Cabinet of St. 93 1 Symmers to Mitchell. — Chat. Corr. Nari'i: Ibid. '' Nari'ative in Mrs. Grenville's hand-\Yriting. — Grenville Corr. p4 ALTERED TONE OF SPAIN Ch. 2. James's known at Madrid than the tone of that ~Z Court was altered. The pacific assurances with Si)anish which the stern interpellations of Pitt had been '^ ''"** answered by the Spanish minister, were uncere- moniously discontinued. Reparations for the wrongs which had been asked of Pitt in a tone never rising beyond that of earnest expostulation, were now peremptorily demanded; while the modest request of the British government for information as to the nature of the treaty which had just been concluded between France and Spain was as promptly refused. The form of friendly relations was soon after dis- carded. The Earl of Bristol was ordered to leave Madrid, and the Conde de Fuentes was recalled from London. The Spanish ambassador, in an- nouncing to the Secretary of State the revocation of his credentials^ affected to appeal to the British nation against the policy of the government, and railed against Pitt, by name, in a strain of bitter invective.* This insolence was reproved by Egre- War declared mout with Spirit and dignity. A declaration of war was immediately, and almost simultaneously, published at London and at Madrid. Spanish pro- Thus, witliiu a fcw wccks after the policy of peaceful Pitt had been condemned by the all but unanimous voice of the cabinet, that policy was forced back upon England, under circumstances of disadvan- tage, and almost of shame. To all eyes not blinded by jealousy, nor incapable of following the course ' See Addenda F, p. 1 15. motives. TO THE NEW MINISTRY. p^ of events, it must have been manifest from the ch. 2. note on Spanish grievances, presented to the ~7 government by De Bussy, in the month of July, that there was ah^eady an understanding between the two great branches of the House of Bourbon hostile to this country. The English government was to be amused until the annual flotilla of merchandise should have arrived from the AVest Indies. That important event took place during the deliberation of the council on Pitt's proposition for an immediate declaration of war; and on the second of November, when the two remaining trea- sure-ships arrived in the port of Cadiz, the flimsy professions of peace which had throughout imposed on Bristol, were laid aside as no longer necessary. Had the counsels of Pitt been promptly adopted, the two rich galleons, which did not reach Europe till November, must certainly have been intercepted by the English cruisers, and thus the wealth of the enemy would have been made to contribute to the expense of the British armament. Peace, the political principle upon which the go- Hopelessness .of peace. vernment of Bute sought to found itself, had indeed vanished at the outset. But there remained a subordinate principle of a much more plausible kind; that, namely, of renouncing German con- nections. The nation regarded the continental possessions of the Hanoverian princes with great aversion; and nothing more effectually retarded the advancement of those princes in the good will of their new subjects, than the yearning which 96 PUBLIC DISLIKE TO HANOVER. Ch. 2. they naturally evinced towards the home of their "7 youth and the inheritance of their fathers. The 1761 '' early denunciations of Pitt against German alli- ances and German subsidies, had contributed to his popularity more even than his advocacy of war with France. There is a j)lain distinction which I have endeavoured to point out between the system of subsidies which Pitt reprobated in opposition, and that which he adopted in power; but the people, who seldom discriminate, or comprehend more than one view of a question, could hardly tolerate what was not, perhaps, the least efficient part of their own minister's war policy. Bute ad- dressed himself to this prejudice — to which it is probable enough his own capacity and information descended. The organs of government, both in parliament and in the press, argued the question on the narrow invidious and false assumption, that England could have no other object in engaging in war on the soil of Germany than the particular benefit of Hanover. It was probably, therefore, the intention of Bute at all events to discontinue the subsidy to the King of Prussia. Noble conduct jS[ow was the time when Pitt mio-ht have exulted of Pitt. T . ,. 1 . T 1 in the vmdication of his policy, and retorted upon the jealous and ignorant cabal by which he had been overruled. Human nature could not alto- gether forbear under such temptation; but the illustrious statesman, without affectedly abstaining from the topic, shewed no desire to indulge in the mortification of his late colleagues. The malignity MAGNANIMITY OF PITT. oy of his detractors he utterly disregarded. ' Time of Ch. 2. war,' he said, ' was no season for personal alterca- ~7 tion. In the face of the common enemy, England should be united as one man. To bring the war to a glorious end, to exalt the power and reputation of his country was enough for him,' The preparations which he had made, and which the government had not had time to frustrate, probably insured the result. Tlie spirit which he had infused into the public service, could not be immediately quenched. The officers whom he had placed at the head of our fleets and armies were still at their posts. Meanwhile, the Family Alliance had been seek- The family 1 , 111 alliance. mg to strengthen themselves by the support of some of those European Powers which had as yet maintained neutrality. Having made overtures to Holland without success, they sought by intimida- tion to detach Portugal from her ancient connec- tion with this country. The Court of Lisbon, helpless itself, could only appeal to England for protection. This appeal could not be evaded; and in pursuance of a royal message, a subsidy of a million was granted by the Commons to His Faithful Majesty. A body of British troops was likewise sent to the Tagus. Parliament was, however, prorogued, without rariiameiit having voted the usual aid to that ' magnanimous " "^'"^ ' ally,' whose services had been distinguished by such honourable mention in the speech from the Throne at the commencement of the session. VOL. I. H 98 CONTINENTAL POLICY. Ch. 2. But circumstances liad lately occurred which ~7 materially affected any claim that Frederick might Our Prussian havc preferred to a continuation of the annual sub- ^°^"^^' sidy. Early in the year, the Czarina Elizabeth had died, and her successor, a passionate admirer of Frederick, immediately abandoned the Austrian alliance, and attached himself zealously to the cause of the Prussian monarch. Sweden had become neutral. On the other hand, England was engaged with a new and powerful enemy ; and in compliance with the positive obligation of treaty, as above- mentioned, had been called upon to aid her ancient ally, Portugal, with money and arms, to a very great extent."^ It was undoubtedly competent to this country at any time to discontinue those sub- sidiary treaties which she had annually concluded with Prussia, ever since the commencement of the war; and, however binding the terms of these treaties might be in respect of alliance, they im- ported no engagement to grant pecuniary aid be- yond the obligation specifically incurred in each j)articular year. And even as to the compact of alliance, it would have been absurd to construe the language in which that compact was created, in its strictly literal sense ; for if neither party was to be at liberty ' to conclude any treaty of peace, truce or neutrality,' without the concurrence of the other, the wilfulness or particular interest of either might keep the war alive as long as he pleased. A treaty " See Addenda G, p. 115. ALLIANCE WITH PRUSSIA. po is to be interpreted, like every other contract, in a Ch. 2. reasonable sense. But tliouo;h the English Govern- ~ ment was bound by public faith not to entertain the proposition for neutrality in the German war, unless Prussia had been a party to the negotiation, tlie continuance of the subsidy was entirely an open question. Our alliance with Frederick was obviously of an Consequences occasional and selfish character. We found him pmssian J ' Till* ii? 1 ' 'j. alliance. engaged ni a war provoked by himseli, and ni its connnencement hostile to British interests as far as they were affected by Hanoverian connections. His own petulance had alone prevented that alliance with the French, which it was his obvious policy to cultivate. The Convention of 1756, which was the only engagement subsisting between Great Britain and Prussia, merely bound the two powers to resist the entrance of foreign troops into Germany during the continuance of the American war; the object of Great Britain being to protect Hanover from France, and of Frederick to guard his dominions against the invasion of Pussia. England had amply fulfilled her part of this compact by the mili- tary contingent which she had placed at the dis- posal of the Prussian monarch, as well as by the other succours she had rendered him in the shape of subsidies and muniments of war. During the entire length of the seven years' war, an army in the pay of England had kept the French so well employed that, except in the short interval between the Convention of Closterseven, and the return of H 2 with Prussia. lOO ENGAGEMENTS WITH PRUSSIA. Ch. 2. Pitt to power, when Frederick fought the great ~7 battle of Eosbach, he never encountered a French 1762 ' army. And it is to be observed that, loudly as he inveighed against the treaty of Closterseven, as exposing him to utter destruction, the Prussian monarch never impugned it as a breach of faith. Engafrements The war in America being at an end, the terms of the convention of 1756 would have been literally satisfied, whatever might have been the circum- stances in which the departure of the British forces from Germany might have left the King of Prussia. And it can hardly be questioned that the spirit of that treaty would have been sufficiently consulted by stipulating at the same time for the withdrawal of the French army. It is true that Frederick would be left in a desperate condition ; but it did not ap- pear that his position could be amended by the maintenance of the war between France and Eng- land on the soil of Germany : he would still be left, as heretofore, to maintain an unequal conflict with the united power of Austria and Russia. The result of that conflict was a matter of no great moment to this country, which was at that time but little concerned in preserving the integrity of Prussia. It might, indeed, have been agreeable to a sentiment of chivalrous generosity not to desert a gallant ally in his struggle with an overwhelming force; but to expend blood and treasure in such a cause was certainly not consistent with those sound maxims of policy which alone ought to guide the conduct of a great nation. NEWCASTLE'S POSITION. lOi The Duke of Newcastle, however, availed, himself Ch. 2. of this occasion to anticipate the last indignity ~^^ which remained to be offered to him in a dismissal Newcastle from office. Every slight, short of positive con- indignity. tumely, which could be thought of had been heaped upon him ever since the commencement of the new reign. Nominally prime minister, he had never been consulted upon any point of policy. Even Pitt had thought it necessary to go through the form at least of taking his opinion upon the mea- sures which he adopted. But he had left to the First Lord of the Treasury the entire control of that department of administration with which he Avas perfectly familiar, and in which he took the great- est delight. The whole of the ordinary patronage of the Government was dispensed by Newcastle. The important art of ' gratifying' Members of Par- liament and distributing places was unknown to the leader of the House of Commons. But it was quite incompatible with the designs of the Earl of Bute that this arrangement should continue. Pitt had been removed from the direction of the State ; but the object of the Court was only half accom- plished while Newcastle had the management of that great engine of corruption by means of which the King's Government was, in those days, car- ried on. This province, which Newcastle had jealously retained in his own hands, through the successive changes of administrations since the time when he refused to admit his brothei*, Pelham, though chief resigns. 1 02 NEWCASTLE'S RESIGNATION. Ch. 2. minister in the Lower House, to any share in it, ~7 was now rudely invaded. Boroughs were disposed of, places were given away without his knowledge, or in opposition to his wishes. His complaints were unheeded ; and his recommendations were met with significant hints that power had passed into other Newcastle hands. Convinced at length that such was the fact, Newcastle prepared for the dreaded hour of resignation. The opportunity which he chose was at least decent and consistent. He had always supported the German subsidies, and if they were to be withdrawn, the time was not very well chosen, when another great European power had joined the alliance of the enemy. No part, indeed, of the Duke of Newcastle's public life became him so much as his retirement from it. He had trafficked more largely in jobbing and corruption than any minister before or since ; yet, as far as he was per- sonally concerned, his hands were as clean as those of that spotless colleague who was somewhat too fond of vaunting their purity. Not only was the whole of his own official emolument thus ex- pended in the public service, but the greater part of his private fortune had been lavished in the same way. We learn from competent authority^ that a landed estate worth £25,000 a year was reduced to the value of £6,000 at his final retire- ment from office; but when the King, on that occasion, referred to the pecuniary sacrifices which " Symmers to Mitchell, 31st Dec, 1762. — Mitchell MSS. Chatham Correspondence. BUTE AT THE HEAD OF THE GOVEIINMENT. 103 he had made to the House of Hanover, and oiFered ch. 2. hhn a pension, the Duke replied with dignity, that ~ he was sufficiently rewarded by his Majesty's ac- knowledgement of his services, and begged leave to decline any compensation. Bute, being thus wholly released from those Eari of Bute's connections which had repressed his giddy ambition, immediately placed himself at the head of the Government, and still more to disgust public opinion, always adverse to the sudden exaltation even of distinguished merit, he assumed the in- signia of that illustrious order, which, if not always conferred upon those most deserving, is esteemed the highest personal honour which the Crown has to bestow. Grenville was appointed Secretary of State, and Sir Francis Dashwood was made Chancellor of the Exchequer. The great ability and experience of Walpole, backed by the unbounded confidence of the Crown, and by the staunch adherents of the Revolution settlement, were unable to withstand that opposition which had been created by his arrogance of power. But the Court favour which AValpole enjoyed Avas founded entirely upon his merit as a public servant; that of Bute had no other origin than royal caprice. There had been no royal favourite thrust into state affairs since the ill-omened precedent of George Villiers ; and Bute had none of the brilliant quali- ties wdiich dazzled the people in the person of Buckino-ham. Besides these deficiencies, there was another serious objection to this Lord of the Bed- 1762 Lord Bute. 104 POLICY OF LORD BUTE. Ch. 2. chamber; — he was a Scotchman; the prejudice of race, which has hardly disappeared even in these hberal and enlightened days, was at that time strongly prevalent; and the presumptuous upstart was perhaps more frequently and bitterly reviled for his birth than for his many real demerits. Policy of The principles upon which Bute professed to conduct the administration were, as we have seen, plausible enough. His foreign policy was to be that of peace, and the abandonment of continental connections. At home, prerogative was to be res- cued from the hands of faction, and restored to independence ; while the system of government by bribery and corruption was wholly to cease. We shall now see how these principles were carried out. The first step towards the emancipation of prero- gative, it is to be supposed, had been already taken, by the dismissal of the chiefs of parties and the introduction of new men into the principal offices of the state. Bute's reprobation of those odious means which former administrations had employed for the purpose of securing parliamentary support to the most wise and beneficial principles of policy^ seemed to evince a sincere reliance on the efficacy of his principle of government by prerogative ; and it must be admitted that he did not resort to those means until he found he could not go on Avithout them. The design of restoring peace, and severing England from a connection with German politics was to be commended ; not so his mode of carrying it into effect. In those enterprises, for the accom- WEST INDIA EXPEDITIONS. 1 05 plishment of which he relied upon his own resources, Ch; 2. he signally failed. But he succeeded in bringing ~^ about a peace, and detaching England from German connections, because the genius of his predecessor had foreseen, and provided the means of successfully prosecuting, the war which Bute had vainly thought evitable. The impulse which Pitt had given to the war in fact continued as long as his successor was disposed to carry it on; and thus, perhaps, in a great measure, prevented any disaster or mis- chance which might have resulted from inferior management. After the conquest of Canada, Pitt had projected Expedition against an expedition against Martinique, the most impor- Martinique, tant possession of the French among the West India islands, purposing, with a view to the Spanish war which he saw impending, that the same force should afterwards be directed against the Havan- nah. A squadron, under the command of Admiral Rodney, and the land forces which had been em- ployed in North America under General Monckton, were dispatched on this service; and early in the year 1762, intelligence arrived in England that Martinique, and with it, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and a chain of islands extending from Hispaniola almost to the continent of South Ame- rica, had surrendered. Thus the whole of the French possessions in the Caribbean seas were reduced, for the island of Dominica had been taken by Lord Rolls a few months before. The foil of Mar- tinique, which had been pronounced impregnable Io6 THE HAVANNAH TAKEN. Ch. 2. by the French engineers, produced a deep impression 1762 ^* Paris, and even throughout Europe.^ Still it was Eaii of the thought that the Havannah, from its great strength, might be successfully defended. But a reinforce- ment arriving from England, this great enterprise was undertaken with that zdal and energy which Pitt may be said to have restored to the British arms. All the difficulties which the art of the engineer could oppose to invasion, and a garrison equal in numbers to themselves, were not, perhaps, the most formidable obstacles which they had to en- counter. A climate and a season destructive to the European frame, caused more havoc in their ranks than the resistance of the enemy. But success at length rewarded their indomitable per- severance, and the Havannah — the richest prize of the whole war, and one which determined its event as far as Spain was concerned — yielded to tlie British flag. Fifteen sail of the line, besides smaller ships and merchantmen, together with treasure to the amount of three millions sterlino'. Attack on the formed a part of this conquest. Within a few Philippine i n 1 ' 1 islands. weeks alter this great event, an attack upon the Philippine islands belonging to Sj^ain in the Indian Archipelago, which had been planned by Pitt, was carried into execution, with success, by Sir William Draper, the English officer commanding at Madras. Thus, without a single reverse, except the occupa- tion of St. John's, Newfoundland, by the French for a few weeks, had a series of victories effectually y Sir R. Lyttelton to Pitt. — Chatham Corr. REVERSES OF THE BOURBONS. 107 humbled the pride and insolence of the allied House Ch. 2. of Bourbon. On the continent of Europe, likewise, ~^^ the family encountered defeat. The Spanish forces ii„nniiati<.n had made considerable progress in Portugal; but of Bombou. on the appearance of the British auxiliaries they were forced to retreat ; and, in a short time, they evacuated the Portuo-uese territory. Frederick, with Russia at his side, instead of opposed to him, was enabled to retrieve the position he had lost the year before; and though the aid of Russia was withdrawn in the middle of the campaign, in con- sequence of the demise of the crown, and another change of policy at St. Petersburg, he was still, as he had always been, more than a match for Austria alone. In Westphalia the British and Hanoverian army, under Ferdinand, gained important advan- tages. They recovered G()ttingen, and thus the French were driven out of Hanover. They were defeated in a pitched battle, and obliged to take shelter under the cannon of Cassel. The siege of Cassel was formed, and that strong garrison which formed a base for the French operations in Northern Germany, surrendered to Ferdinand. And with this operation the war in Germany terminated. Bute, whose eagerness for peace would probably Negotiations , • T , .for peace. have found as ready an argument m disaster as iii triumph, now made overtures to France and Spain, through the medium of the Sardinian minister, and meeting with a ready response, the preliminaries were actually arranged before intelligence could arrive in England of the result of that great expe- dition to the Havannah, which had been despatched io8 BUTE'S ANXIETY FOR PEACE. Ch. 2. by Bute himself, although planned by his prede- 1762 cessor. The fate of the attempt on the Philippine islands was treated with equal indifference. Un- dertakings which had tasked the greatest abilities of both services were regarded as of no account in the negotiation ; for it was expressly agreed that any conquests niade by the British arms, and noc yet known — a term which was of course meant to apply to these particular enterprises — should be unconditionally restored. Grimaldi, the Spanish minister, was not so improvident. He delayed signing the preliminaries until advices should arrive from the West Indies; willing, in case of favour- able tidings, to improve the position of his court in the negotiation, and calculating, as well he might, from the conduct of the British government, that however great the success of their fleets and armies, they would still be willing to conclude a peace upon the same terms. Nor was he altogether mistaken. Had it rested with Bute, no advantage whatever would have been demanded, in considera- tion of restoring all those invaluable possessions of Spain in both Indian Seas, from which she derived one of her proudest titles. What were the Havan- nah and Manilla against the remotest chance of missing the peace? Happily, however, councils somewhat more in accordance with sober policy prevailed in the English cabinet. It was insisted upon that, for the sake of appearances at least, some equivalent should be required for such important concessions. An equivalent — a nominal one, in- deed, — though perhaps the best that Spain could CONDITIONS OF THE PEACE. 1 09 afford, was readily yielded in the extensive but Ch. 2. barren and useless province of Florida; for, not- ~^ withstandino' that the French court had endea- voured to frighten the Duke of Bedford and Lord Bute with the wrath of the Marquis Grimaldi, in the event of the smallest compensation being re- quired from Spain for the restitution of Cuba; there can be little doubt that both De Choiseul and Grimaldi were as anxious for peace as Bedford and Bute, although the Bourbon ministers acted Avith too much discretion and regard for the dignity of their respective courts to make it quite so manifest. As there could be no real difficulty in the way ^^IH^^'^^X^^ negotiation Avhen the party, who was in a position Nov.3. to dictate its terms, declined this advantage, and was prepared to make almost any concession, the treaty of peace was signed at Fontainebleau on the third of November. The principal articles were the same as had been proposed by the French court the year before, and modified by Pitt. The whole of the French provinces in North America were ceded, with liberty to the French settlers to retire, or, if they remained, to enjoy the unrestricted exercise of their religion. The French were con- firmed in the right of fishing on the banks of New- foundland, which they had acquired by the treaty of Utrecht. In the AVest Indies, England retained Tobago, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Granada ; and restored Martinique and St. Lucia. In Africa, the French obtained the restitution of one of their set- tlements, Goree, which Pitt had refused. In the no CONDITIONS OF THE PEACE. Ch. 2. East Indies, the French were to have no military ~ occupation, but their factories were restored. Conditions of With regard to Europe, it was agreed that tiie ticatj. fj-ance and England should withdraw altogether from the German war. Hesse and Hanover were to be evacuated by the French troops, too^ether Avith Wesel and Gueldres, her retention of which had in the former negotiation been made a point of honour by France, as being held for the Empress Queen, as the ally of that sove- reign. Minorca and Belleisle were to be exchanged, and the fortifications of Dunkirk reduced, in con- formity with the provisions of the treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle. Spain was compelled to submit to still deeper humiliation. For a series of years, that court had preferred complaints against Great Britain, founded upon three capital points. The first referred to the captures which had been made by British cruisers during the war. The second to the claim asserted of cutting logwood in Honduras. The third to the right of the Spanish to fish on the banks of Newfoundland. These grievances formed the subject of that famous memorial which De Bussy had ventured to tack on to the manifesto of his own government: and were subsequently made the grounds of the Spanish declaration of war. Every one of these points was now given up. The question as to the captures was referred to the English Court of Admiralty. The right of British subjects to cut logwood at Honduras was recog- nised and protected. The claim of the Spanish to CONDITIONS OF THE PEACE. i j j 1762 fish on the banks of Newfoundland was formally Ch. 2 abandoned. Had Pitt remained in power, it is probable that instead of concluding the peace of Paris, he would have profited by the complete success of his own policy to strike a final and fatal blow at the united House of Bourbon. But there is a point beyond which even triumph and success may be unsafely pushed ; and it was better perhaps that Bute should bring a glorious war to an abrupt and undignified termination, than that a minister of surpassing genius and patriotic pride should continue to sti- mulate his country's appetite for conquest and military fame. The despair too of a great enemy is formidable, and it was as well to stop short of extreme provocation. England might perhaps at that time have retained Belleisle and taken Minorca ; kept possession of the Havannah, and dissolved the Family Compact. By such a course of proceeding, France might have been insulted and Spain injured, but no permanent benefit could have been secured to the haughty conqueror. On the contrary, the internal resources of those great nations, and the gallant spirit of their people, must at no distant day have led to a renewal of the conflict, when England, no longer possessed of her Chatham to direct her councils and rally her powers, might in her turn have experienced the vicissitudes of human affairs. It was better as it was. The details of the treaty are open to criticism ; but it secured to this country everything worth having, or that she Avas likely to maintain. 1 1 2 GENERAL PEACE Ch. 2. A general pacification followed. Austria and jl^^ Prussia, left alone on the battle-field of Europe, exhausted by seven years of war, deserted by their respective allies, and finding that neither had gained, nor was likely to gain, any advantage over the other, were at last content to cease from strife. The terms were short and simple. Each party consented to withdraw within his own territory, which was to have the same limits as before the war. It would have been well if so much energy and ability as had been displayed on this great theatre had been merely thrown away; or even if the mischief had been confined to the blood and treasure actually expended in the conflict. But profusely as these were lavished, they were the least in the amount of evil inflicted on the human race by this desolating strife. All the nobler ends, nay, even the ordinary purposes of civil government were neglected or abandoned in the countries where this glorious game of war was played ; the peaceful inhabitants were ruined; in many districts their homes Avere plundered, dishonoured, and destroyed, and themselves left to perish ; the fruits of the earth trampled down, and the soil itself devastated. We are fain to hope that the present generation entertain juster views than the world has hitherto recognised; and that religion and reason may henceforth find themselves adequately reinforced by education and interest in averting, when possible, the enormous wickedness and retributive calamities of war. ADDENDA TO CHAP. II. (A. p. 59.) 'A trifling incident which occurred on his Self- posses- accession showed the power he had acquired over his counte- r."" " ,,t i i _ (jrcorgc III. nance and manner. He had arranged beforehand with one of his grand flither's attendants, that a particular message or note should signify to him the death of George the Second. The note was brought to him when he was riding. He shewed no emotion ; but, observing that his horse was lame, turned his head homewards; when he got off his horse, he told the groom, in a whisper, that he had said the horse was lame, and desired he might not be contradicted.' — Lord J. Rus- sell's Introduction to Bedford Correspondence, vol. iii. — From Walpole's Memoirs of George the Third. (B. p. 73.) The words, as uttered by Pitt, were 'an ex- Chatham's pensive but just and necessary war,' and a 'peace in concert tile'lva",° with our allies.' (C. p. 77.) 'I can hardly persuade myself that she l^"ke of Bed- [France] is in earnest to conclude such a peace; or, should she be willing to do it, that it is only to take breath in order to break it, when she shall again have recruited her strength!' — Duke of Bedford to Bute, June i^th, 1761. — Bedford Correspondence, vol. iii. (D. p. 88.) ' The favourite, united with the minister of Temple to numbers, bore down the minister of measures, and, by that means, in effect removed him from the King and Council, and deprived him of the means of farther serving the public' — Earl Temple to Wilkes, Oct. i6th, 1761. — Gren- ville Papers. (E. p. 88.) ' I never saw the Duke in higher spirits than Colebrookc's after Pitt, thwarted by the cabinet in his proposal of de- ^ daring war against Spain, had given notice of resignation.' — Sir E. Colebeooke's MS., quoted by Sir Denis le Marchant in his edition of Walpole's History. VOL. I. I 114 ADDENDA TO CHAP. II. Palm expelled. (F. p. 94.) In 1727 the Emperor's resident, Palm, had committed a similar breach of diplomatic decorum. The insult was resented by the House of Commons; and Palm was ordered to quit the kingdom. Bute's letter (G. p. 98,) These reasons are set forth by Bute, in a letter to Mitchell. ^^ Mitchell, of May 26th, 1762. Bute, though incapable of coming up to Pittas bold and statesmanlike counsel of immediate war with Spain, on the discovery of* the Family Compact, differed strongly from the Duke of Bedford, who ui'ged an immediate conclusion of peace ; and, in his answer to Bubb Dodington's congratulations on the retirement of Pitt, he says that he will be a party to such a peace only as the covmtry had a right to expect from her victorious position; and he alludes, with becoming spirit, to 'the infamous prevarications of our most treacherous enemy.' CHAPTER III. PROGRESS OF COMMERCE MARRIAGE OF THE KING — MEANS EMPLOYED FOR PROCURING A VOTE OF PAR- LIAMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE TREATY OF PEACE PROSCRIPTION OF THE WHIGS WILKES AND THE NORTH BRITON — RESIGNATION OF BUTE — NEGOTIA- TION WITH PITT THE BEDFORD ADMINISTRATION THE AMERICAN COLONIES. T^HE domestic History of England during the Ch. 3. administration of Pitt was almost a blank. The ~ . 1757-02 nation was absorbed in the prosecution of the war. Domestic In Parliament, the rage of faction was hushed, and the House of Commons confined itself mostly to its ancient province of granting aids and subsidies to the Crown. If a member was so venturesome as to utter a word of remonstrance against the prodigious sums he was called upon to vote, the great minister would instantly put him down with a word, or even with a glance.^ Some- times it would please him to come down to the House with demands of unprecedented supplies, himself anticipating opposition by exaggerating their magnitude, and challenging an objector to ' stand forth' and be branded as an ' Austrian.' The expenditure was indeed immense, and the * Butler's Reminiscences, vol. i. I 2 events. 1 1 6 THE NATIONAL DEBT. Ch. 3. daring minister liimself had moments of uneasiness j_~52 ^^^^ apprehension, when amidst the excitement of Increase of the miHtarj triumphs, he cast his eyes upon the gigan- natioual debt, , • i^i /• i i . i 1 • i .1 • j tic growth 01 debt by which they were accompanied. The public debt, at the accession of George the Second, amounted to £52,092,238. At the conclu- sion of the peace of Paris, it had reached the sum of £138,865,430. After deducting about thirty-one millions and a half> the cost of the Spanish war of 1739, which was got up by the patriots for factious purposes, the difference of up- wards of fifty-five millions is to be charged to the Colonial and German wslys just terminated.'' By far the greater proportion of these sums was raised by way of permanent loan. At the peace of 1763, the floating debt was something under fourteen millions, the greater part of which was funded in the following year. Many persons were aj)palled at the vast pressure thus accumulated on public credit, and not without reason. No doubt commerce had received an im- pulse from the war, and conquests might open fresh markets to manufactures; the increase of commerce, however, was in no proportion to the permanent charge upon the national income which the war had created. But if the wealth of the nation did not increase in proportion with her burdens, it was manifest that the latter could not be sustained. It was from the resources of commerce chiefly that this ^ Hamilton on the National Debt (3rd edition) p. 100. — Smith's Wealth of Nations; Art. Public Debts. PROGRESS OF COMMERCE. uy augmentation of wealth must be derived. Corn had Ch. 3. been hitherto a considerable article of exportation ; , •757-62 but this, the staple produce of the soil, was now principally consumed by the increase of the native population. Manufactures had made but slow pro- gress ; and the cotton trade, which now constitutes a full half of the exports of the kingdom, was then comparatively insignificant. The home markets languished for want of internal communication. The wonders of the steam eno:ine were unknown. It was the genius of Hargreaves and Arkwright, Brindley*^ and Watt, far more than that of the elder or younger Pitt, that has carried England safely through the struggles in which she has been engaged. The young King had set himself an arduous private life of task; he was to purify both the moral and political atmosphere of the Court. Corruption and faction were to be abolished by withholding bribes, and by elevating new men, unconnected with party, who should derive their consequence and authority from the pleasure of the Crown. But though this expe- riment did not answer, the still more laudable design of promoting decency of manners by the highest example was attended with better success. George the Third brought no disreputable connec- tion with him ; though in the bloom and vigour of youth, he resisted all the temptation to which he was exposed by reason of his exalted rank. The <= See Addenda A, p. 143. Il8 MARRIAGE OF THE KING. Ch. 3. people were pleased to see their prince of native ~7 birth forsaking the gross habits of his predecessors, and instead of shutting himself up with foreign paramours, appearing in public, and shewing a desire to cultivate the acquaintance of his subjects and countrymen. A happy marriage soon after confirmed him in these habits of continence. Shortly before this event, a pleasing anecdote is told of his passion for a beautiful young lady, a daughter of the princely house of Lennox. But high breeding and personal merit are no qualifica- tions for the consort of a British sovereign. Royal birth is the one thing needful, and that was pro- vided for in the person of a princess of one of those diminutive sovereio-nties which brino; ridi- cule on the Royal dignity. Homely in person, of narrow and uncultivated understanding, Char- lotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was introduced at the altar to a young husband who had just been rescued from the arms of love and beauty. That such a union should have been productive of do- mestic happiness could hardly have been expected ; but nevertheless it was attended with that good fortune. Domestic The attempt to set up a courtier for Minister of State excited a storm of public indignation ; and had not its fury been broken by the Chatham peerage and pension, the fair prospects of the new reign might have been blighted at the outset. It was not, however, against government by preroga- tive that the rage of the people was directed ; this RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WHIG PARTY. I l(^ was an idea too abstract and refined for vulgar ch. 3. excitement. It was the Scotch minion of the ~ 1701 Princess Dowager who was so odious. From the commencement of the reign, petticoat government and Scotch favourites had been the subject of in- cessant scurrility. The progress and success of tlie war allayed for the time, but did not extinguish, discontent. Peace being established, the full tide of obloquy returned upon the government. At the same time it began to encounter opposition of a still more formidable character. It had now be- come manifest that it was the fixed resolve of the Court to exclude from employment the whole Whig connection, and to bring in those men only who would be subservient to the high pretensions of the crown. Under these circumstances, the great Whig party Negotiations which had been split into factions ever since the schism of 1716 began to reunite. The Duke of Cumberland, whose name had great political weight, entered into close correspondence witli Devonshire and Rockingham. The Duke of Grafton joined them. Newcastle, whose influence, though im- paired, still rendered him of importance, was busily employed in rallying his followers. It only re- mained to manage Pitt ; and Mr. Thomas Walpole, a gentleman of some political consideration, Avas deputed to sound him. The great orator, as usual on such occasions, entered into a long discourse, vindicating his conduct from the death of the late King until his resignation, at which period he said I20 GRENVILLE DISPLACED. Ch 3. that, ' out-Toried by Lord Bute, and out-Whigged ~ by the Duke of Newcastle, he had nobody to converse with but the clerk of the House of Com- mons.''^ He professed his unalterable attachment to Whig principles ; but added, that the conduct of the leader of that party had so committed them to the peace, that it was difficult to take any consistent line of opposition. Always haughty, sarcastic, and impracticable, he offered little encouragement to any overture. All he would say positively was, that he would be no party to any arrangement which substituted the Duke of Newcastle for Lord Bute. The Court were aware of the formidable resist- Condition of aucc which was making head against them ; but party. though determined not to shrink from the conflict, they were ill prepared for it — they had no cham- pion to defend their policy. Grenville wanted neither courage nor firmness ; in a subsequent part of his public life, he gave signal, though disastrous, proofs of these qualities. But he was hardly equal to the task of facing Pitt, elated by the fulfilment of all his predictions, supported by a powerful party in Parliament, and by unbounded popu- larity out of doors. In this emergency, Bute Fox applied had rccoursc to more vigorous and experienced agency. It was to Fox that the chief minister now addressed himself. Nothing, indeed, short of dire necessity could have induced him to seek for aid in such a quarter. No public man was so •• Lord Albemarle's Memoirs and Correspondence of the Mar- quis of Rockingham. ti), FOX EMPLOYED BY THE COURT. I 2 1 obnoxious at Court as the paymaster. He was ch. 3. suspected of having presumed to think it possible ~~ that his lovely kinswoman, Lady Sarah Lennox, might ascend the throne of England. A still greater offence, he had been a Whig, closely con- nected with the Duke of Cumberland, and promi- nent in opposition to Leicester House. Only the year before, Grenville had been asked to forego his claim to the chair of the House of Commons, and to take the lead in that assembly expressly to protect the King from the necessity of employing Fox. But the necessity was now inevitable ; and the veteran statesman, ever bold and ready, and his terms agreed to, did not hesitate a moment to accept the post of danger. He reckoned too hastily, however, on the support of those powerful friends with whom he had been hitherto connected. The Duke of Cumberland, his constant patron, highly resented his alliance with the Court, and all intercourse between them ceased. The Duke of Devonshire, and other members of the Whig party to whom he applied^ including even New- castle, would have nothing to do with him. And now the struggle between prerogative and parliamentary government began in earnest. It was understood that the first conflict would take place on the preliminaries of the treaty of Paris — a ground certainly not very favourable for the Whigs, since all of them, who were members of the Cabinet Council at the time, had voted against Pitt on the momentous question of the war. But 122 SYSTEM OF CORRUPTION. Ch. 3. the battle-ground of party is not often happily "7 selected. 1762 Corruption of Finding that the government could not calculate 'on support from any branch of the Whig connec- tion, except perhaps the followers of the Duke of Bedford; the new leader of the House of Commons set to work to fabricate a majority in the coarsest, though the most effectual mode. Retaining his lucrative place of Paymaster, and declining the more dignified post of Secretary of State, which Gren- ville, in rage and mortification, had been uncere- moniously forced to give up, members of Parlia- ment were invited to his office. There, under the dispensation of one of the joint secretaries to the Treasury, the officer who, at this day, manages the patronage department of the administration (though I hope in a very different manner) votes were pur- chased for cash, the lowest price being, we are told, two hundred pounds. To such an extent was this traffic carried, that the payments of the King's bedchamber were stopped for want of funds.^ Insults offered Bribery and intimidation commonly go together. Devonsiiire. The votc of the Housc of Commous having been secured by money, tliose whom money could not reach were to be deterred by fear; while men of greater mark, who were accessible neither to money nor fear, were abandoned to the wanton vengeance of the court. The system of proscrip- tion against that illustrious party which had put * See Addenda B, p. 143. THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 123 the family of Hanover upon the throne, and kept Ch. 3. them there, was well commenced with the Head of Z^ the House of Cavendish. Though disliking public life, the Duke of Devonshire had thought it his duty to support the Government by holding office. In the last reign, he was Lord-Lieutenant of Ire- land, and had been summoned from that dignified post by the express command of the sovereign, to accommodate the ministerial difficulties of 1756. On that occasion, his conduct was marked by high public spirit as well as discretion. The rivalry for power lay between Pitt and Fox. The duke's personal predilections, as well as his political rela- tions, were with the latter : but the country was in a critical state; and finding public confidence entirely reposed in Pitt, he at once placed that minister in the commanding position which would give scope to his talents, and assumed himself the office of highest responsibility. When that ad- ministration, so full of promise, was dispersed by the iU-temper of the King, Devonshire, so far from wishing to indulge resentment, or to embarrass the King's service, when he gave up the treasury, accepted the gold key of Lord Chamberlain. In this office, with a seat in the cabinet, he had ever since continued; but, seeing the tendency of public affairs, he had taken occasion, on the resignation of Newcastle, to acquaint the King that he could no longer take any part in councils conducted on principles which he did not approve ; though, from . 1 24 INSULTING CONDUCT OF THE COURT Ch. 3. respect to his Majesty, he was willing to retain his 1762 P^^ce in the household, which he did not consider one of political importance. Upon these terms, as he inferred from the absence of any intimation to the contrary, the Duke remained in office until the autumn, when he received an official summons to attend the Cabinet Council, assembled for the pur- pose of considering the proposed treaty of peace. His grace respectfully declined complying with this summons, for the reasons he had before stated, and seems to have thought no more about the matter. The court, however, were of a different mind, and readily availed themselves of this op- portunity to put that affront upon him, which had no doubt been previously meditated. The Duke, coming to London a few days afterwards, pro- ceeded, according to etiquette, to pay his respects to the king ; but on presenting himself at the back stairs, he was rudely repulsed by the express order of his Majesty. Astounded as he was, his grace had, nevertheless, sufficient presence of mind to send back the page in waiting to take the royal pleasure with respect to his gold key of office. The answer was, that he would receive the King's orders on the subject. The Duke instantly resigned, and with him his brother, Lord George Cavendish, the Comptroller of the Household. Wlien the former waited upon the King with his wand of office, his Majesty put it aside with a con- ♦ temptuous gesture, and an ungracious expression TOWARDS THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 125 of indifFerence. The Marquis of Rockingham, an- ch. 3. other great Whig nobleman, resenting the indignity ~^ offered to the Duke of Devonshire, came to resign his place of Lord of the Bedchamber, and was dis- missed with a similar answer — one more fitting for a menial, than a great officer of state. But royal insolence and ingratitude received a severe though dififnified rebuke from the descendant of Strafford/ The King's revenge was at once mean and puerile. On the same day, he sent for the council book, and Tiic Duke of DiiV()ii.sliire with his own hand struck the Duke of Devonshire s disgTaced. name out of the list of Privy Councillors. Such a signal mark of displeasure had never been visited but on delinquency of the gravest character. The latest precedents were Pulteney and Lord George Sackville. There was nothing to justify the act in the present instance. The Duke's conduct and de- meanour towards his sovereign had always been perfectly dutiful and respectful. His morals even were unimpeachable. The country itself felt out- raged at this insult offered to a great English no- bleman by a Scotch and German junto. Fox, though burning with the hatred of an Fox excuses apostate against his former friends, was too shrewd a man to commit such a blunder as this. He im- mediately wrote to the Duke of Devonshire, dis- claiming any knowledge or suspicion of an inten- tion to strike his Grace's name out of the list of the ^ See Addenda B, p. 143. 126 PROCEEDLVGS IN PARLIAMENT. Ch. 3. Privy Council. «■ Nevertheless, he followed up the ~Z work which his royal master had so inauspiciously begun. The grossest corruption that had ever been known in England was succeeded by the most ruthless civil persecution. But this was reserved until after the parliamentary triumph of the court- Parliament Parliament assembled on the 2Cthof November. meets. The great question for discussion was the treaty, of which the preliminaries had been signed a few days before. The result of the debate was amply se- cured by the transactions which had taken place at the Pay Office ; still it was desirable for m.imsters in the present temper of the nation, that it should pass off smoothly. There was not much cause for apprehension in this respect in the absence of Pitt ; and he was supposed to be disabled by gout. Appearance of In the Housc of Lords, the treaty underwent an Pitt in the . . . House of Com- elaborate criticism from the two great law lords, Hardwick and Mansfield. Bute appears to have rejDlied with unusual spirit and ability, and the debate closed without a division. In the Com- mons, Beckford proposed that the preliminaries should be referred to a Committee, with the view of postponing the debate. This was, of course, resisted by the Government, and the discus- sion had proceeded some time, when it was inter- rupted by the acclamations of the populace s Note by the late Mr. Allen, on the MS. copy of Walpole's Memoirs. — Sir Denis le Marchant's edition of Walpole. mons. GREAT SPEECH OF PITT. l 27 approacliiijg the lobby. The door of the House Ch. 3. was thrown open, and Pitt himself, crippled and ~^ wasted by the cruel malady which seldom allowed him a respite from suffering, was borne to the bar in the arms of his servants. The consummate orator, who knew how to make his very infirmities subservient to his eloquence, was dressed, and muffled, and bandaged, as usual, with theatrical art; every gesture studied, almost every spasm under regulation. Thus he hobbled slowly to his seat with the help of his friends and his crutch, and accompanied by the titters and jeers of some of the least decent of the hired majority. But on this occasion g-out was more his master than his slave. He spoke indeed for three hours and a half; but 2^hysical pain nearly overpowered him. He was obliged to pause frequently, and have recourse to cordials ; during a part of the time he obtained the unprecedented indulgence of being permitted to address the House in a sitting posture. The speech, though it emitted flashes of the ancient fire, was generally languid, and palled towards the close. He vindicated his war policy with complete success, and justified the war in Germany on the ground that it had divided the strength of the enemy, and diverted him from the defence of the Canadian provinces. Then, referring to his celebrated vaunt on a former occasion, the orator affirmed tliat he had conquered America in Germany. His defence of the Hessian subsidies, on the plea of the elector's relationship to the King, and his indigent condi- 128 PITT'S GREAT SPEECH. Ch. 3. tioD, was not so happy. Neither did his argument J 7^2 on behalf of the German war go the length of demonstratino; that E no-land should enter into a family compact with Prussia. The German war, according to his own shewing, had fulfilled its object; and to continue it after the conquest of North America, was to place it on an entirely new footing. As to a family alliance with the King of Prussia, a more extravagant idea could hardly be broached. There was no analogy between a coali- tion of the two great branches of the House of Bourbon, and a union of England with the House of Brandenburgh. The former was but an attempt towards the fulfilment of a traditional policy, that of a grand, though visionary, scheme of consolidated empire. It nught be very conve- nient to an ambitious prince like Frederick to have his dominions guaranteed by England, and thus be enabled with impunity to prosecute any wild and un- principled plans of aggression upon his neighbours. But it is difiicult to understand what reciprocity could exist in a compact of this kind. It would be idle to dwell farther on the absurdity of a sugges- tion which after all might have been no more than a rhetorical flourish. Soon after he had finished his speech, Mr. Pitt left the House, whether from physical inability to re- main, or from a desire to mortify Fox, Avho had immediately risen to reply. The division shewed a majority of nearly five to one in favour of the peace. Fox's plan of parliamentary management was liament. VINDICTIVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURT. I 29 founded on rewards and punishments. The former Ch. 3. had been lavishly bestowed; the latter were in- ~Z flicted upon an equal scale of magnitude. Every fox's manage- placeman who had voted against the peace was ilan dismissed; a rigorous proceeding in an age when official discipline was not so strict as it is at pre- sent. Still, if punishment had been confined to delinquency of this description, the minister might have justified his conduct by the authority of Sir Robert AYalpole. Even the dismissal of Newcastle, Rockingham, and others from the lieutenancies of their respective counties, might have found some semblance of a precedent in the intemperate con- duct of the great Whig statesman Avhen enraged at the factious opposition which his Excise scheme had encountered. But it was enough to involve a man in this proscription that his relation or his patron had given cause of offence. The vengeance of the Court could condescend upon the humblest victims, and individuals in the lowest departments of the public service, excisemen and tide-waiters, were deprived of their bread because they had procured their appointments through the interest of some Lord or Member of Parliament who did not approve of the preliminary treaty. To these pro- ceedings. Fox had the baseness and cruelty to lend himself; nor was his mercenary zeal for persecu- tion restrained except by the limits of the law itself He would have gone on to annul the patents of the last reign had he not been stopped by the warning of the law officers. VOL. I. K 130 WHIG PREDOMINANCE ASSAILED. Ch. 3. The court, now triumphant, believed that tlieir \i6% object was finally attained. ' Now, indeed, my Triumph of SOU is King!' cxclaimcd the Princess Dowager, when she heard of the suborned vote of the House of Commons. ' Never more,' said the son, ' shall those Whig grandees be admitted to power.' But though Parliament had been tampered .with, the great nobility insulted, and small men ruined, pre- rogative, so far from having its ascendancy secured, was in fact not advanced a step. These measures had, indeed, an effect just the contrary to that for which they were intended; instead of erasing party distinctions, and teaching public men to look for preferment to the crown alone, they revived that old party-spirit which had languished for nearly half a century. The entire predominance of the Whig interest at the accession of the House of Hanover left room for jealousies to spring up in the bosom of the party itself; and the schism which took place in the following year, under the guidance of the Earl of Sunderland, had never yet been healed. The opposite party, divided again into Tories and Jacobites, were unable to profit by these dissensions, and whatever changes took place in ad- ministration, whether Walpole or Newcastle were driven from power, their places were generally sup- Poiicy of plied from the great Whig connection. George the George III 'j:^i^jj,(]^ coming to the throne with advantages which neither of his predecessors possessed, might, indeed, have abolished those old party distinctions which there was no longer any plausible pretence for main- ^1(^1 POLICY OF GEORGE III. j . ^ taining. But instead of inviting to his service aLle Ch. 3. and eminent men, without reference to the obsolete banners under which they had been ranged, the course which his Majesty pursued made it suffi- ciently plain, that his idea of suppressing party distinctions meant no more than the suppression of that great constitutional party whose leading prin- ciple it was to restrain monarchical power. Even this design was not hopeless, had it been attempted with caution and tact. The nation was diso^usted with party, which for the last twenty years had meant an unprincipled struggle for place and power. The Whigs had no hold on public favour; they were considered, not without justice, as a proud and selfish aristocracy; and George the Third might have calculated on popular sympathy in shaking off the irksome domination of a few great families which had oppressed his predecessors, if he had not outraged popular prejudices by the means which he employed. A combination of two characters most odious to the English taste— a minion and a Scot — was set up as the favoured minister whom the King delighted to honour. That Great Commoner, as the people loved to call him, who owed his elevation to the favour of his countrymen, and who had justified their confidence by elevating the English name to the height of power and grandeur, was set aside, to make way for this worthless upstart. A man whose public life had been an unbroken tenor of rapacity, and who had neither done, nor affected k2 132 BUTE'S ATTEMPT TO BRIBE THE CITY. Ch.3. 1763 CoiTuption extended. Financial measures. to do, ought for the benefit of his country, was put forward as the unscrupulous agent of a system founded on the ruin of all that was great and noble. Such was the repulsive form Avhich govern- ment by prerogative had been made to assume. The Earl of Bute, sensible at last of the formid- able hostilities which he had provoked, courted po- pular approbation in support of his policy. The same means by which a parliamentary sanction had been obtained, were now put in force to procure addresses from municipal corporations in favour of the peace. Five hundred pounds were stated to be the lowest price of an address.^ The city were offered a bribe in the shape of fourteen thousand pounds towards the expenses of their new bridge ; but that great corporation, which had taken a lead- ing part in supporting the war policy of Pitt, and had made large profits by the war, was uncompro- mising in its opposition to the court. It devolved, also, upon the new administration to provide means for defraying the expenses of that war, in the glory of which they had no participa- pation. A government should be strong as Avell as skilful which undertakes to impose additional taxation upon the people, always impatient of such burdens. The government of Lord Bute had neither of these qualifications. To public confi- dence they had no pretension ; and their financial craft was of the meanest order. Their finance '^ Anecdotes of the Earl of Chatham, vol. i. TAX UPON CIDER. 133 minister was Sir Francis Dash wood, a profligate Ch. 3. man of fashion, without official or even ordinary ~ political experience. A loan of three millions and a half was negotiated with so much ignorance of the money market, that the new stock rose almost immediately ten per cent. ; and thus a sum of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds so easily be- came the profit of the speculators, that the public, not improbably in those times, were as much dis- posed to attribute such a result to malversation as to incompetency on the part of the government. The Ways and Means by which the interest of the new debt were to be provided for, were devised with similar folly. Upon cider, a home product of a particular district, was to be imposed the burden created by the late war; and this tax, equally im- politic and unjust, was to be raised by means of the Excise — a machinery so obnoxious, that the at- tempt even to make use of it had almost overthrown the great administration of Walpole, in the pleni- tude of its power. The voice of the country Avas loud against the new scheme of taxation ; but, like the clamour of 1733, was directed chiefly against its interference with the liberty of the subject. Pitt, who knew little or nothing of finance, instead of exposing the real objections to the measure, re- presented with great eloquence the popular senti- ment; but the House of Commons being so con- stituted as to be equally impervious to clamour from without and eloquence within, adopted the proposition of the Government by a majority which 134 RESIGNATION OF BUTE. Ch. 3. would have been sufficient to sanction the wisest ~^ and most patriotic measures, iiesignation At this juucturc, to the surprisc of all men, the chief of the administration, and the founder of that system of government upon which it was based, announced his resignation. The reason, publicly assigned by Bute, for a step so abrupt and unex- pected, was ill health — a pretence which appears to have been without any foundation. Want of sup- port in the cabinet of his own selection was stated by him, in a private letter, as the real cause of his retirement. But his motives, like those of other men in other actions of life, were probably a mixture of reasons and feelings which he himself could hardly define. The difficulties of government must have been painfully sensible in his inexperienced and incompetent hands. A formidable opposition was growing up in Parliament ; his unpopularity out of doors was so great that he thought it neces- sary to go abroad in disguise, or attended by a body-guard of pugilists. Libels — which have tor- mented even the loftiest minds — assailed him with pitiless rancour. On the other hand, the induce- ments held out by office were much diminished. From a poor Scotch lord, to whom the emoluments of a place in the household of the Prince of Wales had been a principal means of subsistence, he had become, by the death of his wife's father, Mr. Wortley Montague, one of the wealthiest among the nobility ; and his personal ambition had been gratified by the highest distinction which his sove- GEORGE GRENVILLE. US reign could confer. Yet, with all these reasons for ch. 3. retirement, it is probable that Bute intended only ~ to withdraw for a time, until the storm should have blown over; or, at least, that he had not brought himself altogether to relinquish the influ- ence whicli he had hitherto exercised over the mind and counsels of his youthful sovereign. This con- struction of the favoured minister's sudden retreat from power, would seem to be borne out by the provision which he made for his successor. George Grenville was, at his instance, and by previous con- Grenviiie be- comes Prime cert, immediately appointed to the head of the Minister. government; and Bute, who had, a few months previously, unceremoniously thrust this minister out of the cabinet for the convenience of his tem- porary arrangement with Fox, might well have calculated on displacing him again, if it suited his purpose to do so ; while the inferiority of Grenville's talents and political position could hardly have sug- . gested any apprehension of rivalry to his patron. The prevalent opinion of the time was, that Bute's retirement was simulated; that he merely withdrew behind the scenes, directing everything as before, but preferring irresponsible to responsible power. It seems certain that Bute did not intend to resign power with office. He calculated on his influence with the King,^ and, for a certain period after he had ceased to be minister, that influence continued. Finding that Grenville was not likely to prove the pliant tool he had expected to And ' See Addenda C, p. 14+. 136 POLICY OF BUTE. Ch. 3. him, it seems that, within a few weeks after his ~T resio-nation, he made overtures to Pitt^ with the 1763 & ' view of supplanting his own nominee; and Gren- ville appears to have remonstrated strongly with his royal master for permitting Bute's interference with public affairs.^ This clandestine correspond- ence continued, however, for some time, but is stated, on good authority, to have wholly ceased with the dissolution of the Grenville go- vernment. Duration of Butc's administration must be dated from the nistrati'on. retirement of Pitt in October, 1761, although he became nominally First Minister on succeeding Newcastle, at the head of the treasury, in the following summer. He resigned in April, 1763.^ I have already discussed the principal act of this short administration ; and if an indifferent peace is preferable to the most successful war, the successor of Pitt so far conferred a benefit upon the country. In the other great object of his policy he was not equally fortunate. We are ill-informed as to the extent to which Bute proposed to carry his scheme of prerogative. To suppose that he meant to follow the example of Strafford in superseding par- liamentary government, and setting up the will of the crown in its stead, is to deny him credit for ordinary knowledge of history, and of the temper and character of the times in which he lived. But J Duke of Newcastle to Earl of Ilardwicke, June 30th, 1763. — Rockingham Correspondence. ^ Sec Addenda D, p. 144. ' See Addenda E, p. 144. SERVICES OF FOX. 137 a politician so shallow as Bute, might have thought Ch. 3. that the exercise of a wide discretion by the sove- "7 1763 reign in the choice of his public servants, was compatible with the character and pretensions of a popular legislature. In fact, he did believe, at first, that the strength of the public men of England really lay in the corruption of the House of Com- mons; and, consequently, that by restoring purity and freedom to the electoral system, he should obtain a representative assembly submissive to the pleasure of the crown. On discovering his mistake he went into the opposite extreme. Bute's resignation Avas happily accompanied Final retire- by the final retirement from public life of that™*'"*'' notorious minister, whose practised hand had lately been employed in carrying through the Government measures by such violent and shameful means, as would, in sterner times, have cost him his head. But, instead of impeachment. Fox was to retire with honours and rewards. Some dispute, indeed, arose between the contracting parties as to the terms upon which Fox had undertaken to carry the peace. Bute considered that a peerage, together with a sinecure office for life,'" which he had received on assuming the management of the House of Commons, was sufficient reward for the services of a few months, and that he was bound to resign Iiis place of Paymaster. Fox, however, insisted that the peerage was simply the consideration for cany- "> Writer of the Tallies and Clerk of the Rolls in Ireland. 138 THE FIRST LORD HOLLAND. Ch. 3. ing the peace, and that this contract did not affect ~^ his vested interests in office. Lord Shelburne, a young man just entered upon public life, and who had been employed in negotiating the bargain be- tween Bute and Fox, was appealed to, and admitted that, in his zeal for the public service, he had wil- • fully misrepresented to his chief the terms upon which Fox had consented to act. Bute excused his falsehood as a pious fraud. The fraud indeed, as Fox observed, was plain enough, but the piety was not so obvious. The result of course was, that Fox retained the lucrative place of Paymaster, out of which he had made his fortune, in addition to the peerage and the sinecure. Character of It has bccn the fashion of historians to deal LordHoUand. ,., ' ^ ^ ^ ^ir» titti leniently with the character of the first Lord Hol- land. The splendour of his son's reputation; the associations which surround the memory of the late inheritor of his title ; and the softening effect of time, relieve the harsh traits of the principal figure in this group of statesmen. He has, indeed, been described as a political adventurer ; and this is the epithet usually employed when it is intended to cast the most offensive contumely upon a public man. To my mind, however, the phrase conveys nothing of disparagement. I do not understand why it should be disreputable to take to public business as a profession, any more than to law, or medicine, or science, or art, or even letters. A tradesman's son who becomes Lord Chancellor is not necessarily assumed to have risen by unworthy means. Why POLITICAL ADVENTURERS.' 139 should the same person be vilified if, by giving his Ch. 3. talents and industry another direction, he should ~^ have attained the position of a Secretary of State? Can it be suggested that political science is a less ar- duous study than law or physic ; or that no one can undertake it with credit who has not a certain po- sition in society? If this term, 'political adventurer,' is intended to apply to every man who enters upon public life without private fortune, or any occupa- tion which may enable him to maintain an inde- pendent position, it includes many of the greatest statesmen the country has produced since the revo- lution. I may instance such names as Craggs, AValpole, Chatham and his son, Burke, Canning, Horner, and Huskisson. These men, and many others, who, might be named, were in this sense political adventurers. The class of politicians to whom the phrase, in its opprobrious sense, is more appropriate, comprises those persons who, without any vocation for public business beyond the accident of birth or family connection, betake themselves to political pursuits, often for no other purpose than that of being provided for by employ- ment in the public service. The public offices have always been occupied chiefly by such persons ; and nothing but the jealousy of Parliament, and the increased vigilance of public opinion have checked their intrusion into the higher departments of the state in preference to unpatronised merit. In fact, any man Avho enters upon political life with the same object that he would enter upon a regular 140 ANTECEDENTS OF PITT AND FOX. compared. Ch. 3. profession, is an adventurer; but of this class, as ~ many start from a position as from previous ob- scurity. History affords no ground for an invidious distinction in the quality and character of the public men who have come from diiferent classes of society. Fox and Pitt The cldcr Fox and his great rival both entered upon public life as adventurers, inasmuch as neither "was independent in respect of fortune. Fox had already dissipated his small patrimony; and the pri- vate fortune of Pitt was £100 a year. Each of these men successively filled an office, the irregular emoluments of which, in time of war, were sufficient in a few years to create a considerable fortune. The paymaster was entitled by usage of office to receive, in addition to his salary, a per centage upon all subsidies granted to foreign powers, and to retain in his hands, at a time when the rate of interest was five per cent., a balance of public money amounting to at least one hundred thousand pounds. The average perquisites of this office during the periods when it was held by Pitt and Fox can hardly have been less than £20,000 a year. The salary was two thousand. Pitt, on his accession to this office, declined to receive any more than the salary ; he directed the balance of public moneys to be transferred from the private credit of the Paymaster to the Exchequer; and the per- centages on the subsidies he altogether renomiced. Yet when he quitted office, his necessities obliged him to accept an allowance of £1000 a year from THEIR RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS. 141 ^763 his brotlier-in-law. Lord Temple. The perquisites Ch. 3. of office durino^ a sino;le twelvemonth would have sufficed to realise the capital value of this annuity. But Pitt, with notions of honour and delicacy too pure and refined for the comprehension of ordinary men, scorned to touch public mone}^ to which he felt that he had no legitimate claim, and preferred, for the relief of his necessities, to endure the weight of private obligation. Fox pursued a different conduct. The enormous gains of the Pay-office were to him, throughout his public career, a para- mount consideration; the example of Pitt, whom be succeeded in this office, had not the slightest effect upon his coarse and venal nature, the self- denial of a noble integrity would appear to him as a freak of romance or ostentation ; and the lowmorality of the times would rather admire the worldly wis- dom of Fox than appreciate the magnanimity of his predecessor in office. Fox realised a large fortune from the profits of the Pay-master ; and it is certain that he took to public life as a means of repairing his shattered fortunes. He was, therefore, in the strictest sense, a political adventurer, because it was impossible for him, consistently with his object, to maintain that independence which is essential to a useful and respectable position. But that this position can be maintained by men who enter upon public life without any advantages of private for- tune is a fact of ordinary experience. Having acquired rank and wealth by political pursuits, Lord Holland had gained his objects; 142 VENALITY OF FOX. Ch. 3. and consequently, from this period, he ceased to ~7 take an active part in public affairs. The venality and self-seeking which, under his auspices and those of Newcastle, had been impressed on the character of public men, continued to embarrass and discredit representative government for a long time after those potent agents of corruption had retired."^ Instances of shameless rapacity in public men are within the experience of the present generation ; it is only within latter years that an improved tone of political morality has been recog- nised, and that those who must ever be corrupt have been constrained to observe some decency in their intrigues for place and power. " See Addenda F., p. 144. ADDENDA TO CHAP. III. (A. p. 117.) The Bridgcwater canal was opened July 17th, Contemporary 1 76 1. It is instructive, as well as amusing to note some of ^g-J^^yrojects. the contemporary objections to this great project Avhich has contributed so largely to the wealth and industry of the nation, i. The breed of those noble animals, the draught- horses, would be diminished. 2. The coasting trade would be affected ; and, consequently, the supply of seamen to the British navy (the same reason was urged, in the year 1852, against the conveyance of coal, from the north, by rail). 3. Vast sums of money would be sunk. 4. The natural navigation of rivers would be neglected for these new- fangled canals. And, lastly, quantities of land would be Avithdrawn from the more profitable cultivation of agricul- tural produce. — MACrHERSON's History of Commerce. (B. pp. 1 22 and 1 25.) ' I humbly informed His Majesty that Rockingham's it was with great concern that I saw the tendency of the coun- Ki„cr. sels which now had Aveight with him ; that this event [the insult to the Duke of Devonshire], fully shewed the determin- ation that tliose persons who had hitherto been always the most steadily attached to his royal predecessors, and who had hitherto deservedly had the greatest weight in this country, Avere noAv driven out of any share in the government in this country, and marked out rather as objects of His Majesty's displeasure than of his favour ; that the alarm was general among His j\Iajesty's most affectionate subjects, and that it appeared to me in this light; it might be thought, if I continued in ofiice, that I either had not the sentiments which I declared, or that I disguised them, and acted a part Avhich I disclaimed. ' His Majesty's answer was short, saying that he did not desire any person should continue in his service any longer than was agreeable to him.' — Marquis of Rockinyham to Duke of Cumberland, Nov. 3. — Lord Albemarle's Memoirs of Rockingham. 144 ADDENDA TO CHAP. III. The King's (Cp. I35-) 'Mrs.Rydewas here yesterday ; she IS acquainted Biite'^ '^^ "^ with a brother of one of the yeomen of the guard, and he tells her the K. cannot live without my Lord B. ; if he goes out anywhere, he stops, when he comes back, to ask of the yeomen of the guard if my Lord B. is come yet, and that his lords, or people that are with him, look as mad as can be at it. The mob have a good story of the D. of Devon- shire, that he went first to light the K. and the K. followed, leaning upon Lord B.'s shoulder; upon which the duke turned about, and desired to know which he was waiting upon?' — The Countess Temple to Earl Temple, Dec. I'Jth, 1 762. — Grenville Co7respo7idence. Bute's clandes- (D. p. 1 36.) ' Lord Bute makes many hugger-mugger visits course with ^'~' i^ichmond, in a way neither creditable to his master nor the court. himself.' — E. of Hardwicke to Hon. C. Yorke, July 2bth, 1764. Rockingham Correspondence. Bute not con- (^E. p. 1 36.) ' The opinion of the first Lord Holland that the Rocking- subsequently to the formation of the Rockingham administra- tion. Lord Bute was not consulted in private by the King, was most decided ; and as he lived in intimacy with Bute, his belief on that point is of value.' Mr. Allen in Lord John Russell's recently published INIemoirs and Correspondence of Right Hon. Charles James Fox, vol. i. p. 67. — See also in the same page Lord Holland's letter to Mr. Ellis, nth Nov. 1765, to the same effect. This is corroborated by Bute's complaint of the King's ingratitude. The system of governing by secret influence, of which Bute was the first m.inister, if not the original author, was carried on by other agents long after Bute had ceased to have any connec- tion with the politics of the Court. Grenville's (F. p. 142.) Li a letter to Lord Mansfield, in 1765, Gren- ruption'^or" "^^^^^ says: ' The cure must come from a serious conviction public men. and right measures, instead of annual struggles for places and pensions; and that cure ought not to be delayed.' — Grenville Papers, vol. iii. p. 99. li.am adminis- tration CHAPTER IV. ATTEMPT TO FORJI A NEW ADMINISTRATION UNDER PITT ITS FAILURE DUKE OF BEDFORD AT THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT — CONDUCT OF THE KING — WILKES AND THE ' NORTH BRITON' — GENERAL WARRANTS ESSAY ON WOMAN EXPULSION OF WILKES GRENVILLE'S FINANCIAL MEASURES THE COLONIAL QUESTION. r\ RENVILLE took the lead of the government Ch. 4. as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor ^Z^ of the Exchequer, the two principal Secretaries of Grenviiie as State being the Earls of Egremont and Halifax, nit^r! There was nothing in the composition of the new government to conciliate public confidence or favour ; and the general opinion was, that Bute had merely withdrawn from official responsibility, but that his policy and influence remained as before. The administration, indeed, could put forward no claim to public support beyond the King's pleasure ; and this pretension was already sufficiently disparaged by the manner and the circumstances with which it had been preferred. It has been already mentioned that within a few Loni Bute's weeks after he had placed Grenviiie in power, Lord Pitt / Bute made an overture to his great rival. His reason for seeking to disturb the arrangement VOL. I. L 146 GRENVILLE IN OFFICE. Ch. 4. which he had so recently made does not very clearly "7 appear ; the incapacity of the new minister had not yet been so manifest as to call for a change; indeed, except the prosecution of Wilkes, in which Bute concurred, no public business of any importance had arisen since Grenville's accession to power. The probability is, that the independence and not the incapacity of the minister had oifended and alarmed the patron. During the negotiation which was to place Grenville in office as the ostensible chief of the government, nothing could be more submissive than his deference to the ruling power; and, if he ventured to object to an arrangement, it was only by way of suggestion, and not at all as independerce assuming any claim to dictate in the matter.^ But no sooner had he gained his object than this tone was altered. Grenville had no political attachment to Bute. He was a Whig of long experience both in Parliament and in office; and his habits and character led him to regard Lord Bute, when out of office, as having no more right to consideration than any other courtier. Moreover, he disliked Bute personally. He had a mean opinion of his veracity and good faith; and, especially, he had neither forgotten nor forgiven the slight which had been put upon him the preceding autumn, when, in spite of his remonstrances, he had been uncere- moniously thrust aside to make way for Fox. So far, therefore, was Grenville from acting under the * Grenville Correspondence, vol. ii. — Grenville to Bute, March 22ncl, 1763. HIS PROVISIONAL DISMISSAL. 147 direction of Bute, that he took the earliest oppor- ch. 4. tunity, after his accession to office, of objecting ~ most strongly to his interference in public affairs, and exacted from the King a pledge that none but his responsible ministers should be consulted in the public business. The King and Lord Bute have been accused of New intrigues. duplicity and treachery in carrying on a clandes- tine correspondence with the members of the oppo- sition. But it is proved, on the authority of Grenville himself,'^ that His Majesty, so early as the middle of July, had announced to the cabinet his intention of offering office to Lord Hardwicke and the Duke of Newcastle; and that this resolution was taken contrary to the advice of Grenville himself, and of the two Secretaries of State, Egremont and Halifax. If any further proof were wanting that the conduct of George the Third, in this particular at least, was open and straightforward, it is sup- plied by the fact that Lord Egremont was directed to convey the King's offer to the Earl of Hard- wicke. The answer returned by that noble- man, through the same regular channel, was a refusal to take office without Mr. Pitt and the Whig party. The King desired ten days to con- sider Lord Hardwicke's proposal; and, upon this intimation, the ministers suspended their delibera- tions as a cabinet, and confined themselves to mere matters of routine, according to the prac- ^ His own narrative. — Correspondence, vol. ii. L 2 148 PITT RECEIVES THE ROYAL COMMANDS Cli. 4. tice of an out-going government holding office 176^ only until the appointment of their successors. Grenville left London. Public affairs continued in this state of suspense for a month. On the eighteenth of August, Grenville returned to London and had an audience of the King, but nothing beyond ordinary business was mentioned. The next day, however, the minister thinking, not with- out reason, that sufficient time had been allowed the King to make up his mind, took the liberty of laying before His JMajesty very distinctly that the consequence of a change in the government must be a reversal of the policy in every particular which had hitherto received his approbation.^ The King replied that he had no wish to change his ministers ; but a few days afterwards, on the sudden death of Lord Egremont, His Majesty announced to Gren- ville his determination to place Pitt at the head of affairs ; at the same time expressing his wish to do so upon terms, and to make as few changes as possi- ble in the composition of the government. Grenville expressed his surprise and concern, but must have quitted the closet with the understanding that his short term of power was on the point of expiration. Pitt proposed The ucxt day, Mr. Pitt received the Kino-'s com- as Prime Y -r, Minister. mauds, through the Earl of Bute. Whatever might have been wished, the haughty chief of the Opposition was not the man to enter the Palace by a back door. With the ostentation which belonged to his character, he was carried to court in open •^ Grenville's Diary. — Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 195. TO CONSTRUCT A NEW MINISTRY. 149 day tlirougli the streets of London, in his well- Ch. 4. known gouty chair, that all the world might know ~^ what was going forward. Grenville found this ominous chair set down at Buckingham House when he went there, as usual, to transact business. After waiting two hours, he was ushered into the closet. The King was agi- tated — but he made no mention of the important visitor who had just left him. Grenville com- plained and remonstrated in his usual tiresome manner, until the King cut him short, wishing him 'good morrow' in a significant manner. Gren- ville retired with the impression that his fate was sealed. Pitt, on the other hand, had quitted the royal Arny\i:emcnts presence with the understanding that he was to be minister, and immediately communicated, upon that footing, with Newcastle, Devonshire, Rockingham, and Hardwicke. In an audience of three hours, he had developed his plan of administration, in ac- cordance with the terms which he had previously stated in his interview with Bute. The King could, therefore, have hardly been taken by surprise, although the terms were certainly rigid. He re- quired that the great revolution-families should be restored to power, and parcelled out the principal offices of state principally among the Whig con- nection. Almost every man in office who had supported the Peace was to be removed. The Duke of Bedford, as having taken the chief part in negotiating the Treaty, was to be disqualified for 150 NEGOTIATIONS FOR Ch. 4. office. Lords Mansfield and Holland were also to jl^, be excluded from the cabinet. The peace itself was not to be broken, but to be awxliorated. The King listened to these imperious demands with ap- parent acquiescence. He spoke of saving his honour, indeed, and discussed some points of de- tail, but he suffered Pitt to depart with the belief that no insuperable difficulty was offered to his proposed arrangements. Bute begins Butc, in the meantime, had bes^un to falter. Two to falter. ' ' ^ of his agents, Elliott and Jenkinson, strongly re- presented to him the danger of the course he was pursuing in letting in the great Whig party, with Pitt at their head. It was better to endure the in- gratitude and mediocrity of Grenville, and await the chapter of accidents, rather than make the cer- tain sacrifice of power and influence by giving up the King and the Government to the most power- ful and capable body of men in the state. Bute hurried to the King, retracted all the counsel he had been giving for months past, and urged his Ma- jesty to dismiss Pitt, and replace his confidence in Grenville. In the morning, the King had been ad- vised to pledge himself to Pitt : a few hours after, he was advised to withdraw from his eno-ao;ement. Distracted by such vacillation. His Majesty once more sent for Grenville, who found him greatly agitated. In the conversation which ensued, the King disclosed all that had passed between himself and Pitt, declared that he could not submit to such terms, and thrcAV himself upon the mercy of his A NEW MINISTRY. 151 minister. Greiiville, though he had little faith in Cli. 4. the professions of his sovereign, consented to re- ~^ main in office on condition that there should be no 'secret influence.' This the King readily promised, and dismissed his minister, with renewed assurances of his undivided confidence and support. Bute was, of course, immediately informed of JJjj^f_"Jj:[*'""s the stipulation upon which Grenville had insisted ; resumed, and consequently made another effort towards an accommodation with Pitt. Early the next morn- ing, he sent for Beckford, the confidential and de- voted friend of Pitt, and proposed, through him, a modification of terms ; but Pitt, though willing to reconsider details, would consent to no compromise of the principle he had laid down of taking office only in company with the great Whig families ; and he was suffered to enter the closet under the im- pression that no serious difficulty had arisen to ob- struct the final arrangements. The King himself was not prompt in coming to an explanation ; and whether from a spirit of insincerity towards Pitt, or towards his minister, he proposed, and even pressed, that ' poor George Grenville ' should be in- cluded in the new arrangements in his former subor- dinate office of Paymaster. At length his Majesty brought this shameful scene of dissimulation to a close by declaring that his honour could not admit of Mr. Pitt's propositions.'^ The negotiation with Pitt being finally aban- ^ See Addenda A, p. 172. Eedfurd ira UNWORTHY CONDUCT Cli. 4. cloned, the King and his minister were desirous of ~ strengthening the Government by the accession of Endeavour to the Dukc of Bedford. But that nobleman having, Duke^n/'^ on the formation of the Grenville cabinet five months previously, refused to preside at its council- board, because he considered it impossible that such an administration could last,*^ it was not to be ex- pected that, on the prompt fulfilment of his pre- diction, he would lend his aid to the re-construc- tion of the government out of the same frail ma- terials. A shameful mode of overcoming this difficulty was resorted to by the King. In those private audiences with which Mr. Pitt had lately been honoured, the Duke of Bedford had been named by his Majesty as eligible for office. But inasmuch as Pitt had avowed his intention to mo- dify, if not to reverse, the policy of the peace, he did not consider it expedient to act with those statesmen who had taken a leading part in the pro- motion of that policy; and on that plain ground he had declined to nominate the Duke of Bedford as a member of his cabinet. The King took advantage of what had passed in the confidence of the closet to gain over a public man of great mark, who, but for the means so em- ployed, would certainly not have entered his Ma- jesty's service. The Earl of Sandwich was the fitting instrument employed by the King to com- municate to the Duke of Bedford not only the fact ® See Addenda B, p. 172. OF THE KING. 153 of his having been specially excepted by Mr. Pitt Cli. 4. from the list of his proposed administration, but ~ the very terms of disparagement in which the exception had been made/ Indio:nant at what seemed a personal slight, as Bedford ° . appointed well as at the apparent ingratitude, if not treachery, president of ^ '^ . tlic council. of Pitt, Avho had been sent for at his mstance,e Bedford was now easily prevailed upon to accept the office of President of the Council. Lord Sand- wich was made Secretary of State, and Lord Eo:mont succeeded Sandwich at the head of the Board of Admiralty. Lord Hillsborough was appointed President of the Board of Trade on the resignation of Lord Shelburne. The King, having thus succeeded in propping up Treacherous I conduct of the administration, proceeded by a farther breach the King. of confidence to impair Pitt's means of opposition. His Majesty condescended, either personally or through some sure channel of communication, to inform every gentleman, whose pretensions to employment had been interdicted by Pitt, of the slight which had been put upon him, and even to insinuate the ill-will of that statesman towards individuals of whom he had said little or nothing.'' All this was faithfully reported to Pitt by Wood, the under secretary of the department which he had lately filled ; and though Pitt's letter in reply is unfortunately lost, it would seem from his answer f See Addenda C, p. 172. ^ Bute had studiously concealed tliis fact from I'itt. ^ See Addenda D, p. 172. 154 THE BEDFORD ADMINISTRATION. Ch. 4. to Lord Hardwicke, who questioned him directly on ~^ the subject, that His Majesty's statement of what had passed in the closet relative to the proscriptions, as they were termed, was not strictly true. Pitt appears to have taken no further notice of the matter. A noble nature is seldom quick in its per- ceptions of meanness; and his profound loyalty could not have resented, even if it had been alive to, the treachery of his sovereign. The court were short-sighted indeed, if they calculated upon ruin- ing such a man by such means as they employed. His power was quite independent of party connec- tion, resting entirely upon the public confidence in his integrity, ability, and success. By the strong pressure of public opinion, he had been elevated to- supreme authority in spite of parties and the Crown itself; and his last words on quitting the government, had been to tell the astonished council that he had been called to office by the voice of the people, and that he considered himself accountable to them alone. Dispute The administration, as re-constructed, was called patronage, by thc uamc of the Duke of Bedford ; but Grenville jealously insisted on keeping the direction of affairs in his own hands. Within four days after the new arrangements had been completed^ a dispute arose as to the dispensation of patronage. Grenville was unwillino; to concede the Duke's claim to a share of what he considered the test of power; and even appealed to the King for support against his Grace's pretensions. A few weeks after, the two Secre- JOHN WILKES. 155 taries of State, Halifax and Sandwich, preferred Cli. 4. similar claims; the latter especially asserted his ~^ right to the same patronage which had been en- joyed by his predecessor, Lord Egremont. Gren- ville, however, prevailed so far as to retain exclu- sively the distribution of those offices which were required for the management of the House of Commons. The new system of Government by courtiers had John wiikce. found vent in a scurrilous press, the annoyance of which continued unabated by the sham retirement of the minister whose ascendancy had provoked this grievous kind of opposition. The leader of this host of libellers was John AVilkes, a man of that audacity and self-possession which are indis- pensable to success in the most disreputable line of political adventure. But Wilkes had qualities which placed him far above the level of a vulgar demagogue. Great sense and shrewdness, brilliant wit, extensive knowledge of the world, wdth the manners of a gentleman, were among the accom- plishments which he brought to a vocation, but rarely illustrated by the talents of a Catiline. Long- before he engaged in public life, Wilkes had be- come infamous for his debaucheries, and, with a few other men of fashion, had tested the toleration of public opinion by a series of outrages upon reli- gion and decency.^ Profligacy of morals, however, has not in any age ' See Addenda E, p. 173. 156 'THE NORTH BRITON.' 1763 Ch. 4. or country proved a bar to the character of a patriot. The favourites of the people seem to be chosen with as little regard to merit as the favour- ites of the court ; but in the one case they are commonly selected by caprice; in the other, they are almost always the accidental representatives of a grievance or a principle. The North Wilkes' joumal, which originated with the ad- ministration of Lord Bute, was happily entitled 'The North Briton,' and from its boldness and personality soon obtained a large circulation. It is surpassed in ability and equalled in virulence by the political press of the present day; but at a time when the characters of public men deservedly stood lowest in public estimation, they were pro- tected, not unadvisedly perhaps, from the as- saults of the press by a stringent law of libel. While a latitude of invective, which the par- liamentary decorum of tlie present time would not tolerate, was permitted and even encouraged by applause in the Great Council of the nation, the law of privilege, as well as the law of the land, was strictly enforced against a printer who should venture to divulge the proceedings of either House Criticism on of Parliament. It had been the practice since the speech. Rcvolution, and it is now acknowledged as an im- portant constitutional right, to treat the Speech from the Throne, on the opening of Parliament^ as the manifesto of the minister ; and in that point of view, it had from time to time been censured by Pitt, and other leaders of party, with the ordinary A GENERAL WARRANT. 157 license of debate. But when Wilkes presumed to Ch. 4. use this freedom in his paper, though in a degree ~ which would have seemed temperate and even tame had he spoken to the same purport in his place in Parliament, it was thought necessary to repress such insolence with the whole weight of the law. A warrant was issued from the office of the Secretary of State to seize — not any person named — ^but ' the authors, printers, and publishers, of the seditious libel, entitled the North Briton, No. 45.' Under this warrant, forty -nine persons were arrested and detained in custody for several days ; but as it was found that none of them could be brought within the description in the warrant, they were discharged. Several of the individuals who had been so seized, brought actions for false imprison- Validity of ^ general ment against the messengers ; and in one of these waixants. actions, in which a verdict was entered for the plaintiff under the direction of the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the two important questions as to the claim of a Secretary of State to the protection given b}^ statute to justices of the peace acting in that capacity, and as to the legality of a warrant which did not specify any individual by name, were raised by a Bill of Exceptions to the ruling of the presiding judge, and thus came upon appeal before the Court of King's Bench. The case was argued on behalf of the plaintiff in error (the defendant in the action) by the Solicitor- General De Grey; and on behalf of the plaintiff below, by Dunning, one of the greatest Banc lawyers ever known in "Westminster Hall, fie 158 ARGUMENTS USED c:h. 4. shewed that a Secretary of State was not a conser- jl^ vator of the peace within the meaning of any act of Parliament, and had no authority to issue a warrant for the seizure of persons and papers except in the case of high treason ; that even if he had such authority, the warrant under which the defendant justified, was altogether invalid. He argued if ' author, printer, and publisher,' without naming any particular person, be sufficient in such a warrant as this, it would be equally so to issue a warrant generally ' to take up the robber or mur- derer of such a one.' This is no description of the person^ but only of the offence) it is making the officer to be judge of the matter in the place of the person who issues the warrant. Such a power would be extremely mischievous, and might be productive of great oppression. He concluded by citing the principal text-writers on Crown Law to shew 'that there must be an accusation ; that the per- son to be apprehended must be named, and that the officer is not to be left to arrest whom he thinks fit.' The counsel for the Crown seems to have made little more than a colourable show of maintaining the efficacy of the warrant, either as intrinsically good, or as emanating from competent authority. He relied rather upon an inferior, but much more tenable position, that the officer, the defendant on the record, was at all events bound to act in obedience to his warrant, and was, therefore, justified in what he had done. An act^ of the last reign had given J 24 Geo. II. c. 44. BEFORE THE COURT. 159 protection to officers * for anything done in obedi- Ch. 4. ence to any warrant,' notwithstanding any defect ^I^ of jurisdiction in the justice by whom it was issued. And it might well have been argued that the officer was not to concern himself Avith a question as to the legal sufficiency of the instrument which he was ordered to enforce; still less to raise a doubt as to the title of the great functionary from whom, in this instance, the authority proceeded. The Court of King's Bench, however, intimated a Decision of strong opinion against the Crown upon the impor- Bench, tant constitutional questions which had been raised, and directed the case to stand over for further argument ; but when the case came on again,^ the Attorney General Yorke prudently declined any further agitation of the questions, and submitted to the judgment of the Court upon the bye-point that the defendants had not acted in ' obedience' to the warrant, inasmuch as the plaintiff did not come within the description of 'author, printer, or pub- lisher,' therein mentioned. These proceedings were not brought to a close until the end of the year 1765, long after the administration under which they were instituted, had ceased to exist. It would be unfair, however, to charge the government over which Grenville presided with any design of invading the liberty of the subject by issuing this general warrant; since it was an unquestionable fact, and, indeed, it ^ 3 Burrow's Reports, p. 1760. 1 60 QUESTION RAISED ON THE PART OF THE CROWN. Cli. 4. had been expressly found by the Bill of Exceptions ~^ that ' several of the like warrants had been granted at different times, from the time of the Revolution to the present time, by the principal secretaries of state, and had been executed by the messengers in ordinary for the time being.' Such a warrant might, therefore, have been issued in the ordinary course from the office of the Home Department, without any sinister design, but as there could be no question as to its illegality, it was the duty of the crown lawyers to have withdrawn it, and made amends to the parties against whom it had been enforced, as soon as their attention was directed to the defect which rendered it a nullity. Nor was this illegal practice a mere topic for declamation. Such a power, as had been argued by Dunning, might be productive of great oppression; and in this case had actually led to the apprehension and detention of a great number of persons who never could have been molested, had the process been confined to certain individuals against whom a probable cause of complaint could have been made out. The question The qucstion of the validity of general warrants, undecided. thougli deliberately raised by the crown lawyers in their Bill of Exceptions, Avas not decided, in con- sequence of the case being determined on another point. But no warrant of this description has since been issued ; and no writer has since attempted to defend such a warrant. The proceedings against Wilkes himself were PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILKES. i5i 1763 pressed with the like indiscreet vigour. The pri- ch. 4. vilege of Parliament, which extends to every case except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, presented an obstacle to the vengeance of the Court. But the crown lawyers, with a servility which belonged to the worst times of prerogative, advised that a libel came within the purview of the exception, as having a tendency to a breach of the peace ; and upon this perversion of plain law, Wilkes was arrested, and brought before Lord Halifax for examination. The cool and wary demagogue, how- ever, was more than a match for the Secretary of State ; but his authorship of the alleged libel having been proved by Kearsley, his printer, he was com- mitted close prisoner to the tower. In a few days Proceedings having sued out writs of habeas, he was brought wukes. up before the Court of Common Pleas ; and, per- haps^ it is not too much to say, that on this occa- sion the salutary effect of that law — the earliest offspring of the Revolution — which provided for the independence of the judges, was signally mani- fest. At a time when political morality was at the lowest ebb, and when high prerogative principles were asserted and enforced, liberty might hardly have been safe in the hands of judges deliberating under the terror of dismissal. But the fear of royal displeasure being happily removed, the judges could pronounce the law with fairness and decision. The argument which would confound the commis- sion of a crime with conduct which had no more than a tendency to provoke it, was at once rejected VOL. I. M 1 62 LIBERATION OF WILKES. Cli. 4. by an independent court of justice; and the result ~7 was the liberation of Wilkes from custody, in respect of his privilege. Vengeance The Vengeance of the Court was not turned aside by this disappointment. An ex -officio prose- cution for libel was immediately instituted against the member for Aylesbury; he was deprived of his commission as colonel of the Buckino^hamshire of the Court. ^V appealed to. j militia ; his patron, Earl Temple, who provided the funds for his defence,^ was at the same time dis- missed from the lord lieutenancy of the same county, and from the privy council. Parliament Whcu Parliament assembled in the autumn, the first business brought forward by the government was this contemptible affair — a proceeding not merely foolish and undignified, but a flagrant vio- lation of common justice and decency. Having elected to prosecute Wilkes for this alleged libel before the ordinary tribunals of the country, it is manifest that the government should have left the law to take its course unprejudiced. But the House of Commons was now required to pronounce upon the very subject-matter of inquiry which had been referred to the decision of a court of law; and this degenerate assembly, at the bidding of the minister, readily condemned the indicted paper in terms of extravagant and fulsome cen- 1 Letters from Wilkes to Lord Temple, May 25, June 5, and July 9, asking loans to the amount of £1200 for this i)urpo£e. — GrcnviUe Corr. vol, ii. PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMENT. l6j sure,"^ and ordered that it should be burned by the ch. 4. hands of the conniion hano-raan. "~ 1763 Lord Xorth, on the part of tlic Government, D( ci>ioii of then pressed for an immediate decision on the ques- commons.'' tion of privilege; but Pitt, in his most solemn manner, insisting on an adjournment, the House yielded this point. On the following day, AVilkes, being dangerously wounded in a duel with Martin, one of the joint secretaries to the Treasury, who had grossly insulted him in the House, for the pur- pose of provoking a quarrel, was disabled from at- tending in his place ; but the House, nevertheless, refused to postpone the question of privilege be- yond the 24th of the month. On that day, they resolved ' that the privilege of Parliament does not extend to the case of writing and publishing se- ditious libels, nor lought to be allowed to obstruct the ordinary course of the laws in the speedy and eifectual prosecution of so heinous and dangerous an offence.' Whatever mav be thouo-ht of the public spirit or prudence of a House of Com- mons which could thus officiously define its privilege, the vote was practically futile, since a court of justice had already decided in this very case, as a matter of strict law, that the person of a member of Parliament was protected from arrest on a charge of this description. The conduct of Pitt on this occasion was consistent with the lofti- ness of his character. Despising alike the servility See Addenda F, p. 173. M 2 164 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. Ch. 4. of the Commons, and the profligacy of the dema- ~7 gogue whom they wished to ofier up as a sacrifice to the vengeance of the Court, the illustrious orator reprobated the facility with which Parliament was prepared to relinquish its privileges ; and, at the same time, denounced the whole series of ' North Britons' as ' illiberal, unmanly, and detestable,' not, indeed, retorting upon Wilkes the vague scurrility of the Commons' vote, but denouncing, in language of reprehension not too severe, the base and mis- chievous spirit of publications which fomented dis- cord and hatred between the different races of the United Kingdom. Conduct of The conduct of the Lords was in harmony with of Lords. that of the Lower House. While the latter had been eager to surrender their privileges and to in- vade the province of the courts of law, the Lords seemed desirous of showing the same spirit of com- plaisance to the Court. On the first day of the ses- sion, under the pretext of privilege, a new charge was brought forward against Wilkes. The way in which this charge had been got up was not merely dishonourable to the individuals concerned in it, but really dangerous to the liberty of the subject. The body of publishers, intimidated by the arbi- trary proceedings of the Government, had refused to print Wilkes's productions ; and he had conse- quently set up a private press at his own house, for the purpose of printing an edition of ' The North Briton,' and some other compositions. Among these was one of an indecent and blasphemous WILKES'S PRIVATE PRINTING PRESS. 165 character, called ' An Essay on Woman, with Notes Ch. 4. by Bishop Warburton.' This performance was in T the form of a parody on Pope's poem, and intended Further to ridicule the distinguished prelate, who was the ol' wukc?^ pretended editor. It was written by Mr. Potter, government. himself the son of a primate, and a gentleman well received in political and fashionable society, al- though notorious for his dissolute habits. A copy of the 'Essay on Woman' was found among the private papers belonging to Wilkes, which had been seized under the illegal warrant of the Secretary of State; and the Government sought to make use of this discovery for the purpose of assisting them in the ruin of their virulent opponent. They could not, however, for very shame, make use of the copy wdiich they had obtained in such a manner. They therefore employed one Kidgell, a parson, and chaplain to the Earl of March," to tamper with Wilkes's compositor. A copy being by these means obtained. Lord Sandwich, the new Secretary of State, who, up to the time of his accession to high office, had been the companion of AVilkes's looser hours, undertook, or was selected," to bring this matter before Parliament, as a breach of public morals, as well as of privilege. It was proved, on examination of the man who had betrayed his em- ployer, that the whole impression of this ribald " Well known for his vices by this title, but still more cele- brated in the same way as the Duke of Queensberry. ° It properly belonged to the department of the other secre- tary, Lord Halifax. 1 66 WHAT CONSTITUTES A LIBEL. Ch. 4. production extended only to thirteen copies, and "7 there was no evidence that any one of these had been circulated or seen by any person. The complaint was similar in this respect to that infamous charge which, a century before, had been the pretext for the Theory of judicial murdcr of Algernon Sidney. It was, in- deed, a stronger case than that of Sidney; for a paper found in the possession of an accused person is unquestionably admissible to explain the charac- ter of his acts and intentions ; but in the case of libel, the paper itself is a dead letter, until a criminal character is communicated to it by the act of publication ; or, to borrow a fine illustration of this point, a man may keep poisons in his closet, but has no right publicly to vend them as cordials. It is publication, therefore, which constitutes the guilt; but a copy, surreptitiously obtained, cannot constitute publication. Having entered upon the subject in this spirit, it was not to be expected that the Lords should be restrained from concurrino; in the votes of the other House of Parliament by any consideration of their particular character, as the Supreme Court of Appeal, and of the possibility that they miglit be called upon to pronounce judicially, after solemn argument at their bar, on the very questions which were now brought before them in their legislative capacity. So far, indeed, were they from any such misgiving, that they would have adopted the proceedings of the Commons with indecent alacrity : for, had not the Duke of liichmond reminded them POPULARITY OF WILKES. 167 that it was not usual to transact any business of Ch. 4. importance without being specially summoned, ~7 their lordships were prepared to assent to the reso- lutions of the Commons on the same day that they were communicated. But on the following day the vote was passed, not, however, without strong ar- guments against it, and a protest,^ signed by seven- teen peers. The House then proceeded to vote the ' Essay on Woman ' a breach of privilege and a blasphemous libel ; and to order that Wilkes should be prosecuted by the Attorney-General. The Session was principally occupied by the pro- Popular sym- ceedings against this worthless demagogue, whom wiilces,"^ the unworthyhostilityof the Crown and both Houses of Parliament had elevated into a person of the first importance. His name was coupled with that of Liberty ; and when the executioner appeared to carry into effect the sentence of Parliament upon 'The North Briton,' he was driven away by the populace, who rescued the obnoxious paper from the flames, and evinced their hatred and contempt for the Court faction by burning in its stead the jack- boot and the petticoat, the vulgar emblems which they employed to designate John Earl of Bute and his supposed royal patroness. The Common Coun- cil of the City so far countenanced these riotous pro- ceedino;s as to refuse a vote of thanks to the Sheriffs who had exerted themselves to quell the tumult, and had already received the approbation of both P See Addenda G., p. 174. 1 68 WILKES EXPELLED THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. Ch. 4. Houses for endeavouring to enforce the execution ~^ of their orders. Wilkes himself, however, was Wilkes yields forccd to yield to the storm. Beset by the spies of ™' Government,^ and harassed by its prosecutions, which he had not the means of resisting, he with- drew to Paris. Failing to attend in his place in the House of Commons on the first day after the Christ- mas recess, according to order, his excuse was eagerly declared invalid; a vote of expulsion immediately followed, and a new writ was ordered for Aylesbury. A month after he had thus ceased to be a member the House entered upon the consideration of his complaint of privilege, which had been made on the first day of the Session, and which in accordance with precedent and high constitutional principle should have been immediately entertained. Even then they missed the real question, which was simply whether privilege extended to the protec- tion of a Member of Parliament from being held to bail on a charge of seditious libel. But the Oppo- sition, instead of confining the discussion to the complaint of privilege which Wilkes had submitted, and which exclusively concerned the House of Commons, must needs make the question of the legality of general warrants, which properly be- longed to the Courts of Law, the prominent topic Sir w, Merc- of debate. Sir William Meredith's motion, 'that dith's motion. , „ , a general warrant tor apprehendmg and securmg ^ Grenville Correspondence, p. 155. — Reports made to the Secretaries of State from the persons employed by them to watch the movements of Mr. Wilkes and his friends. BREACH OF PRIVILEGE. 169 the authors, prhiters, and publishers of a seditious ch. 4. libel, together with their papers, is not warranted ~~ by law,' might well have been met by one of those ordinary amendments to which the House has recourse, when it is expedient to dispose of a ques- tion without putting it to the vote. To affirm or negative a mere question of law — and such was the proposition of Sir William Meredith — would have been equally improper; since a resolution of the House of Commons on such a matter must have been without authority, as without effect. But the Government preferred, and for their own imme- diate purpose, perhaps not unwisely, to deal with the question; and while they did not dispute the principle advanced by their opponents, they pro- posed to qualify it by an assertion as undeniable, namely, that such warrants were in accordance with the usage of office, and had never been con- demned in a court of justice. After a debate of Grenviiie's unprecedented duration, (jrrenville, who, irom his knowledge of parliamentary and general law, must have been aware of the real bearing of the question, attempted to get rid of the complaint of privilege by limiting the question to the legality of a general warrant. He succeeded in carrying his amend- ment, but by so narrow a majority that had the Opposition been content to 'lay the stress of their argument upon the one point which concerned the House, namely, the violation of privilege in exe- cuting a warrant, whether in itself legal or illegal, upon the person of a Member of Parliament, it is 170 ARBITRARY CONDUCT OF THE CROWN. Ch. 4. 1764 The King is personally interested. "Wilkes's ac- tion against Halifax. probable they would have prevailed. In the end, the real question was negatived without a division ; the motion, with the amendment proposed by the minister, was carried, and this matter, which had been long and carefully considered by the Opposi- tion before it was brought forward, resulted in a futile vote/ The King had taken a strong personal interest in all the proceedings relative to Wilkes. Grenville, by his Majesty's order, had written and despatched to the palace an account of each debate immediately on the rising of the House. ^ Every member who voted against the Court was marked ; the placemen were by this time habituated to the rigor of parlia- mentary discipline; but the arbitrary policy of the Court went farther; and the act of cashiering military officers for their votes in Parliament, which had been so much and so justly reprobated when resorted to upon a particular occasion by Sir Eobert Walpole, was now to be reduced to a practice. Lord Shelburne, Colonel Barre, and General Con- way, were, among others, deprived of their com- missions for their votes on the question of general warrants. These extremities were pursued with the like arbitrary and inflexible temper which had urged the Sovereigns of the line of Stuart to their ruin. There is one other Circumstance in the conduct of the Government relative to the business of the ■" The numbers were 207 to 197. * Grenville Correspondence, i)-234. CHICANERY OF LORD HALIFAX. 171 1764 general warrants which ought not to pass unno- Ch. 4. ticed. Wilkes had brought an action against Halifax, the Secretary of State, under whose war- rant his house had been broken open and his papers seized. This action had been commenced in the spring of 1763; but the minister availed himself of every dilatory proceeding which the practice of the court permitted to dehi}' its progress; and in November in the folloAving year, upon ^yilkcs being outlaAved for not surrendering to final judgment in the criminal information upon which he had been prosecuted to conviction by the Attorney General, Lord Halifax came in, appeared for the first time to Wilkes's action, and pleaded in bar the outlawry of the plaintiif. It is difiicult to say whether such chicane was more disgraceful to the great officer who i^esorted to it, or to the law itself, which permitted an abuse of its process^ so oppressive to the suitor. * This state of the law of procedure continued until 1852, when the scandal was partially' remedied by 15 and 16 Vic. c. 76. ADDENDA TO CHAP. IV. The King's duplicity. Duke of Bed- ford's opinion of the Gren- villc adminis- tration. Sandwich's letter to Bed- foi-d written by the King's desire. The King's breaches of conlidcnce. (A. p. 151.) Grenvllle mentions, with just indignation, the King's duplicity in continuing to treat, or pretending to treat, with Pitt, after his solemn promises and engagements the night before. Yet Grenville would probably never have known this proof of George the Third's duplicity, had it not been for the treachery or gossip of Elliott, Bute's confidant, who mentioned the fact to him some weeks after. I have taken the account of these transactions from Grenville's own narrative, the Hardwicke, Chatham, and Bedford Corre- spondence. (B. p. 152.) In a letter dated April 7th, 1763, in answer to one from Bute announcing his resignation, and earnestly entreating the Duke of Bedford to accept office as President of the Council, the Duke says he should deserve to be treated as a madman, should he join an administration which he knew could not last. And he recommends that the Dukes of Newcastle, Devonshire, Grafton, and Lord Hardwicke should be called again into His ]\Iajesty's service. — Bedford Correspondence vol. iii. (C. p. 153.) ' I repeated to him [the King] most of what I had said to your Grace by his order; but, in one point, he set me right, and told me I had not expressed myself strong enough : I had said that Mr. Pitt had insisted that the Duke of Bedford should have no efficient office in his service ; but his words were, that he might have no office at all-, perhaps some years since he might be admitted to an employment of rank about the court, but that now no confidence must be shewn to those who had been concerned in so disgraceful a measure as the peace.' — Earl of Sandwich to the Duke of Bedford, Sept. ^th, 1763. — Bedford Correspondence. (D. p. 153.) ' What is certain is, that the King, who had hitherto been so cautious and reserved, spoke openly of Mr. Pitt's conditions, and took pains to inflame the anger of the ADDENDA TO CHAP. IV. lyj proscribed. In particular, he told Lord Hertford that Mr. Pitt proscribed several, particularly his friend Lord Powis, had said little of Mr. Legge, and still less of the Duke of Grafton.' — LoRD J. Kussell's Introduction to yd Vol. Bedford Correspondence. (See also the Grenville Coj'- resjjondcnce to the same effect.) Well might Lord Shelburne congratulate Pitt on the rup- ture of a negotiation, ' which carried through the whole of it such shocking marks of insincerity.' — CilATiiAM Corre- spondence, from Shelhurne to Pitt. (E. p. 155.) I need only allude to the orgies of Memden- Orgies at ham Abbey, an old monastic building on the banks of the ^^"'^1*^"''^™ Thames, where Wilkes and his friends assumed the habits of Franciscan monks, and amused themselves by a mockery of religious rites. It is said that they went through the form of administering the Eucharist to an ape. Sir Francis Dashwood, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, was one of this party. The historian of the Roman empire, who was his con- Gibbon on temporary, thus speaks of Wilkes: — ^ ^^" 'He is a thorough profligate in principle, as in practice; his life stained with every vice, and his conversation full of blasphemy and indecency. These morals he glories in, for shame is a weakness he has long surmounted. He told us himself that, in this time of public dissension, he was re- solved to make his fortune. — Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works. (F. p. 163.) The resolution was as follows: — ' The paper Commons' rc- intituled ' The North Briton,' No. 45, is a false, scandalous, J"^ "*;;;" thc' and seditious libel, containing expressions of the most un- North Briton,' exampled insolence and contumely towards his JMajesty ; the grossest aspersions upon both Houses of Parliament, and the most audacious defiance of the authority of the whole legis- lature ; and most manifestly tending to alienate the alFec- tions of the people from His Majesty, to withdraw them from their obedience to the laws of the realm, and to excite them to traitorous insurrection against Ilis Majesty's Go- 174 ADDENDA TO CHAP. IV. Protest of the Lords. Lord Camp- bell's opinion. vernment.' Pitt moved to omit the last member of the sentence as utterly exaggerated ; but, upon a division, it was retained, by a majority of 273 against iii. (G. p. 167.) This document, which, according to Walpole, was drawn up by Chief Justice Pratt, is an able and elaborate exposition of constitutional and common laAV, as well as of common sense, upon this question. But the simple point is forcibly and shortly put in the following passage : — * IS or is this case of the libeller ever enumerated in any of their writings among the breaches of the peace ; on the contrary, it is always described as an act ' tending to excite, provoke, or produce breaches of the peace.' And although a secre- tary of state may be pleased to add the inflaming epithets of ' treasonable, traitorous, or seditious' to a particular paper, yet no words are strong enough to alter the nature of things. To say, then, that a libel possibly productive of such a con- sequence is the very consequence so produced, is, in other words, to declare that the cause and the eflfect are the same thing.' The protest thus concludes: — ' For these, and many other forcible reasons, we hold it highly unbecoming the dignity, gravity, and wisdom of the House of Peers, as well as their justice, thus judicially to explain away and diminish the privilege of their persons, founded in the wisdom of ages, declared with precision in our Standing Orders, so repeatedly confirmed, and hitherto preserved in- violable by the spirit of our ancestors, called to it only by the other House on a particular occasion, and to serve a par- ticular purpose, ex post facto, ex parte, et pendente lite in the courts below.' — Lord's Journals. Lord Campbell, in his life of Lord Camden, expresses his approval of the resolutions, on the ground that privilege of Parliament sliould not interfere with the execution of the criminal law of the country. But whatever objection might be urged against a privilege so extensive, it is certain that, by the law of the land, the person of a member of Parlia- ment was protected from arrest in every case, except that of treason, felony, or breach of the peace. It is equally cer- ADDENDA TO CHAP. IV. tain that a seditious libel comes within neither of the ex- cepted cases. It might be competent to either House of Parliament to circumscribe their privilege; but it can hardly be contended that they could have a right to give a retro- spective operation to their vote for the purpose of depriving an individual member of the protection which had already attached to him under the existing law. 175 CHAPTER V. THE COLONIAL QUARREL — INDISCRIMINATE SUPPRES- SION OF SMUGGLING — STAMP ACT — RIGHT OF ENG- LISH PARLIAMENT TO TAX THE COLONIES THE EQUITY OF IMPERIAL TAXATION. Ch. r. T\URING the discussions relative to Wilkes, the — minorities had on one or two occasions attained Increase of the ^^^^ ^^ extent as to crcatc serious alarm for the minority. stability of the Government; but when that excit- ing question was disposed of, they subsided to their former level, and there was a fair prospect that public business would, for some time at least, pursue a smooth, though sluggish course. But storm and peril suddenly arose from a quarter where appearances were most serene. At the termination of the war, it became neces- sary to take vigorous measures for the suppression of a host of smugglers which infested the British coasts, and rendered the Customs' laws nearly in- operative. The royal navy were for the occasion employed as revenue cruisers, and the commanders of ships of war were regularly invested with SMUGGLING IN THE COLONIES. jyy commissions as custom-house officers. It is easy ch. 5. 1764 to believe that men, accustomed to the exercise of arbitrary authority, armed with these extraor- dinary powers, and ignorant of the usages of com- merce, should sometimes perform the new duties assigned to them with a vigour beyond the law. For such excesses, however, when committed in the British waters, prompt and effectual redress was attainable. But when this system was extended to distant dependencies, grievous cases of oppression and wrong were practically without remedy. And the same system which was resorted to for the pur- pose of clearing St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea from piratical adventurers was deemed equally applicable throughout the wide Atlantic. It is hardly possible to state a stronger instance of the improvidence of the administration than their conduct in this particular. Contraband was, in strict law, the same on the coast of Norfolk as of Newfoundland; but, in fact, there was no com- parison between such cases. Smuggling on the Character of liritish coasts caused a serious uijury to the lairgiing, trader and to the revenue, while it afforded occu- pation to the most lawless and desperate of man- kind. But the contraband carried on by the American and West Indian colonies was beneficial to the mother country, in a degree which more than compensated for the inconsiderable loss of revenue which it entailed; it was contraband only in name, and unless one nation is bound to respect the revenue laws of another— a position which at VOL. I. N 178 UNWISE SUPPRESSION OF SMUGGLING. Ch. 5. least is very questionable — there was nothing im- ~7 moral in the traffic. For a series of years, Ame- rica had sent large quantities of the manufactures which she imported from Great Britain to the Spanish colonies, receiving in exchange bullion, live stock, medicinal drugs, and other articles of prime necessity. The beneficial effects, to all the parties concerned, of this trade, which the blind pohcy of rulers would have repressed, are suffi- ciently obvious. To England, especially, it was advantageous ; for while it created an extraordinary demand for the products of her industry, it enabled the colonists to adjust the balance of trade, which was always greatly adverse to them, by remittances in specie/ Thus it was by her free trade alone that America was in a condition to carry on that regulated commerce which the mother country pre- indignation of scribcd for her own exclusive benefit. No intima- the colonists. . , • i , i tt n tion whatever was given by the Home (government of their intention to prohibit this traffic, which, having been connived at for so many years, had, in the estimation of the colonists, almost lost the cha- racter of contraband, and was carried on with the punctuality of legitimate commerce. In the midst of its prosperous and harmless career, it was sud- denly and violently suppressed as a scandal and a nuisance. Such a blow naturally j^roduced the utmost consternation and resentment. Under a ^ Petition of the Merchants of New York to the House of Commons, 1767. INDIGNATION OF AMERICA. ^19 rule, ever strict, if not somewhat harsh, the con- Ch. 5. duct of the colonies towards the mother country ~7 had been, for the most part, dutiful, loyal, and even affectionate.^ If they sometimes murmured at her authority, they still had confidence in her justice; and whatever might have been the feelings of a few restless and ambitious spirits, we are assured, on the best authority,^ that, up to this time, the Ame- ricans had no desire for independence. But now their welfare was assailed, as it would seem, in the mere wantonness of power, by a blow not less deadly than any which the vindictive rage of a conqueror could inflict. Their trade and shipping were in a moment threatened with ruin ; and the very means of performing their current engagements with the mother country were taken away from them. Under these portentous circumstances, necessity, as well as resentment, dictated a measure which tended immediately to alienation. The colonists resolved to abstain as far as possible from the use of English manufactures, and were prepared to practise the utmost self-denial rather than have any dealings with a nation which had visited them with such cruel insult and oppression. By preserving their breed of sheep, they proposed to retaliate, in the first place, upon the great staple of British manufacture, and until they could grow their own wool, were content to wear no new clothing.^ *" Franklin's Examination before the House of Commons, 1766. *^ Franklin in conversation with Lord Chatham, ** Sec Addenda A., p. 194. N 2 l8o SEIZURE OF COLONIAL MERCHANDISE. Ch. 5. It probably would have been no easy matter to "^ reconcile the colonies to their ancient loyalty and Mistaken allegiance, even if this grievous error had been government^ promptly rectified on the part of Great Britain. But the policy which the home Government pur- sued was fatally consistent. While the British cruisers were sweeping the seas of colonial mer- chandise, the Parliament, to which the colonists bad always looked up as the ultimate guardian of their liberties, was giving its sanction to a succes- sion of measures which seemed to have been con- ceived in a spirit hostile to their prosperity and freedom. By one of these acts, the preamble of which asserted for the first time the right of the imperial legislature to impose taxation on the colonies, customs' duties were charged upon the importation of various articles of foreign produce, partly for the purpose of raising a revenue, and partly for the protection of the newly-acquired sugar-growing plantations. The proceeds of these taxes were, by an entirely new regulation, to be paid in specie into the imperial exchequer, and to be applied, under the direction of Parliament, towards defraying the ^necessary expenses of defending, protecting and securing the British colonies and plantations.'® This act was accompanied by an- other,^ which substituted throughout America a metallic for the paper circulation to which the colonists had been forced to resort, because they 4 Geo. III. c. 1 5. ^4 Geo. III. c. 34. FRENCH INFLUENCE ON THE ABORIGINES. i8l had not money enough, after making their remit- Ch. 5. tances to England, to meet the exigencies of their ,-5. internal trade and commerce. To complete this perverse scheme of policy, a resolution was pro- posed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and readily assented to by the House of Commons,f'' affirming the propriety of raising a new and addi- tional revenue in the colonies, by means of a stamp duty. If any accidental circumstance could aggravate Disputes with the irritation produced by these accumulated wrongs, that circumstance was not wanting. At the time when the British men-of-war appeared off the coast of America in the character of revenue cruisers, a great part of the country was suffering devastation from one of those cruel wars which occasionally broke out between the European settlers and the native Indians. The French, more amiable in manners, and less aggressive than the English, aided besides by the insinuating priesthood of that politic Church which can recommend itself to every condition of human society, had maintained a better correspondence with the natives than the Britisli settlers ever attempted to cultivate. The savage tribes, or nations, as they were termed, had been rapidly compelled to retire before the progress of civilisation, under the vigorous conduct of the s It was proposed and agreed to in a thin House, late at night, and just at the rising, without any dehate. — Ahnon's Collection of Papers. 1 82 INDIAN WARFARE. Ch. 5. Anglo-Saxon; and the intruders had not been J -5. scrupulous in trespassing upon the hunting grounds still remaining to the original inhabitants, or in resorting to fraud, as well as force, to dispossess them. They had always, therefore, favoured the French rather than the English settlers; and were now easily persuaded to view with jealousy and ap- prehension the triumphs of these formidable settlers over a kindred race, as well as over themselves. Silent and crafty in design, rapid and merciless in execution, the Indians accommodated or suspended their internecine conflicts, and prepared to make common cause ao:ainst the foreion foe. At the approach of harvest, a simultaneous attack was made upon the principal provinces in the middle and southern parts of the continent, and upon the Canadian forts. The travelling traders were everywhere robbed and murdered ; merchandise, to the amount of £100,000, was plundered — a loss which fell chiefly on the towns which carried on their internal trade by sending their goods round the country. The back settlements of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, were, for several miles, laid waste and depopulated. Many forts were taken, and the garrisons butchered. At length, after a cruel destruction of life and proj)erty, the savages were reduced by an army composed of regular troops and colonial militia, under the com- mand of Colonel Bouquet. It was just when they had escaped from this strug- gle for existence; that the colonists were harassed DELAY IN ENFORCING THE STAMP ACT. I 83 by the still more grievous, because unprovoked and Ch. 5. unkind, attack on their trade, their commerce, and T their freedom, by that sovereign power to which they had a right to look for favour and protection. The last and most formidable blow was, indeed, withheld for the present. The excise scheme having obtained the sanction of Parliament, the minister was content to postpone carrying it into effect until the ensuing year, in order that the Colonial Assemblies might have an opportunity of consider- ing his proposition, and if it should prove objec- tionable, of suggesting some equivalent form of taxation. It may be doubted whether any scheme of finance, Piocrastina- . r f 111 • 1 tins conduct or any capital measure 01 policy could be carried, of tiie even in England, after having been subjected to the ventilation of public opinion for a year. Certainly such a course of proceeding would be ill calculated at any time to strengthen the hands of administra- tion. The tone and tendency of public opinion in a free country can, for the most part, be ascertained by ordinary observation; and with the peculiar means of information which government possesses, it is in a condition to mould its policy. In a country where the utmost degree of freedom obtains, there must still be a ruling power whose duty it is to give a practical exposition of its policy. A government which invites the people to suggest measures, deserts its proper functions, and creates disorder in the commonwealth. Had this tax, novel as it was, been imposed 184 ORIGIN OF CUSTOMS' DUTIES. Ch. 5. in the ordinary course, without formally consulting ~7 the assemblies, or had the experiment been tried Tiieory of at a morc convenient season, it is not improbable axation. ^|_^^^ ^j_^^ colonics would havc quietly submitted. It has been usual to represent the Americans as driven to revolt from British rule by the attempt to impose taxation upon them, contrary to the theory and practice of the constitution, which permit the people to be taxed only by their represen- tatives. But the position of the people of Great Britain and that of the colonists widely diiFered in Lord Cuke's this rcspcct. Lord Coke has demonstrated*^ that opinion. cusf;onis' dutics originated in England with a grant of Parliament early in the reign of Edward the First, and that monarch afterwards expressly renounced the right of imposing these taxes without the sanction of Parliament.* The illegal exaction of tonnage and poundage by Charles the First were charged as capital offences against the fundamental laws of the realm. But in the charters granted to Virginia and the first New England settlement of Massachusetts' bay, while the rights of the emi- grants to the privileges of natural-born subjects were conceded in the fullest terms, a temporary exemption from taxation, both external and internal, was alone granted. Even the Long Parliament, though in the warmest sympathy with the Puritan adventurers of New England, took care to reserve the same right of sovereignty, by granting these 2 Institute, p-58, 59. ' 25 Edward I. c. 7. RUINOUS EFFECTS OF THE STAxMP ACT. 185 colonists exemption from export and import duties Ch. 5. only until the House should take further order to , 764 the contrary.'' It is true that the Colonial Assem- blies frequently passed declaratory acts asserting the immunity of the colonies from taxation, except by their own representatives ; but these acts were always disallowed by the Imperial Government. The Navigation laws which placed the trade of the colonies under the restrictions of import and export duties for the benefit of Great Britain, had ever been regarded as an oppressive code,^ and, had they been strictly enforced, would probably have en- countered similar opposition to that which met the stamp act. Those restrictive laws"' which so mate- rially retarded the prosperity of the colonies, and failed to eifect that selfish and short-sighted object of aggrandising the mother country in the same proportion, must eventually have produced a rup- ture between England and America. The stamp act was but the consummation of a perverse and intolerable policy. Their coasts blockaded with a Despair of the colonists. British fleet armed with the authority of the Cus- tom-house, more formidable than letters of marque — their only profitable trade entirely stopped — their country threatened with an utter drain of specie ; — all this, surely, was enough to stir the spirit of ^ Vote of the House of Commons, 1642. ' Robertson's History of America, book 9, passim. '" See Addenda B, p. 194. I 86 PASSIVE RESISTANCE. Ch. 5. men, whose English ancestors had abandoned the "7 land of their fathers, and sought a home in the 1764 ' & unknown deserts of a new world, rather than endure the loss of their civil and religious liberties. And all this had been done long before the stamp act arrived in America. That act found the colonies already in a state of passive resistance. They were prepared to retaliate upon England her selfish policy, by abstaining from the use of her manufac- tures, and taking measures to supply their place by native industry. Had Grenville indulged them in their lucrative trade with the Spanish settlements; could he have abstained from meddling with their monetary system : and been content that the money raised and intended to be applied to their military defence, should be disbursed in the colony, instead of being paid in specie into the British exchequer, he might easily have imposed his stamp duty, or an equivalent, with no more danger of opposition than had attended another inland duty, that of the post-office, which had met with a ready acquies- cence. It is easy, in point of fact, to discriminate be- tween a port and an inland duty; but the English constitution, which was appealed to, recognised no such distinction in regard of the right of the people to be taxed only by their representatives. The great democratic principle, as it exists in the British constitution, is compromised by an admis- sion of the rio;ht of the government to lew any GRENVILLE'S MISCONCEPTION. I 87 tax whatsoever. Yet the American patriot admits Ch. 5. the validity" of a customs' duty, and attempts to j^^ distinguish such a tax, by shewing that it is paid by the consumer. It is phiin, however, that the incidence of a tax is a purely economical question, quite separate from that of the right to impose it ; but the reason assigned by this intelligent and well- informed advocate of the colonies shews, that the real character of their opposition did not arise from regard to a political punctilio, but from a sense of oppression and practical injustice. It is perhaps hardly necessary to acquit the innocence of Grcnville's minister of any wanton purpose of insult or oppres- intentions. sion in thus dealing with the Colonies. The most grievous injury which he inflicted on them, the suppression of their contraband trade, was merely part of a system which he had established for the enforcement of the revenue laws indiscriminately throughout the empire ; and his precise under- standing, founded by the statute book, could see no difference between a smuggler at Liverpool and a smuggler at New York. It was just that America should bear a proportion of the charges necessary for her protection and security; but this claim, which had never been disputed, must be asserted as a right, because the Imperial Government had sovereign authority over its dependencies. The minister, said ' he could not understand the difference between external and internal taxes. " See Addenda C, p. 194. I 88 GRENVILLE NOT NATURALLY ARBITRARY. Ch 5. They were the same in effect, and different only in "7 name.'" That principle conceded, the argument was at an end. If the colonies urged that they were accustomed to duties for the purpose of regu- lating commerce, but that they objected to taxes directly levied upon them for other purposes, they were to be told their reasoning was unsound; * that this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme legislative power over America, and that taxation is a part of that sovereign power.' The proposi- tion is indisputable, the law is clear, and execution is a matter of course. Such is the way in which a lawyer deals with a state question. Mitigatory But Grcnville was not, as he has been commonly GremdUe. represented, of a harsh and arbitrary nature. His Customs' Act had been accompanied by another Act,P intended to compensate for the rigour of the first. Thus the timber trade was encouraged by bounties on importation to Great Britain. By the same statute, the duty on Colonial coffee was re- duced, and it contained other relaxations of the tariff in favour of America. Even in delaying the exe- cution of his plan for raising an inland revenue, against the opinion of his colleagues, and contrary to good policy, Grenville was actuated only by a desire to deal liberally and tenderly with the Colonies. The very clause in the Stamp Act which perhaps caused most alarm and discontent, that, *> Grenville's Speech on the Address, Jan. 14, 1766. 1' 5 Geo. in. C.45. RIGHT OF ENGLAND TO IMPOSE TAXES. 189 namely, which required the produce of the tax to Ch. 5. be paid into the Imperial Exchequer, was, it would ~ seem, not intended to be enforced/i Another argument has been maintained in vin- Furtiier argu- dication of the equitable right of Great Britain to tax her American Colonies. The last war, it is said, was undertaken wholly, and the preceding war chiefly, on their account. If this were true, England would undoubtedly have a right to de- mand reimbursement, to some extent at least, of the costs which she had incurred. But when the case is examined, the right is by no means so clear. The Colonies had, for the most part, been originally planted without any assistance either in money or arms from the mother country. The first settlers were partly adventurers, but principally fugitives from the tyranny which oppressed their native land. They came out, it is true, under the sanc- tion of charters ; but it was not by virtue of empty title-deeds that they conquered the savage wilderness ; it was by their own courage and self-reliance that they possessed the land; and on a barren sove- reignty laid the foundation of a great and enduring empire. Had they depended on the fostering care colonies neg- and protection of the mother country, the North England. American Colonies must soon have perished ; it was only, indeed, when they were in a condition to minister to her wealth, and power, and pride, that 1 Whately, Secretary to the Treasury to Commissioners of Stamps, April 20. — Treasury Minute, April 26, 1765. 190 COLONIES NOT INDEBTED TO ENGLAND. Ch. 5. England bestowed much attention on her hardy ~Z offspring. The writer, whose high authority has been so often quoted in support of the claim of Great Britain to tax the Colonies, has, in tracing the political history of these institutions, himself shewn that England is not entitled to the merit either of founding them, or of aiding their pros- perity; and has marked with just reprobation the selfish and sordid spirit which throughout cha- racterised the conduct of England towards her dependencies.'' But it is pretended that the Colonies were indebted to England for protection against the foreign enemy. It is certainly possible that these thriving communities in a state of independence might have provoked the cupidity of France or Spain, and that their united means of defence would have proved inadequate to resist the aggression of a great European power. Still, under such cir- cumstances, the jealousy of England could hardly have viewed with indifference the aggrandisement of her ancient rivals by the conquest of the New World; the same principle of British policy which has so often saved Portugal and Turkey, would have sent forth fleets and armies to maintain the integrity of Virginia and New England. But apart from speculative considerations, can it be said with truth that the last war was undertaken wholly for the sake of the Colonies? The old '' See Addenda D, p. 194, BALANCE OF POWER OF EUROPE. 19 animosity between France and England was again Ch. 5. ripe, and would have broken out, had the existence ~^ of the New World been unknown. Disputes had already arisen from the commercial competition of the two great maritime nations for the riches of the East, In accordance Avith the policy which Eng- land had pursued since the Revolution, the preten- sions of the House of Bourbon were to be restrained, and the balance of power in Europe was to be preserved. But it would be difficult to shew, that America was principally or at all concerned in the question whether France or Great Britain was to have factories on the Hooghly ; or whether Prussia was to remain an independent Power, or to be divided between Louis and the Empress Queen. Even the question, as it more immediately con- cerned America, had its limits. There was no necessary connection between the American Colo- nies and the plantations in the West Indies ; neither was it indispensable for the welfare of the former that Canada should be united with them under the same head. Nay, if the Colonies were disposed to retort the selfish policy of the mother country, they might have remained indifferent spectators of the struggle between the two great rivals, content that their interest was the same, whether they ministered to the aggrandisement of the one nation or the other. The truth is, that the last war was not undertaken in the sense in which the term has been used, on account of the Colonies at all.^ * See Addenda E, p. 195. 192 JEALOUSY BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND. Ch. 5. France had long viewed with jealousy and ap- ~ prehension the great and increasing maritime power Effects of of England. That power was founded on an between Organised system of commerce and navigation, the England"'^ tcudcncy of which was at once to secure her pre- dominance at sea and in the markets of the world. Accordingly, her factories in the East Indies were to be destroyed ; Minorca, by the possession of which she commanded the trade of the Mediterranean, was to be wrested from her; and above all, those vast and flourishing dependencies in the Western Hemisphere, vv^hich contributed mainly to her wealth and grandeur, were to be assailed, or at least circumscribed. France had no quarrel with Virginia, or Massachusetts, or Connecticut; but the strength of England lay in these noble Colonies, and to strike at them was the most effectual way of humbling her pride and power. Thus it was that America became obnoxious to the enmity of France ; not on her own account, but as an important member of the British empire. With what justice, then, or with what grace could England demand from her Colonies a contribution towards the cost of their defence, when they had incurred danger only by their connection with herself ? The particular terms of that connection, which were the cause of offence to the other maritime powers, had been prescribed by England for her own exclusive benefit. The Colonies had always complained of them as vexatious and oppressive, and had practised every device to evade their operation ; nor was it pre- EQUITY OF TAXING THE COLONIES. ^93 tended that these regulations, however beneficial Ch. 5. to the mother country, yielded any reciprocal ad- 7^ vantage to the provinces upon which they were imposed. Such appears to me to be the true view of the question as it regards the equity of extending imperial taxation to the Colonies for the pur- pose of providing for their defence. I attach no weight to the fact of their having taxed themselves at the requisition of the Government, as an admis- sion of the righteousness of such a claim. It is easy to understand that this people, proud of their British descent, and entertaining a sort of fiilial affection for the country from which they sprung, should willingly have submitted themselves to a share of her burden, when called upon to do so as an integral part of the British empire. Taxation, imposed through the channel of a representative assembly, was agreeable to the cherished tradition of English freedom, and a badge of that identity with their compatriots, the recognition of Avhich they had asked in their earliest charters. But taxation, imposed by the mere authority of the central Government, was a badge of subjection and inferiority more suited to a conquered nation than to a race, the brothers and equals of the English people. VOL. I. ADDENDA TO CHAP. V. Reverence of (A. p. 1 79.) ' They entered into general combinations to for TheBi idsh ®^* ^° more lamb, and very few lambs were killed last year, rurlianieut. ' They considered the Parliament as the great bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges^ and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbi- trary ministers, they thought, might possibly at times at- tempt to oppress them ; but they relied on it, that the Par- liament, on application, would always give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into Parliament with a clause, to make royal instructions law in the colonies, which the House of Commons would not pass ; and it was thrown out.' — Fran k- LIN's Examination, 1766. Their principal (B. p. 185.) Franklin States the real grievance of these ^"*^^'^"'^^' laws, — 'It is not that Britain puts duties upon her own manufactures exported to us, but that she forbids us to buy the like manufactures from any other country.'' Franklin was much pressed in his examination by ques- tions having reference to the futility of the distinction between the right to impose external and internal taxation. At length he makes a significant reply, — ' Many arguments have been lately used here, to "show that there is no differ- ence, and that, if you have no right to tax them internally, you have no right to tax them externally. At present they do not reason so, but in time they may possibly be convinced by those arguments' Authority of (C. p. 187.) * The authority of Parliament was allowed ^1 lament. ^^ -^^ valid in all laws, except such as should lay internal taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties to regulate commerce.^ — Franklin's Examination. IVfcrcantilc {^- p-iQO-) 'The policy of Europe, therefore, has very system. little to boast of, either in the original establishment, or ADDENDA TO CHAP. V. lo^ far as concerns their Internal government, in the subsequent prosperity of the colonies of America. * The English Puritans, restrained at home, fled for free- dom to America, and established there the four governments of New England. The English Catholics, treated with much greater injustice, established that of Maryland; the Quakers that of Pennsylvania. * Upon all these different occasions, it was not the wisdom and policy, but the disorder and injustice, of the European governments, which peopled and cultivated America. When those establishments were effectuated, and had be- come so considerable as to attract the attention of the mother country, the first regulations which she made with regard to them had always in view to secure to herself the monopoly of their commerce; to confine their market, and to enlarge her own, at their expense; and, consequently, rather to damp*and discourage than to quicken and forward the course of their prosperity. In the different ways in which this monopoly has been exercised consists one of the most essential differences in the policy of the different European nations with regard to their colonies. The best of them all, that of England, is only somewhat less illiberal and op- pressive than that of any of the rest. ' In what way, therefore, has the policy of Europe con- tributed either to the first establishment or to the present grandeur of the colonies of America? In one way, and in one way only, it contributed a good deal. Magna virwn mater ? It bred and formed the men who were capable of achieving such great actions, and of laying the foundation of so great an empire; and there is no other quarter of the world of which the policy is capable of forming, or has ever actually and in fact formed such men.' — Smithes Wealth of Nations, Book iv. ch. 7. (E. p. 192.) ' It began about the limits between Canada Origin of the and Nova Scotia, about territories to which the Crown, in p?\,^ce deed laid claim, but were not claimed by any British colony; 1756. none of the lands had been granted to any colonist; we had o 2 196 ADDENDA TO CHAP. V. therefore no particular concern or interest in that dispute.' — FRANKl^m's Examination, 1766. It would be of little moment to the English settlers already in possession of an ample territory with an exten- sive sea-board and navigable rivers, whether the vast conti- nent of America was to be shared by another race, or to be monopolised by Great Britain. CHAPTER YI. THE STAMP ACT— ILLNESS OF THE KING — REGENCY BILL — MISCONDUCT OF THE MINISTRY AND OF PAR- LIAMENT ON THIS QUESTION ATTEMPT TO FORM A NEW ADMINISTRATION BY THE DUKE OF CUMBER- LAND — UNSUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATION WITH PITT MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM PRIME MINISTER DEATH OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. •ARLIAMENT re-assembled on the tenth of Ch. 6. January, and after some party skirmishing, the ^-5^ measure for levying taxes on the colonies, the Meeting of justice and expediency of which had hardly been disputed by any class of politicians, either in or out of Parliament, was laid upon the table of the House of Commons. Ever since the colonies had attained any degree of stability and importance, the idea of making them contribute to the support at least of the military establishment necessary for their protection had been entertained by successive statesmen. The project had been considered by the ministers of William the Third, of Anne, of George the First ; and it was the sagacious prudence rather than the constitutional scruples of Walpole, that deterred him from stirring so dangerous a question.-'* ^ See Addenda A, p. 239. 198 TAXATION OF THE COLONIES 1765 Ch. 6. Pitt would have nothing to do with it. Lord Bute had determined upon the measure, and Charles Townshend, then President of the Board of Trade and Plantations, had undertaken to carry it through the House of Commons. The only sound of oppo- sition which had been raised to the Customs' Bill introduced by Grenville was from a gentleman named Huske, who had passed a considerable part of his life in America, and was, therefore, a great authority on colonial questions; and Huske objected only to the measure being pressed until time had been given for the agents of the Colonial Assem- blies to express their opinions on the subject. But this gentleman, at the same time, asserted the capability of America to contribute largely towards imperial taxation. Preparations And with regard to the stamp duty, Grenville themeaWe. asscrtcd^ Several years after the act had been repealed, that so far from objecting to this tax, many of the agents of the Colonial Assemblies had recommended it to him as a practicable one. Some of them, indeed, took a distinction between a duty of customs and one of excise, and thought a peculiar objection attached to the latter. Neither was the minister responsible for the ready acquies- cence of Parliament in this measure. It was not introduced by surprise, nor in an insidious form calculated to disguise its real character. On the contrary, Grenville, in bringing forward his financial '' In the House of Commons, March 5th, 1770. CARRIED IN PARLIAMENT. loo scheme for the preceding year,*^ had pointedly invited Ch. 6. the attention of the House to that part of it which ~ 1765 imposed a tax upon the colonies. The bill did not pass altogether unopposed, for Tiie i.iii passes there was a division on the second reading; but a spectator, who soon after became a foremost actor on that great stage, describes the debate as one of the most languid he had ever witnessed,*^ and the measure was sanctioned by a great majority. Public opinion entirely approved of the colonial measures. The argument in its favour was so plausible, and coincided so much with the interest of the nation, that it was universally adopted. The last war, it was said, had been undertaken for the defence of the colonies; and, as they had the ability to do so, England had a right to make them contribute towards the expenses. The administration, thus supported, gave little heed to any opposition which the colonies them- selves might be disposed to offer to their policy. The very remonstrances which they had themselves invited, but did not expect to receive, were, when offered by the great States of Massachusetts and New York^ withheld from Parliament; and five petitions, forwarded to the House of Commons from as many colonies, were, under pretence of some formal irregularity, contemptuously rejected. The bill passed through all its stages without the least •^ 9th March, 1764.. ^ Burke — See Addenda B, p. 239. 200 SATISFACTORY STATE OF THE NATION, Ch. 6. difficulty, and became law on the twenty-second of ,~7 March. 1765 Stability of The ministry at this time seemed to rest on a the ministry, -g^jj^gj.^ foundation than at any period since the demise of the crown. The difficulties in which they had been involved by prosecuting the licen- tiousness of the press with a vigour beyond the law, were now at an end. The courts of justice had avenged the wrongs inflicted on liberty through the sides of Wilkes, and the people were satisfied. The formidable libeller and demagogue himself was overpowered, and driven into exile. A far mightier antagonist, that unrivalled orator and statesman, the idol of the nation, baffled in his recent attempt to regain power, and prostrated by disease, no longer appeared on the scene of strife. The hand of death had lately removed two potent chiefs of the opposition.^ Bute had retired to his country seat, under an engagement with the Duke of Bed- ford not to intermeddle in public affairs.^ The state of the nation was, on the whole, satis- factory. The people were reconciled to the peace. The improvement of manufactures and internal commerce occupied the attention of the midland counties. There was no question likely to provoke party conflict. The financial policy of the govern- ment was, in the main part, as we have seen, received with almost unanimous approbation. Some discontent was, indeed, manifested in America; but * See Addenda C, p. 239. ^ See Addenda D, p. 240. DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF THE KING. 20I when was a tax cheerfully accepted by those upon Ch. 6. whom its weight was to fall? Worcestershire and ~^ Herefordshire had objected the year before to the cider duty; and, in the opinion of their countrymen, with much more reason than Massachusetts or New York could uro-e as^ainst contributino; their share to the expenditure of the empire. But resistance to the decrees of Parliament was no more to be feared from the American provinces than from the English counties. Such an apprehension never crossed the mind of any English politician; and the most impetuous, as well as the most sagacious and prudent, of the colonial patriots admitted the necessity of submission to the imperial legislature.^ Yet it is certain that this measure of taxation for Sudden illness of the king. the colonies would have ruined the ministry which proposed, and attempted to carry it into effect, had not that fate been antici23ated by their mismanage- ment of a question of domestic policy of the simj^lest character. While the stamp act was passing through its last stao:es, the Kino; was seized with a dano^er- ous illness, the first attack of that fearful malady, by which the later years of his life were wholly obscured.^ The cloud, however, on this occasion quickly passed away; but the King, duly impressed by such an awful warning, himself gave directions to his ministers to provide for the executive govern- ^ See Addenda E, p. 240. ■^ Adolphus' History of England, vol. i. p. 177, 2nd edition. — Quarterly Review, June 1840. 202 DISCUSSIONS IN PARLIAMENT Ch, 6. ment in the event of his premature decease. The ~ laws of the realm recognised no incapacity in the The Constitu- Sovereign from nonage/ or any other cause ; there- provkie T"' fore it became necessary to make special provision regency. f^p ^^^-^^ particular case. In the rude, irregular periods of the monarchy, the mode of appointing a guardian or regent of the kingdom during the minority of the king, had varied according to the circumstances of the time. A powerful subject would sometimes assume the office of protector, and afterwards procure from Parliament, or from the Privy Council, the confirmation of his authority. But in most instances the regent was appointed by the great barons in Parliament assembled. A statute of Henry the Eighth, vested the govern- ment, during the infancy of the heir to the crown^ in his or her mother together with such councillors as His Majesty should, by will or otherwise, ap- point; and it was in pursuance of this disposition that the Duke of Somerset afterwards became Protector of the realm. The next occasion on which it became expedient to provide for the mino- rity of the Sovereign was the death of the Prince of Wales in 175 1, when the Princess Dowager was constituted regent in the event of the demise of the Crown during the infancy of her son. The course, therefore, which constitutional usage, as well as natural propriety, prescribed was plain and clear. The Queen Consort had every claim short of absolute right, which no candidate could have, to 'Co. Litt. 43. ON THE REGENCY BILL. 203 represent hiin. But passing by this simple and Ch. 6. obvious mode of settling the question, the Kino- ^I^ and the ministry between them dealt Avith it in such a manner as to cause the most unseemly dis- cussions in Parliament, and ultimately the fall of the administration itself. The whole transaction is one of the most obscure Tiie regency passages in the history of this reign. The King desired to reserve to himself the power of naming the Regent by an instrument revocable at pleasure, as if he entertained any serious doubt as to the just pretensions of his Consort, who deserved, as she enjoyed, his entire confidence and affection. Gren- ville, of course, objected to a reservation which was absurd, as well as unprecedented, for it afforded no security for the exercise of the power at a time when His Majesty should be competent to make an election. The Minister advised in accordance with the last precedent, that the Regent should be named in the Speech from the Throne, which recommended a Regency Bill to the consideration of Parliament ; and he reluctantly deferred so far to His Majesty's wishes as to consent that his choice should be restricted to the Queen and the members of the Royal Family usually resident in England. But when a Bill, framed in accordance with this susisrestion, was introduced into the House of GO I Lords, questions immediately arose as to the meaning of its most important terms. Who were the Royal Family? Did it include the Princess Dowager? Was the Queen eligible? And the 204 ELIGIBILITY OF THE QUEEN. Ch. 6. appropriate result of a debate at once indecent and jlj ridiculous, was to pronounce the King's mother ineligible as not being a member of the royal family; and to refer to the consideration of the Judges the question as to the capacity of his royal consort to hold the office of regent, on account of Her Majesty's being a foreigner. The Judges decided that the Queen was eligible ; upon which the Duke of Richmond, with the view of removing any doubt as to the Princess Dowager, moved that the name of her Royal Highness should be inserted in the bill. This motion should have been carried unanimously. It was respectful neither to His Majesty nor to his mother that Her Royal Highness's position should be a matter of question ; and positively insulting, that the Princess should be excluded by a shallow technicality from an honour justly due to her exalted station. But, though judging after the event, we know that such a course would have been politic as well as decorous, there were considerations not wanting in cogency which determined the ministers in op- posing the nomination of the Princess Dowager. An opinion prevailed even in the best informed circles, that the King's days were numbered,^ and the possibility of Bute's return to power, under the auspices of his Royal patroness, had a strong effect not only on Whig place-seekers, but on the minds of statesmen who were above the mere terror of ^ See Addenda F, p, 240. DUKE OF BEDFORD'S OPPOSITION. 205 exclusion from office. The Duke of Bedford, for Ch. 6. example, who had taken office reluctantly, and had ~^ already signified to Grenville his intention of retiring at the end of the session of Parliament, not only entertained, on high constitutional prin- ciple, the strongest repugnance to Bute's political system, but also the worst opinion of the man. He therefore opposed the pretensions of the Prin- cess, because he considered them identical with Bute's return to power, and the restoration of the hated prerogative policy. These were, doubtless, the reasons which prevailed with him, when, upon the question being raised in the House of Lords, he stated his opinion, contrary to that of the Lord Chancellor, that the Royal Family was limited to the persons in the order of succession to the Crown. And when forced by the amendment proposed by the Duke of Richmond, to declare himself plainly, he at once opposed it, and the motion was negatived without a division. But the matter was not suffered to rest here, insertion of a Halifax and Sandwich, not content with having defeated the attempt of the Princess's friends, must needs assume the offensive, and the plan which they adopted was of the most audacious character. The two Secretaries of State on the following day, without, as it would appear, consulting their colleagues, went to the King and told him that the bill would not pass the House of Commons, unless the persons eligible to the Regency were more par- ticularly defined; and plainly intimating that the 2o6 AUDACIOUS PROCEEDINGS 1765 Ch. 6. Princess Dowager would be objected to. The Kiiiff, anxious that his mother should not be exposed to indignity, himself, it appears, desired that words should be framed for the purpose of excluding Her Royal Highness. Accordingly, the qualification of any regent, other than the Queen, was with His Majesty's sanction, limited to ' any person of the royal family descended from the late King His Majesty's grandfather.' With these words in his pocket, Halifax hurried down to the House of Lords; and having intimated that he came by special command, he moved the re-com- mitment of the bill, and inserted a clause containing the words above stated. The King mis- It is Certain that the King had been taken by surprise, and in the agitation of the moment, from a mere motive of filial respect and afi*ection, had lent himself to a proceeding which might be con- strued as a mean and heartless desertion of his parent. Of all his ministers, Halifax and Sand- wich justly stood lowest in His Majesty's esteem;^ it is to the last degree improbable, therefore, that he would have selected them as his confidential advisers in a matter of the utmost delicacy, and in which he took the deepest personal interest. The conduct of these noblemen cannot be too strongly censured. It was perfidious, fraudulent, unmanly; nor is it possible wholly to exempt the Duke of Bedford and Grenville from some part of the blame led by Halifax. Grenville's Diary, 1764, passim. OF LORD HALIFAX. 207 for failing to disavow this scandalous proceeding. ch. 6. Halifax, indeed, practised deceit upon his colleagues ~7 as well as upon his royal master, with reference to this business, but it can hardly be believed, with the same success. He made it appear that the exclusion of the Princess had, in the first instance, been suggested by the King, and even asserted that he had endeavoured to dissuade His Majesty from taking such a course."* The most insinuating of all falsehoods is one which is literally true , and such a falsehood was this. It was undoubtedly the fact that His Majesty had urged the insertion of Avords, which should exclude the Princess, before the bill left the House of Lords; and it is possible that Halifax, having succeeded in possessing the King's mind with the apprehension of an affront being put upon the Princess by the House of Commons, unless this precaution was taken, might have affected faintly to argue that such a precaution was not absolutely necessary. There would have been nothing inconsistent in such conduct. The great painter of human nature has represented the most subtle of villains clinching his atrocious lies by a feeble pretence of refuting them. It is hardly Culpable con- credible that Grenville, low as he rated the good vSic and S"- faith and sincerity of the King, could suppose that ^''^'^' His Majesty was indifferent Avith regard to a subject which affected him upon all the points where he was most sensitive — his filial piety, his personal "" See Addenda G, p. 240. 2o8 CONDUCT OF BEDFORD AND GRENVILLE. Ch. 6. pride, his prerogative ; for all these were aimed at 176c ^y ^^^® alleged hostility to the Princess Dowager. Neither Bedford nor Grenville Avere capable of devising or of instigating the fraud which had been thus successfully practised upon their royal master; but it is difficult to acquit them altogether of the responsibility which attaches to accessories after the fact. Their eagerness to depress and mortify Bute made them willing to believe any tale, how- ever improbable, which should flatter their ani- mosity. Grenville, indeed, expressed surprise" when Halifax informed him that he had the King's sanction for inserting words to exclude the Princess ; but he seems to have taken no pains to inquire respecting the reasons or motives which influenced His Majesty in such an extraordinary determina- tion. A contemporary historian attributes the conduct of the ministers in this transaction to a desire for popularity : ^ but though no motive could be too mean for the Halifaxes and the Sandwiches, the two principal ministers had little regard to mere popular applause. The Duke of Bedford had never courted it ; and now that he was about to relinquish office, it is not likely that he would become a candidate for tribunitial honours. The chief act of his life, the negotiation of the peace of Paris, had been steadily pursued in oj)position to public opinion ; and while the regency bill was " Diary — Grenville Corr. vol. iii., p. 148. " Walpole's History, vol. ii. GRENVILLE'S CONTEMPT FOR POPULARITY. 209 passing through Purliament, we shall presently Ch. 6. see, that he disregarded popularity, even to the ^^ hazard of his life, in procuring the rejection of a foolish, but specious measure, which had received the sanction of the Lower House. Grenville carried his contempt of popularity to a fault. The people were represented in the Commons' House, and he- knew no other exponent of their will. His mea- sures, exactly adjusted to principle and precedent, were never qualified by any consideration of expe- diency. Had he been in "Walpole's place in 1733, he would have braved a revolution ratlier than give up the excise scheme; and, after the fatal character of his colonial policy had been fully developed in 1770, he declared his opinion un- altered, and his determination, if he had the power, to enforce that policy, confirmed. The King was soon undeceived. The ver}^ day The king is after the Lords had amended the regency bill at the instance of Halifax, the Lord Chancellor, who had been no party to these shameful intrigues for the exclusion of the Princess, in an audience of His Majesty, undeceived him as to the grounds upon which he had been induced to give his sanc- tion to the late important alterations of the bill. The King, in the greatest perturbation, sent for Grenville, told him how he had been betrayed, and entreated him to get the obnoxious clause expunged. But the chief minister, having only a few days before rated His Majesty in no measured terms for having presumed, in his absence, to advise with VOL. I. p 2IO LORD MANSFIELD'S CONDUCT Ch. 6. the Chancellor on a clause in the bill,P felt no dis- 176c position to extricate him from this painful dilemma. He coldly declined to interfere, on the technical ground that the alteration in the bill had been made by His Majesty's authority. He would only go so far as to say, that if it was proposed in the House of Commons to insert the name of the Princess, he would not object to it. Conduct of Lord Mansfield, Avho had been also summoned, field. though not a member of the Cabinet Council, entered the closet after Grenville had retired. But the Chief Justice was the last man in the empire, although 2^erhaps the most able, to aid his Sove- reign in such an exigency. His authority, derived from established pre-eminence as a statesman, no less than from the great office which he filled with such distinction, would doubtless have enabled him, even at this stage of the proceeding, to save the House of Parliament, of which he was the most illustrious ornament, from discredit ; and his royal master who, at least, had never betrayed or in- sulted him, from unmerited anguish and morti- fication. Mansfield, however, was incapable of generosity; and his conduct, on this occasion, was consistent with the mean and selfish policy which marked his whole career. Early in the debate he might have prevented all this scandal, had he sup- ported the Chancellor in opposing the doctrine of the Bedford party that the King's mother was not a P See Addenda H, p. 240. ON THE REGENCY BILL. 211 member of the royal family. But on that occasion, Ch. 6. instead of at once avowing the only opinion on the ^I^- subject which such an intellect could entertain, the Chief Justice seemed to make a parade of his pusil- lanimity by declining to reveal the opinion which he admitted having formed. The young King, affected even to tears by the painful position in which he was placed, in vain, therefore, relied on the wisdom and loyalty of an exalted councillor who had long renounced the objects of political ambition. J\Iansfield's reply to the earnest and touching appeal addressed to him by his Sovereign had been concerted with Grenville before he entered the closet. It was in harmony with that of the minister. The House of Lords could not stultify itself. The First Lord of the Treasury could not ask one House of Parliament to reverse what the Secretary of State had proposed to another House of Parliament by command. Thus, with a refined and heartless mockery, it was made to appear that this unfortunate measure had emanated altogether from His Majesty's will and pleasure. The whole responsibility was to be thrown upon him. It is not surprising that the King was agitated with the strongest emotion. A perfectly sound mind might, under such circumstances, have been distracted; but when it is considered that George the Third had only just recovered from a fit of mental aber- ation, the wonder is that the excitement to which he was subjected did not produce a return of his malady. p2 212 INFLEXIBILITY OF GRENVILLE. Ch. 6. The King, with that tenacity of purpose which jl^. belonged to him, still persevered with Grenville. The king and He cxprcssed in gracious and winning terms an entire confidence in his minister's fidelity and zeal. The bill was now in the Commons, and Mr. Mor- ton, Chief Justice of Chester, a gentleman known to be in the confidence of the Princess, had given notice of a motion to insert the name of Her Royal Highness when the bill was committed. Was that motion to be supported or opposed by His Majesty's ministers? And His Majesty desired Grenville freely to give him his opinion upon the question. The reply was that Her Royal Highness had better authorise somebody to say that she was perfectly Avell satisfied with what had already passed, and to decline this motion. i The King, dissembling his chagrin, aifected to acquiesce in the expediency of such a course, though he said he could take no part in the afikir. Not^T-thstanding this rebuff, the King did not yet abandon all hope of melting the obduracy of his minister. On the next day, when Morton's motion was to be made, he treated Grenville with marked attention, and 'expressed more approbation of his conduct than he had done for a long time.'"^ Intrigues with But whilc he thus flattered and amused the head e opposi ion. ^^ ^^^ Government, the King carried on a clandes- tine correspondence with the Opposition. Thwarted ^Grenville Corr. — Diary, vol. iii. p. 158. '^ Diary, May 9. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 213 in his views and policy from the least to the most Ch. 6. important points;^ harassed and all but insulted*^ ^^ in his person, George the Third had at length determined upon making an effort towards eman- cipating himself from a thraldom more grievous than that under which his grandfather had groaned. Bute was no longer available for such a purpose; but probably it was by his advice that the King had recourse to his uncle, the Duke of Cum- berland; for Bute's son-in-law, the Earl of Nor- thumberland, acted as emissary on this occasion. It could have been no slight pressure which urged either Lord Bute or his royal patron to seek relief at the hands of the eldest Prince of the blood. That personage had always maintained an unvarying aversion towards Leicester House. He steadily adhered to the principles which had placed his family upon the throne. He broke off a friendship and political connection of a lifetime with Fox, when that statesman joined the adminis- tration of Lord Bute; and had ever since recog- nised Pitt as the chief of the Whig party. The Princess Dowager and Bute, on the other hand, hated the Duke of Cumberland; and George the Third had been brought up in the same sentiments. To such an extent, indeed, did he carry them, that upon the Duke being struck with apoplexy the year before, the King would not even send to en- quire for him, alleging as his reason for this breach * See Addenda I, p. 241. ' See Addenda K, p. 241, 214 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S RECONCILIATION. Ch. 6. of etiquette, if not of common decency, that it ~7 would be hypocritical in him to affect any interest in his uncle's welfare." The king sends Shortlv after his own recovery, the Kino^ had for the D.ike *^ "^ of Cumber- sent for the Duke of Cumberland under the pretext of communicating to him his intention of providing for a Kegency, but really with the view of sounding his uncle's disposition relative to the construction of a new administration. The Duke, though on principle loyal and dutiful to the head of his house, could not at once forget the neglect and contumely with which he had hitherto been treated, and offered no encouragement to open a matter so im- portant and confidential. But the King shewed every desire to conciliate. In deference to the wish of His Royal Highness, and contrary to his own original design, he caused the names of princes of the blood to be included in the Council of Regency. This arrangement was concerted between the King and his uncle without the privity of the Cabinet ; and it is alleged by high authority that the idea of excluding the Princess was then suggested to the ministers by way of retaliation for this invasion upon their province.^ Thus the Duke became reconciled to His Majesty's service; and on the very day the Regency Bill passed the House of Lords, His Royal Highness received, through the medium of the Earl of Northumberland, a commis- " Grenville Corr. — Diary, vol. ii. p. 490. * Lord Hardwicke's Memorial. — Rockingham Corr., vol.i . WITH THE KING. 215 sion from tlie King to communicate with j\[r. Pitt, Ch. 6. but accompanied with a charge to conduct the ~^ negotiation with the utmost secrecy and celerity/ for at this critical stage of the Regency Bill, the King feared to exasperate the ministers by giving them any cause to suspect the loss of his confidence. But five days afterwards, the Bill had been returned to the Lords with the amendment upon which the Kino-'s heart had been set, introduced in the Commons, and carried triumphantly. The neces- sity for dissimulation therefore no lono-er existed; and the Duke of Cumberland was ordered to pro- ceed openly to Hayes. The fortune which the Regency Bill encountered Fate of Mor. ton's clause. in the House of Commons completely baffled all the ingenious contrivances which the ministers had employed for the purpose of defeating the just pretensions of the Princess Dowager. Morton and his supporters, of course, disclaimed any authority from her Royal Highness for the course which they thought proper to take. Grenville, whose reluctance to carry out the King's wishes, arose, not so much from an objection to the nomination of the Princess as from jealousy that His Majesty should have con- sulted any person in preference, as he thought, to himself, upon the details of the measure, hardly made a shew of opposition. The truth is, that neither the exclusion of the Princess from the Regency, nor the nomination of the other members y Duke of Cumberland's Narrative. — Rockingham Corr. 1765 216 DECISION OF THE LORDS Ch 6. of the Royal Family to the Council of Regency, had originated with him. The one had been determined upon by the King, with the concurrence of the Chancellor, after previous concert, as has been stated^ with the Duke of Cumberland. And the bold measure of exclusion, though afterwards adopte by Grenville, seems, in the first instance, to have been altogether the suggestion of Halifax and Sandwich. If the measure had been his o^vn, his tenacity of purpose and fearless temper would hardly have given way at the first adverse movement of the House of Commons. The probability, indeed, is that he was not ill-pleased to see the ofiiciousness of his colleagues rebuked by the House of Com- mons. In the result, Morton's motion was carried in the Committee without a division ; and though the sense of the House was taken on bringing up the Report, the dissentients found themselves in a small minority.^ The task of reconciling the Lords to the reversal of the Lords, of that important clause which they had introduced, as they had been led to believe at the special instance of the Sovereign, was appropriately con- fided to the callous efi'rontery of Sandwich. Their Lordships were, not unreasonably, in much ill- humour at having been so grossly trifled with. When the Duke of Richmond had proposed the assent of the Lords to the amendment introduced ])y the Commons, Lord Sandwich had got rid of the ' See Addenda L, p. 241. ON THE REGENCY BILL. 217 motion by moving the adjournment. Upon the Ch. 6. Duke taunting him Avith his inconsistency, he coolly , -5 denied that he had been opposed to his Grace's motion, and that he had moved the adjournment because it was improper that so important a ques- tion should be debated without due notice !''^ And this assertion was made in Parliament, where it was of the most recent notoriety that Sandwich had been a principal contriver of the intrigue, by which both the King and the House of Lords had been betrayed and insulted. But it was the same man who had acted as talebearer to the King;'' and, himself an impudent and ribald debauchee, had stood up in his place and called upon the House of Lords to protect public morals against his some- time friend and boon companion Wilkes. Indeed, it is a striking proof of the low and coarse tone of morality in that generation, that it should have been possible for such a man to have filled the office of Minister of State. After the Regency Bill had received the royal The Kin^ assent, the principal business of the session was sXriiur' disposed of, and Grenville came to take His Majesty's ™^"'' pleasure as to the prorogation of Parliament. The King no longer thinking it necessary to preserve appearances with his ministers, coldly answered that he would have Parliament adjourned for a ^ Walpole's History, vol. ii. p. 152. ^ See ante p. 165. Letter from Sandwich to the Duke of Bedford, dictated by the King, and informing his Grace that he had been proscribed by Pitt. — Bedford and Chatham Corr. 21 8 GRENVILLE'S INSOLENCE TO THE KING. Ch. 6. fortnight. Grenville did not for a moment affect j_5 to misunderstand His Majesty's meaning. Time was required for making the new arrangements which were in process of negotiation. Grenville refused at once to be a party to any such proceeding. He declared, in his usual style, that His Majesty wished him to do what would be disgraceful and dishonourable, in making him instrumental to a change in the Government without his advice or approbation. He went on in the same strain of insolence to tell the King that all the world knew he had empowered the Duke of Cumberland to make offers to everybody from right hand to left; that those offers had been rejected ; that there was but one voice on the subject; that all the world saw it was Lord Bute's doing, and contrary to the express declaration made to the Government when they took of&ce, with more to the same purpose. The King, as usual, kept his temper. He merely said that Lord Bute was not concerned in his present purpose of changing the ministry.*' Both Bedford and Grenville had for some davs ft/ been aware of what was going on. While the Regency Bill was in the House of Commons, the Duke had taxed His Majesty with the rumours which were afloat relative to his design of changing the ministry ; and the King, by his evasive replies, sufiiciently admitted the charge. So closely, indeed, was he watched, that no precaution, nor dissimu- Diary. Grenville Corr. vol. iii. p. 171, almost verbatim. THE SILK BILL. 219 lation, could elude the suspicious vigilance of his Ch. 6. ininisters.*^ ^I^ While these intrigues were in progress, the The Siik Bin. capital was disturbed by one of those tumults which occasionally arise from the pressure of distress upon the labouring classes. In the last year, a parliamentary committee had enquired into the causes of the depression which affected the trade of the silk weavers ; and in pursuance of their report, a bill had been introduced into the House of Com- mons during this session to regulate the trade, but the practical effect of which would have been to apply the vulgar remedy of excluding foreign manufactures. The measure passed through the Commons without discussion, and almost without observation ; the interest of the House being wholly absorbed in the more exciting but far less important question of the Regency. But when the Silk Bill reached the Lords, the Duke of Bedford, who had the rare accomplishment in those days of being versed at least in the elementary principles of political economy, at once declared against a measure which could only have aggravated the misery it was designed to alleviate. Upon this opposition, the Lords rejected the bill with the same facility with which the other House of Parlia- ment had passed it. But though the Duke of Bed- ford was the only member of the Government and of the legislature who shewed the knowledge of a See Addenda M, p. 242. 2 20 RIOTS AMONG THE SILK WEAVERS. Ch. 6. statesman on this subject, there was little of discre- j-5. tion or kind feeling in his manner of dealing with it. Some portion of the distress in the silk trade was owing to the diminution of the demand for English manufactures in consequence of the policy which the Government had adopted with regard to the Colonies ; and it was not unnatural at a time when the laws which regulate commerce were but little understood even by professed politicians and financiers, that the workmen should attribute their privations, to a cause so obvious as the com- petition of the foreigner. A wise and considerate minister, under such circumstances, having at once to oppose popular prejudice, and apparently to deny relief, would have sought to employ a soothing and conciliatory manner in the discharge of a painful duty. Riots among But Bedford is said to have adopted a tone of the weavers. ^ ^ . , harshness and contempt m movnig, as he did, the peremptory rejection of the bill. The disappoint- ment of the weavers was, consequently, aggravated into rage and resentment. A large body of these people made their way to the King's presence, and meeting with a kind reception, quietly dispersed. All their fury was then diverted to the peers, and especially upon the Duke of Bedford. The Lord Chancellor, among other lords, was attacked, and asked with menaces if he had been agfainst the bill ? He answered boldly in the affirmative; and his fearless bearing, producing the effect which such conduct always does upon the English populace, RESENTMENT OF THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. 221 he passed on unmolested. But the Duke was Ch. 6. assailed with violence, and his house threatened ~^ with destruction. Much more was made of this affair than its importance demanded, and it was even converted to party purposes. Bedford everywhere asserted that Bute was the insti- gator of the disturbance ; and when Lord Northumberland with his Countess, made a visit of condolence at Bedford House they were treated, both by the Duke and Duchess, with rude- ness, almost amounting to insult.^ About this time, the Marquis of Granby had sent in his adhe- sion to the ministry; and Halifax, forward and officious as usual, took upon himself to write to the King his advice that Lord Granby should receive the command of the military force intended to suppress the riot. The only notice which His Majesty took of this impertinence, was to offer the command immediately to the Duke of Cumberland. His Royal Highness, in signifying his obedience to the King's pleasure, expressed a wish that His Majesty had no more formidable enemies than these poor people. Order was ultimately restored without military aid ; and the weavers were pacified by a promise that the goods which were to be supplied by the foreign manufacturers should be countermanded. In the audience of the eighteenth of May, when Resignation of the King intimated to Grenville his wish to have ^ Walpole's History, vol. ii. tiations. 222 NEGOTIATIONS OPENED Ch. 6. Parliament adjourned while the new arrangements 175^ which he contemplated were in progress, Grenville positively refused to move an adjournment which was to facilitate his removal from office, and told His Majesty that he would leave that duty to be discharged by his successor. This was on Sunday; and on the same or the following day, the ministers informed His Majesty that they should resign on the next Tuesday, whether the new government was formed or not/ Further nego- Meantime, the negotiation which had been set on foot under the auspices of the Duke of Cumberland, proved unsuccessful. The first suggestion which His Royal Highness made was unfortunate. In an interview with Temple, he proposed the Earl of Northumberland as the head of the new adminis- tration. Temple at once objected to this appoint- ment, considering this lord to be nothing more nor less than Bute's lieutenant. Lord Albemarle was sent to Hayes next day, but met with little encouragement. Pitt was not disposed to enter on the subject with a subordinate agent, and said little more than that he would have nothing to do with Northumberland. The Duke's idea, in naming Northumberland, was, of course, to propitiate Bute, Avhose countenance and support he thought neces- sary to the permanence of any administration. He probably considered the nominal head of the '^ Grenville Corr. — Diary, 3d vol. — Rockingham Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 204. WITH PITT. 223 government as a matter of small importance; and, Cli. 6. under the circumstances, perhaps better suited for ^~ an obscure politician than for a statesman of estab- lished position ; since Pitt must be the real chief of any government of which he was a member. As to Pitt, or any other public man of note, really servinsf under the Earl of Northumberland, a notion so preposterous never could have occurred to a man of sense and knowledge of affairs. Albemarle's mission havino; after a second visit Second appH- ^ . cation to i'itt. to Hayes, terminated unsatisfactorily, the Duke him- self, by the King's express command, waited on the great statesman ; and, in a conversation which lasted five hours, the whole matter was fully discussed. The terms upon which Pitt insisted were princi- pally three : — First, that a counter alliance should be formed to balance that of the House of Bourbon : Secondly, that military, as well as other officers, who had been dismissed for their votes or political connections should be re-instated : Thirdly, that the illegality of general warrants should be formally de- clared. Both the brothers required that Bute should be excluded from power and influence. But it is remarkable, that no stipulation was made as to the removal from Court of those persons generally desis'nated as 'Kino^'s Friends,' whose machinations are described as counteracting the policy and de- stroying the credit of the responsible government. Pitt could not have been ignorant of the rumours which attributed to these people an unconstitutional interference with the executive government. He 224 THE NEGOTIATION WITH PITT FAILS. Ch. 6. certainly, of all ministers, would have been the ~^ last to tolerate such interference. But it is equally- certain that as long as the courtiers did not meddle with affairs of state, it would be a matter of indif- ference to him who filled the minor offices in the household. The loftiness of his character, indeed, might have left considerable latitude to low intrigue ; but had the ' King's Friends,' as they were called, really possessed the influence which has been attri- buted to them, certainly by great authorities,^ it is difficult to believe that Pitt would have been con- tent with the removal of Bute, while the agents of his system were left as before in the full exercise of power. Tiie negotia- The narrative of this transaction, drawn up by tiou broken off. .-r^, /^iiii' the Duke of Cumberland himself^ and lately pub- lished in the ' Memoirs of the Marquis of Rock- ingham,' is somewhat obscure as to the particular ground upon which the negotiation with Pitt and Temple was finalty broken off. The Duke had full authority, and seems to have offered no serious opposition to any of the terms proposed. The only article which seemed to present difficulty was the formation of new foreign alliances; but all that could be required or conceded on this head was that it should be open to the new administration to pursue such a policy. Pitt, in fact, was willing to take office ; but Temple had evidently, from the first, determined that the proposed arrangement 8 See Addenda N, p. 242. GOVERNMENT OFFERED TO LORD LYTTELTON. 225 should not take place; and his influence prevailed Ch. 6. with his illustrious kinsman. The explanation of T Temple's apparent perverseness is to be found in the significant fact that, two days after the Duke of Cumberland announced to the King the unsuc- cessful result of his commission, a reconciliation took place between Grenville and his elder brother. They both, indeed, took the pains to inform their respective friends that this was a family matter, having no connection with politics. But the event had for some time been in contemplation on either side; and it had long been the object of Temple to concentrate political power in the family of Grenville. The Duke of Cumberland made one more at- LordLytteiton t r. . . sent for. tempt to rescue the King from political duress by ofl*ering the government to Lord Lyttelton, a noble- man known as the early friend and contemporary of Pitt, and with some pretensions to oratory and literature. But Lyttelton prudently shrunk from an eminence to which he was unequal; excusing himself on the ground of his connection with the Grenvilles. Thus Avas the King made to feel the vanity of of his resistance to party, or rather to the great families to whom political power at this time almost exclusively belonged. Li announcing to Grenville his desire that the ministers should esume their duties. His Majesty said that he had not intended to dispense with his services, an assertion which probably obtained as much credit as it deserved. VOL. I. Q 226 CONDITIONS PROPOSED BY MINISTERS. Ch. 6. But though Grenville's grumbling, jealous, and "7 quarrelsome temper must have been to the last degree tiresome and provoking^ George the Third respected his character, and entertained a high opi- nion of his talents for administration. Had it not been for his insufferable temper, the King would have preferred the comparative mediocrity of Grenville to the domineering genius of Pitt; and his arrogance, perhaps, was of a less offensive quality than that of the Temples and the Bedfords. New arrange- On the Same day that the reconciliation took ments of the ministry. placc bctwcen Tcmplc and his brother, the minis- ters assembled to consider the terms upon which they should consent to remain in His Majesty's service. The conditions were soon agreed upon, and are in remarkable contrast with those which had been named by Pitt, as having, none of them any relation to questions of public policy, but bear- ing in each a personal and vindictive character. The exclusion of Bute from all employment or concern in public affairs was, as usual, the first article of the new treaty. And here, again, it is remarkable that no mention was made of those mysterious men in office, by whose agency at court, in Parliament, and in society, the Bute system is supposed to have been carried into effect, and the credit of the responsible government undermined. But it was demanded that Mr. Stuart Mackenzie, a gentleman whose only demerit was his relationship to Lord Bute, should be dismissed from his office of Privy Seal of Scotland. Lord THE KING'S PROMISE TO MACKENZIE. 227 1765 Holland, also, apparently to gratify the old enmity of Ch. 6. Grenville, was at length to be removed from his post of Paymaster. The Marquis of Granby was named for the command of the army, an appointment in- tended at once to reward a new adherent, and to retaliate upon the Duke of Cumberland for the part he had lately taken in negotiating the change of ministry. The last condition was the only one which did not contain a proper name; it required that the government of Ireland should be placed at the disposal of the ministry, the object being, for obvious reasons, to deprive the Earl of Northum- berland of the Lord- Lieutenancy of that kingdom. The King, after consideration, assented to three of the stipulations, but objected strongly to the dismissal of Mackenzie, on the ground that he had accepted office on His Majesty's promise that he should not be removed. The answer of course was, that His Majesty had no right to make such an engagement. But, considering that it was the case of a young sovereign having bestowed a piece of preferment on the brother of his early friend and preceptor, no statesman of any candour or libe- rality would have required His Majesty to cancel such a promise. But Grenville was inflexible, and when the King refused to yield, innnediately ten- dered his resignation. His Majesty's reply was full of spirit and good sense. He said that, having recalled the ministry, he felt bound to comply Avith their terms. But he desired Grenville distinctly to understand that his royal word had been pledged Q 2 2 28 THE KING SENDS FOR LORD GRAND Y. Ch. 6. to Mackenzie, and, if that word was to be broken, 17 the responsibility should rest upon his ministers, and not upon himself. Grenville appears to have been touched with some sense of shame and re- morse on this occasion, for he muttered that some- thing might be done for Mr. Mackenzie, upon which the King contemptuously replied that Mac- kenzie would trouble himself very little about the matter.*^ As to Lord Granby, the King sent for him, and seems to have appealed to his feelings as a soldier and a gentleman, not to lend himself to a slight intended to be put upon one who was entitled to respect, as an old and meritorious officer, if not as the near kinsman of the sovereign. In the result, this point was ungraciously, if not indecently com- promised, by giving Granby the reversion of the command -in-chief after the Duke of Cumberland, whose life, it was well kno^vn, could hardly be pro- longed many months. Feud between The King made little or no effort to disguise his the King and . . . the ministry, rcpugnancc to the ministers who had been forced back upon him. Parliament havingbeen prorogued immediately on their resumption of office, His Majesty had no other opportunity of showing his aversion than by disregarding their recommenda- tion of candidates for preferment. A vacancy in the household of the Queen having been occasioned ^ From Mackenzie's own narrative, Mitchell MSS., quoted in a note to Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 312. DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE AT COURT. 229 by the appointment of Lord Weymouth to the Ch. 6. Vice-Royalty of Ireland, Grenville was desirous of ~ naming his successor, but Her Majesty bestowed the office on the Duke of Ancaster, without con- sulting the government. In like manner, a vacant regiment was given to General Keppel, in prefer- ence to Lord Waldeo'rave, the nominee of the minister^ the former being brother to Lord Albe- marle, the intimate friend of the Duke of Cumber- land. The youthful Duke of Devonshire was in- troduced at court by his uncles, and treated with marked distinction chiefly, as it would seem, for the purpose of annoying the government, the House of Cavendish being in opposition. Matters could not remain in this state ; the First Bedford Lord of the Treasury, indeed, seems at this period, wuTthe^iJng. when he had some tangible ground for complaint, to have laid aside that querulousness with which it had been his practice to weary and torment his royal master. But the proud and irritable spirit of Bedford could not brook the coldness and re- serve with which the King treated his ministers. On the 1 2th of June, three weeks after the recon- struction of the government, the Duke demanded an audience,' on the occasion of his leaving London ; and in language firm and decisive, but not stronger than it behoved a minister of state, responsible for the due efficiency of the public service to employ, represented to His Majesty the injustice and ill- ' See Addenda O, p. 243 . 230 PITT AGAIN APPLIED TO. 1765 Ch. 6. effects of bestowing his favours upon persons who were opposed to the confidential advisers of the Crown. The King listened with patience, and merely denied, as he had done to similar insinuations from Grenville, that Lord Bute had been consulted in public affairs.^ Duke of Cum- But objurgatiou and complaint were in vain em- berland con- sulted, ployed to win back confidence and esteem. The King, more than ever disgusted, again had recourse to the unsophisticated loyalty, the experience and discretion of that illustrious member of his house, upon whom he had latterly placed all his reliance. The Duke of Cumberland again appealed to the patriotism of that great subject who alone seemed able to rescue his sovereign and his country from the insolence of faction. Failure of the Pitt, Oil this occasiou, sccms to havc laid aside the magniloquence which he usually employed, and to have met the overtures of the Duke in a frank and earnest spirit. In two interviews with the King, the policy of a new administration to be formed under his ausj^ices, and the men of whom it was to be composed, were agreed upon. Its foreign policy was to be indicated by a renewal of the Prussian alliance; the colonial measures recently adopted were to be entirely changed. In domestic affairs, general warrants were to be abolished, and the cider-tax was to be repealed. Finally, though not perhaps least in importance, in the King's estima- See Addenda P, p. 244. PERVERSE CONDUCT OF TEMPLE. 231 tion, Mackenzie was to be restored to the sinecure Ch. 6. office of which he had been so harshly deprived. ^"^ The only real obstacle to an arrangement so pro- mising was to be found in the pride and selfishness of one individual, and that obstacle proved fatal to the whole scheme. Pitt was unfortunately bound to Temple by ties of affinity, of friendship and gratitude, which a less noble nature would not have considered indissoluble. Temple had been de- signated by his brother-in-law for the office of First Lord of the Treasury. But he peremptorily refused bearing any part, great or small, in the proposed administration. He said that reasons of delicacy prevented him. Every consideration was to be sacrificed to the renewed connection with his brother, and to the arrogant conceit which had sprung from it of forming a family cabinet. He was willing to take the first place, but it must be as the chief of a Grenville administration.^ Deeply mortified at this undeserved and unex- pected failure, Pitt seems to have contemplated withdrawing from public life. He sold his favourite villa near London, and retired to an estate in Somersetshire which had lately been devised to him by Sir William Pynsent, a gentleman who had been personally unknown to him, but one of the many devotees of his genius and patriotism, scat- tered through the country. In this remote retreat, he expressed his intention of passing for the most part the remainder of his days. ' See Addenda Q, p. 745. 232 NEWCASTLE SENT FOR. Ch. 6. The King, determined not to be again remitted ~^ to the intolerable yoke of the Bedfords and the The King Grenvilles, empowered his uncle to open a commu- castie, ^ ' nication with the old intriguer Newcastle. Eager as ever for patronage and power, the Duke obeyed the summons with alacrity ; and as he still retained considerable credit and influence with the Whig party, there was no difficulty in bringing together the principal members of that connection under his auspices. The first question proposed at the meet- ing which took place, was the expediency of the Whigs coming into office at all under existing cir- cumstances ? And this preliminary being decided in the affirmative by the great preponderance of weight as well as numbers, the terms were easily agreed upon. The first article was the one upon which every minister insisted — whether Grenville, Pitt, or Newcastle — as the basis of the arrangement. The Earl of Bute must be removed from Court, and from all interference in afi'airs of state. But the Whigs went farther. They required that certain particular friends of that nobleman should be re- moved ' as a proof to the world that the Earl of Bute should not either publicly or privately, directly or indirectly, have any concern or influence in public afi'airs or in the management or disposi- tion of public employments.'"^ They would not even allow an exception in the case of Mr. Mac- *" Paper drawn up by Newcastle. — Rockingham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 218. ROCKINGHAM'S ADMINISTRATION. '^33 kenzie. And tliey made no other terms. They Ch. 6. abstained from entering into any particuhirs of ~ their proposed measures, no doubt advisedly, that they might mark, in the most emphatic manner, the paramount importance which they attached to the sovereign's entire dependence upon, and unquah- fied support of, his responsible ministers. The conditions were agreed to without hesita- a new admin- . 1 1 • n • 1 1 istration and tion. it the Whigs were possessed chieny with the its members. idea of entering upon a stage clear of favouritism, the King, at this time, was intent only on his emancipation from that galling thraldom in which he had been kept ever since his first attempt to set himself free from party connection. The new administration comprised in its princi- pal departments no individual of any official ex- perience, and hardly one of adequate ability. At its head was placed the Marquis of Rockinoham, aThcMavqnis , , , . ° ' of Rocking- young nobleman who had been appointed a lord of ham. the bedchamber at the King's accession, and dis- tinguished himself, as I have before related, by a spirited remonstrance, when abruptly dismissed from office, with others, for objecting to the peace. If a high character, a good understanding, a great estate, and exalted rank, were sufficient qualifications for the first minister of this country, the Marquis of Rockingham was as eligible as any other person in the like predicament. But Rock- ingham, though well-known as a patron of the turf, was a strano-er to the nation in the character of a statesman. He was unfortunate also in not 234 GENERAL CONWAY'S UNFITNESS Ch. 6. possessing the faculty of recommending himself to jIg. public confidence by a display of ability in his place in Parliament. Bute had been exposed to deri- sion by the sententious, unpractised style of his oratory. But Rockingham was incapable of making an exposition of any sort, even upon the plainest subject, in the House of Lords. The consequence was, that in this country, where public speaking passes for so much more than it is worth, Rocking- ham failed to obtain credit for the information and good sense which he really possessed. General The appointment of the leader of the House of Commons was one still more unfortunate. General Conway, who had been dismissed from his office in the Household and from his regi- ment the year before, for voting against the Government on the question of general warrants, was selected for the most important post in the new administration. He was a brave officer and an amiable man, but had hardly any qualification for the management of the House of Commons. It is true, that he was not altogether deficient in the power of expressing himself; and in this respect, he had the advantage of his coadjutor in the other House of Parliament. But he had to succeed Grenville, who from long study and experience, was thoroughly acquainted with the House, and was no mean proficient in the art of oratory. He had to fill that position instead of Pitt, by whom the House and the country had lioped and expect- ed that it would have been filled. As to other FOR THE LEADERSHir OF THE COMMONS. 235 qualifications — tact, firmness, promptitude, debating Ch. 6. power — all these were wanting. His intimate ^"^ friend'^ has mentioned the repulsive coldness of his manner, and the nice sense of honour, which ren- dered Conway unfit for the management of the House of Commons as it was then constituted. So little discrimination was observed in the allot- ment of places, that it was proposed to make Conway Chancellor of the Exchequer, although he had no knowledge of financial aff*airs." He had been reluctant to join an administration in the stability of which he had no confidence; and at length gave a military reason for his acceptance of ofiice — the commands, namely, of His Majesty and the Duke of Cumberland. Conway became Secretary of State. The other The Duke of secretary was the Duke of Grafton. Except in the instance of very rare endowments, it is considered necessary for the efiicient administration of high office that the minister should have acquired ex- perience in subordinate employment. Grafton had never been in office, and did not come within the exception I have ventured to name. He after- wards became the head of an administration him- self, but he owed this elevation partly to accident, partly to his great rank and fortune, qualifications whicl) have always had too much weight with the Whig party. Unsteady, capricious, and in- dolent, he had hardly any quality of a statesman ; ° Walpole's History, vol. ii. p. 195. «> Ibid. 236 MEMBERS OF THE NEW MINISTRY. 1765 ]\Ir. Dowdes- well. Lord Nortliinffton. Ch. 6 and like many men who have little of personal merit to stand upon, he was disposed to presume on his accidental advantages. The department of finance was entrusted to Mr. Dowdeswell, a respectable and intelligent county member, but hardly fitted to be Chancellor of the Exchequer at a time when the increase of the public debt, and the signal failure of the fiscal policy, which had been recently attempted, ren- dered that ofiice one of more than ordinary weight and solicitude. Lord Northington, who had kept very much aloof from the factious counsels of his colleagues in the late Government, retained the great seal; but with this exception, all the ofiS^cial experience of the administration was centred in the Duke of Newcastle. He held the privy seal, to which was attached for his peculiar gratification the church patronage, though it properly belonged to the First Lord of the Treasury. Some of the best and foremost Whigs refused to Lord Camden, take part in the new government. Sir George Savile, member for the great county of York, and a man of high standing both in respect of character and ability,^ though willing to give the administra- tion his support, would not compromise his position by becoming a party to an arrangement so pre- carious. The rising reputation of Lord Shelburne Chief Justice Pratt created P He had been designated by Newcastle for speaker at the commencement of the reign. THEY TRY TO CONCILIATE PITT. 237 was not among tliem. Charles Townshend, though Ch. 6. eager for leading office, was content to let his ~^ brilliant talents remain in the comparative obscurity of the Pay-office, rather than accept a seat in a cabinet so frail. The earliest acts of the government showed vacil- lation, and distrust in their own stability. They sought, at the same time, to cultivate popularity and to conciliate Pitt, by conferring a peerage on the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas who had gained public applause by acquitting Wilkes with some high patriotic sentiments somewhat in the style of his illustrious patron. So much importance had Pitt attached to the elevation of his friend, that he had made it one of the articles in the negotiation with the Duke of Cumberland. Not satisfied with this, they went so far as to appoint one Nuthall Solicitor to the Treasury, for no other apparent reason than that he was the private and confidential solicitor of Mr. Pitt. But all this was to little purpose. Pitt smiled at such artless devices; while the King, still wholly intent on breaking up the old historical parties, could never encourage a new combination of great Whig families such as that which had just been formed under the Marquis of Rockingham. While they thus failed in acquiring strength and Death of the , . . ^ i • 1 1 1 1 l^iike of Cum- support, the mmistry sustained a heavy, though bcrUma. not unexpected, loss by the death of the Duke of Cumberland. Without any claim to the character of a great man, this Prince was distinguished by some noble and commanding qualities. In his 238 CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. Ch. 6. profession of arras he shared the personal courage "7 which was common to his race; and though sorely tried in the prime of life by grievous and in- curable maladies, his patience and fortitude never forsook him. His military talents were not above mediocrity. On the only occasion when he held a difficult command, his plans were so unskilfully contrived that they ended in the surrender of his army. His failure, on that occasion, having been harshly censured by his father, he bore the rebuke with the silent submission of a soldier and a son, but resigned all his military employments, and, at the age of thirty-seven, retired from the active pursuit of a profession to which he was warmly attached. In the early part of his military career, he had incurred popular odium by the stern seve- rity with which he had put down the Scotch rebellion of 1745. But in his latter years, though Avithout the least effort on his part, he had ac- quired the esteem and almost the affections of the people. His personal honour was of the purest kind ; and he had that high and overruling sense of duty which is one of the most admirable qualities of a public man. A keen and yet disinterested politician; a judicious and consistent supporter of the principles which had placed his family upon the throne; a loyal subject and a faithful friend; — such was the Duke of Cumberland, — who, without disparagement to the living or the dead, may fairly be pronounced one of the most estimable Princes of the House of Hanover. ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. (A. p. 197.) ' I will leave the taxing of the British Colonics,' Walpolc s said he, towards the close of his ministry, ' for some of my °o taxi" g\he successors, who may have more courage than I have, and be colonics. less a friend to commerce than I am. It has been a maxim with me, during my administration, to encourage the trade of the American colonies to the utmost latitude : nay, it has been necessary to pass over some irregularities in their trade with Europe ; for, by encouraging them to an extensive, growing, foreign commerce, if they gain five hundred thou- sand pounds, I am convinced that, in two years afterwards, full two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of this gain will be in His Majesty's Exchequer, by the labour and produce of this kingdom, as immense quantities of every kind of our manufactures go thither ; and, as they increase in the foreign American trade, more of our produce will be wanted. This is taxing them more agreeably to their own constitu- tion and laws.' — Bancroft's Histonj of the United States. There cannot be a more striking illustration of the dif- ference between the statesman and the mere minister of routine than the views of Walpole and of Grenville upon this question. (B. p. 199-) Burke, ' Speech on American Taxation.' It Bm-kc on seems, however, to have been enlivened by a striking burst taxation" of oratory from Colonel Barre, who so inauspiciously signalised his first appearance in Parliament by an absurd and inso- lent attack on Pitt. — Adolphus' History^ vol. i. p. 171. 2nd edit. (C. p.200.) The Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of^^eathsof Hardwicke died in the autumn of 1764. Since the retire- and Hard- ment of the Duke of Newcastle from the ministry, the Duke ^^■'^'^'^• of Devonshire became the acknowledged leader of the Whigs. 240 ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. Gi'enville's character. American opinions. Holland to Walpole. ' Born in England.' Grenville's arrogance. (D. p. 200.) ' The opposition is dwindled down to nothing, and Mr. Grenville, for he is the man of consequence, and that does the business. Let them say what they will, Mr. Grenville, I say, will have c/!«??i/j lib7-e, and nobody to oppose him.' — Duke of Newcastle to Marquis of Rockingham, March 2bth, 1765. — EoCKiNGHAM Papers, \o\. i. 181. (E. p. 201.) Such were the counsels of Otis, the eloquent representative of Boston ; of Fetch, the Governor of Con- necticut, by popular election ; of Hutchinson, and of Franklin himself. — Bancroft's History of the American Revolution. (F. p. 204.) Lord Holland told Horace Walpole that the King was in a consumption, and could not live a year. — Walpole's Memoirs of Geo. III. (G. p. 207.) 'Lord Halifax repeatedly assured Mr. Gren- ville that the words 'born in England' had been first proposed by the King to him and Lord Sandwich, and that he had rather held back in it, telling his Majesty that it might pos- sibly not be necessary.^ — Grenville's Diary. Correspond- ence, vol. iii. p. 157. (H. p. 209.) Relative to a proposed alteration in the Council of Regency; the conduct of Grenville, on this occasion, was unreasonable and arrogant. He had been duly summoned to the council at which this matter was discussed, but chose to absent himself on other business. If any apology were called for upon such an occasion, it was due from the minister to his sovereign for what might appear personal disrespect, and was, at least, contrary to etiquette. But the King had condescended to charge Halifax with a message to his brother minister, informing him of what had taken place. When Grenville related to Bedford and his col- leagues the reproaches which he had ventilated in the closet, they all, with the exception of the Chancellor, expressed approbation. But Lord Northington seemed disgusted by such unprovoked insolence. ■ — Grenville's Diary. Cor- respondence, vol. iii. 2?. 146. ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. 041 (I. p. 213.) One of the minor causes of disffust was the The King's 1 ' -I '1- ^ morose refusal of Grenville to propose a small grant for the 'cj'i-eiiviHe purchase of some ground overlooking the Palace Gardens, and upon which Grosvenor-place was afterwards built. (K. p. 213.) Grenville, in his own narrative, sufficiently I^edford's in- describes the treatment to which he habitually subjected his Kinll-!^ sovereign. Bedford appears to have been more measured in his language, and less frequent in upbraiding ; but some insight is afforded into the dictatorial arrogance of his temper by an anecdote unconsciously related to the biographer and eulogist (if these are not convertible terms) of the house of Russell. The Duke had stipulated, as a condition of his taking office, that Bute should not in any way be consulted upon public affairs. He could do no less. But, according to Mr. WifFen, his Grace considered it an infraction of this compact that Bute should have come to town, in the spring of 1765, and taken his place in the House of Lords. A political rival, with whom, it is to be remembered, Bedford had himself, almost up to tliat period, sat in cabinet council, was not only to be removed from power, but altogether secluded from public life, and confined to his country-seat, like the disgraced courtier of a mediaeval despot ! (L. p. 216.) The numbers were, 167 to 37. The difficulty Majority on mainly arose from naming the Royal Family in the bill. If the g-^ ^^'^S^"*^)' Regent had been named, according to Grenville's original advice and according to precedent, this unseemly discus- sion would hardly have arisen. But the King's jealousy of power, and the minister's jealousy of Bute, involved the question in artificial difficulties. If the Queen only had been named, the bill would probably have passed without much discussion; but the nomination of the Royal Family seemed to contemplate the ascendancy of the Princess Dowager and Bute. Hence the awkward and absurd expe- dient of defining the term ' Royal Family' so as to exclude the Princess. Blackstone, the famous commentator, then a member of the House of Commons, put the point in a manner which it was difficult to answer, — ' The Act of the VOL. I. R 242 ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. 24tli George the Second, by whicli the Princess of Wales is named for Regent, is not yet expired ; there is a possibility still of its taking effect, and therefore it seems to me highly improper to exclude her from this. If the Crown should devolve on a minor son of the late Prince of Wales, she "would be Regent.' — Speech on Mr. Norton's motion, reported in Grenville Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 30, n. Northumber- (M. p. 219.) 'Lord Northumberland is known to have King. been, on Saturday night [INIay i8th], at Richmond with the King, who waited for him in the garden, and let him in himself — Grenville Papers. George the Second acted a more straightforward and manly part, at least, when he sent for Lord Waldegrave to deliver him from ' those scoundrels.' The 'King's (N. p. 224.) Burke's pamphlet bears on the face of it the marks of oratorical exaggeration. The cooler judgment of Lord John Russell is entitled to greater weight. ' There ap- pears no reason to doubt that, from the commencement of the reign there was a party called ' The King's Friends,' who^ at- tempted to exercise all real power, while the show of it only was left to the responsible minister; that on them all favour was bestowed, and by them the measures of the Court were directed : that while such was their influence, they kept in the back ground, occupying permanently lucrative subordi- nate places, and leaving the labour and the risk of political affairs in the ostensible rulers of the country: that at a signal from the court, any minister was at once removed, and a subservient House of Commons were directed to transfer their votes to some other puppet, destined to hold a rank equally powerless, by a tenure equally precarious.' — Lord J. Russell's Introduction to Bedford Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 45. The King's That the King wished to restore prerogative to some de- prerogative. gree, at least, of efficiency, and to break up those party con- nections by which prerogative had been supplanted, is un- deniable. It was quite consistent with this design, that he should not give his confidence to any of the public men ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. 243 whom he was forced to employ in responsible office, because they were, one and all, committed to party engagements. But after the sudden failure of Bute's crude experiment, it took several years to mature the plans of the court. The negotiation for a change of ministry, in 1765, was con- ducted, not by a courtier, but by a prince of the blood long estranged from court, and in close connection with the great party leaders. It had for its object, not the substitu- tion of a puppet ministry, but the formation of a cabinet which should consist of the first men in the country. Neither does it appear that the court cabal had at this The court period the means of acting decisively upon Parliament. "^ ^ ^ " The case of the Eegency Bill is, at least, an instance to the contrary. It was the fear of an adverse vote of the House of Commons which induced the King to consent, at the instance of one of his responsible advisers, to a slight being put upon his mother. But if he could have dismissed the ministry at his pleasure^ and commanded the acquiescence of the House, he might have spared himself a degree of an- xiety and annoyance far greater than any public measure had yet cost him. So far, however, was he from relying on any illegitimate influence with the Commons, that we find him up to the last moment endeavouring to conciliate Grenville, as the only channel through which he could hope to guide that assembly. The great measure of the peace also had been carried, Secret influ- not by secret influence, but by the well-established means ^^^^^' of bribery and corruption, administered through the agency of one of those party chiefs, whom it was the object of the new court system to discard. The first real trial of this system seems to have been made on the Rockingham administration, and certainly proved very successful. But it was not until after the election of 1768 that it became completely efficient. (0. p .229.) This famous interview seems to have been Eeilford's ir.- much misrepresented. The mendacious exaggerations of [fi)?i^j^,g/ Walpole and Junius may be at once rejected. But even R 2 244 ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. Burke, with somewhat of the facile credulity of a vulgar poli- tical opponent alludes to ' the report of a gross and brutal treatment of the by a minister at the same time odious to the people.' Other well-informed writers, have given their countenance to these coloured versions. Lord Mahon, always candid and temperate, censures the Duke of Bedford for having used the word ' favourite ' in speaking of Lord Bute, and for charging the King with a breach of his pro- mise. The application of the term ' favourite' would no doubt have been oifensive; but it is assunfied that the Duke ac- tually used this word, from the fact of its being found in the private minute which Bedford made of his intended remon- strance. No mention, however, is made of this pointed phrase having been employed, nor of any disrespectful language having been used in the account of the interview given by Sir Gilbert Elliott (probably from the King's own information), nor in the memorandum of the interview in Grenville's diary. The Duke, as a diplomatist and a courtier, was accustomed to ineasure his words ; and therefore was the less likely to be betrayed into a gross impropriety. And as to charging the King with a breach of his promise, that really was the whole gist of the Duke's discourse. Whether it was of an insulting character or not depended entirely on the manner in which it was conveyed. On the whole, though I cannot go as far as Lord John Russell in bestowing unqualified praise upon the Duke's remonstrance, because it was in a great measure rendered unnecessary by the in- tolerable rigour of the terms which ministers themselves had imposed upon the King; yet, on the other hand, there is no doubt that Bedford firmly believed in the ascendancy of Bute, and considered such conditions indispensable to carry on the government. Sir Gilbert (B- P' 230.) The King assured Sir Gilbert Elliott that he Elliott. ]^j^(j jjqj. spoken to Lord Bute on politics since he left office in 1763. This was no doubt literally true ; but it is also cer- tain that Bute continued his political intrigues long after his resignation. ADDENDA TO CHAP. VI. 245 (Q. p. 231.) Pitt seems to have been unprepared for tliis Pitt's nef;iTii. Grenville. viile s argument, the great orator put forth all his strength in this reply; and never, certainly, had his genius made a more brilliant eiFort. After a few words of scornful comment, he burst into a strain of oratory not unlike, and not inferior to that famous passage in which Demosthenes *" See Addenda B, p. 272. VOL. I. S 258 SINGULAR ELOQUENCE Ch. 7. justified the Battle of Chseronea. ' The gentleman 1766 ^^^^® "^'' ®^^^ ^^' 'that America is obstinate; America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice THAT America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest.' The instances cited by Grenville of classes sub- jected to taxation without being represented, he treated with contempt as the argument of a lawyer. He had not come down ' armed at all points with law cases and acts of parliament ; with the statute- book doubled down in dog's ears to defend the cause of liberty.' Grenville had dwelt much on the benefits which England had lavished upon the Colonies; on the favour which had been shewn to their trade ; on the return she was entitled to expect for the protection which she had extended to them. Pitt's reply was singularly striking and happy. ' The gentleman boasts of his bounties to America. Are not those bounties intended finally for the benefit of this kingdom ? If they are not, he has misapplied the national treasures The profits to Great Britain from the trade of the Colonies, through all its branches is two millions a year.*^ This is the fund that carried you triumphantly through the last war. The estates that were rented at two thousand pounds a year, threescore years ago, are at three thousand pounds •* Three millions. OF PITT'S REPLY. 259 1766 at present. Those estates sold then from fifteen Ch. 7. to eighteen years' purchase ; the same may be now sold for thirty. You owe this to America. And shall a miserable financier come with a boast, that he can fetch a peppercorn into the exchequer to the loss of millions to the nation?'® He then affected to console the fallen minister for the misrepresentions and unpopularity of Avhich he complained, by telling him that it was a com- mon misfortune to be abused in the newspapers; and in allusion to the argument upon which he had laid much stress, that nobody had contradicted him when he asserted the right of Parliament to tax America; Pitt remarked, in a style of more pointed mockery, that members were modest about contradicting a minister; and reminded the House that when he had, session after session, challenged objection to the German war — his German war as they called it — one gentleman only had the courage to tell him that he did not like a German war. ' I honoured the man^ for it,' said Pitt, ' and was sorry when he was turned out of his place.' His concluding sentences were grand and im- pressive. ' A great deal has been said without doors of the power, of the strength of America. It ® The estimated produce of the stamp tax was only £100,000 a-year. f ' The man ' was Su' Francis Dashwood, Bute's Chancellor of the Exchequer. s 2 l6o PITT'S OPINIONS Ch. 7. is a topic that ought to be cautiously meddled with. ~'^^ In a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of this country can crush America to atoms. But in such a case your success would be hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man. She would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the constitution along with her. Is this your boasted peace ? Not to sheathe the sword in its scabbard, but to sheathe it in the bowels of your countrymen V Advice of Pitt. His advicc was that the Stamp Act should be repealed absolutely and immediately; but that at the same time the sovereign authority of this country over the Colonies should be asserted in as strong terms as could be devised, and be made to extend to every point of legislation, except that of taking their money without their consent. The right of The doctrinc advanced by Pitt that Great cXmes.^^ Britain had no right to tax the Colonies, found little favour at the time,s and has ever since been treated as untenable. But the proposition, though too broadly stated, is not destitute of plausibility. The Commons were originally summoned to Parlia- ment solely for the purpose of granting aids; the right of making laws being reserved to the Crown and the greater barons ; and though the power of granting money soon proved to be the most import- ant power in the state, and drew towards it every other branch of legislation, it is certain that in the 8 See Addenda C, p. 273. CONCERNING AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 261 old institution of Parliament, the distinction was Ch. 7. recognised between the right of granting money ~^ and that of making general laws.'' And if in those rude times, when the Commons had hardly ascer- tained their position as an estate of the realm, it was not attempted to take their money without their consent, it seemed an exorbitant stretch of power now to refuse this right to a people who had been admitted to all the privileges and liberties of Englishmen. As to the Colonies being virtually represented in the British Parliament, that was an assertion much too violent. The same might as well have been said of Ireland before the Union. Ireland, like New England, had been planted by British colonists. Ireland and New England had each her own representative assembly; and the Parliament of Great Britain exercised supreme legislative power over both. But it was never pretended that the British Parliament could tax the Irish people without the consent of their own repre- sentatives. On the same ground, it is plain that Great Britain was not justified in laying taxation upon the represented colonies of America. On the other hand, it would have been of dan- tiicoi y of seif- gerous precedent for the sovereign legislature either to limit its power, or to lay down such a position as that which was advanced by Pitt and afterwards distinctly affirmed by Lord Camden, that no man could be lawfully deprived of any ^ See Addenda D, p. 273. 262 REPRESENTATIVE PRINCIPLE AS APPLIED Ch. 7. portion of his property, except with his consent, 1766 signified personally, or through his representatives. On the broad basis of such a principle, the theory of the universal suffrage which has been, for the most part, rejected by practical statesmen as in- compatible with our mixed constitution, must have securely rested ; since every subject who is not kept on the public bounty contributes to the public burdens, in consuming the merest necessaries of life. It can make no difference to the argument whether the contribution is levied directly by a poll-tax, or indirectly by a duty on commodities. The very tax which gave rise to this doctrine was an indirect one. The Therepresen- representative principle was, in fact, very imper- pie. fectly developed in Great Britain itself.' The con- stituency did not comprise a tenth part of the population. It is indisputable that a large propor- tion of the public revenue was derived from persons who were denied the elective franchise. If every citizen who is subjected to taxation directly or indirectly is entitled to the suffrage as of right^ it is obvious that no consideration of expediency or good government can justly avail to withhold it from him. But this is the question which lies at the root of the argument. Of what kind is the • The Reform Act of 1832 merely advanced the process of development a stage. The estimated male population of England and Wales, according to the Census of 1851, was nearly nine millions (8,883,298) — Census of Great Britain, vol. i. p. 29. The registered voters in that year were for England and Wales 918,162. TO THE RIGHT OF IMPOSING TAXES. 263 right asserted? Is it natural right? The answer Ch. 7. is, that natural right is given up on entering into ^^^ civil society. But every other right is the creature of municipal law, or is natural right modified in accordance with political exigency. Thus the attempt to square political institutions with exact principles must ever be attended with failure. The imperfection of human nature, and the conditions imposed by the Creator himself upon human exist- ence, render it impracticable to observe the laws of perfect justice in political institutions. The other ground upon which it was sought to found the claim of taxing the colonies, in consideration of the protection afforded them, is equally unwarrantable. Upon this pretence I have made some remarks in a former page ; but the short answer given by Pitt is, I apprehend, con- clusive. England maintained and protected her \^ colonies solely for the sake of commerce, and might . as fairly have exacted a contribution from her own i merchants and traders, who derived three millions annually from their traffic with the colonies, as have set up a claim for tribute from the colonies on that account. Pitt's speech decided the wavering policy of the Measures re- administration. Indeed, it would have been hardly possible to enforce the Stamp Act, after the highest authority in the empire had pro- nounced it illegal, and the resistance of the Ame- ricans righteous and commendable. It was de- termined, therefore, to pursue the course prescribed 264 PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY. Ch. 7. by Pitt; to bring forward two bills — one to affirm J gg the supreme legislative authority of Great Britain, the other to repeal the obnoxious impost. But before adopting a measure of such grave importance to the dignity and authority of the empire, as the surrender of a statute which had been advisedly enacted, to the rebellious opposition of those whom it concerned, it was deemed expe- dient to give time for the expression of public opinion on the subject, and to institute a parlia- mentary inquiry into the reasons which could be alleged against it. Franklin's The disastrous effects of the late commercial evidence. policy upon the trade of Great Britain were forcibly represented by petitions from the merchants, show- ing the losses which they had already sustained by the Americans having been deprived of the means of making good their engagements; and the pro- bability that the trade itself, to which it was the primary purpose of colonies to be subservient, would be altogether annihilated. The Colonial Assemblies, resenting the contemptuous treatment which their petitions had received the preceding year, with one or two exceptions, did not deign to prefer their complaints before the British Parlia- ment; but the grievances which the colonists en- dured, as well as the measures which they had taken to secure redress, were represented at the bar of the House of Commons with consummate ability and skill by the statesman whom they had sent over for that purpose. The evidence of FRANKLIN'S EXAMINATION. 265 Franklin, given before the Committee of the whole Ch. 7. House, subjected as it was to the jealous scrutiny ~^ of Grenville, and other supporters of his colonial measures, must have carried conviction to every candid mind of their impolicy, at least. His tes- timony went far, also, to prove that they were unjust and impracticable. He showed that there was no necessity for compulsory taxation, as the Colonies had always contributed their share, and sometimes more than their share, towards the defence of the empire, when duly called upon by the official requisition of the Plome Government; and he stated, in positive terms, that though his country was willing to pay customs' duties in con- sideration that England, by her fleets, kept the seas clear for commerce, they never would submit, under any circumstances, to arbitrary internal taxation. He stated, in answer to a question, that the value of the annual imports from Great Britain to the province of Pennsylvania alone was com- puted at half a million sterling, while the exports of that colony, in return, did not exceed forty thousand pounds, the differences being remitted in specie, obtained chiefly from the produce of a traffic with foreign countries, which the English Government had lately suppressed as contraband. Prepared as he was for his examination in chief Franklin's ••• ^ dialectic skill. by previous concert with the advocates of the ministerial policy, and for the attacks of adverse querists by the discussions which had already taken place in Parliament, Franklin displayed, in 266 LORD CAMDEN'S VIEWS. Ch. 7. addition to a thorough knowledge of his subject, 1766 *^^* readiness of reply and dialectic skill which are always successful in a popular assembly, but have ever enjoyed an immediate triumph in the British House of Commons. The evidence of Franklin'^ was a material support to the government. Declaratory But, whilc American grievances were to be re- dressed, the honour of Parliament was, at the same time, to be saved by an act affirmative of its supreme legislative authority over all the depen- dencies of the empire.^ The more accurate read- ing of the constitutional lawyers, by whom the ministry had the prudence to be advised in framing the Declaratory Bill, rejected the dangerous dis- tinction between the power of imposing taxes and that of making other laws, which Pitt and his disciple, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, sought to introduce. Each of these eminent per- sons, therefore, objected to the unqualified language of the resolution upon which the bill was to be founded; but, as the fate of the more important measure was involved in the integrity of this, they abstained from any attempt to modify its terms. Lord Camden, however, entered into a lengthened exposition of his views ; and, as this was the first occasion upon which he had addressed the House since his recent elevation to the peerage, ^ His examination is to be found in the ordinary form of a parliamentary report in the Parliamentary History, Almon's Papers, Sparks's Life of Franklin, and many other publications. ' 6 Geo.m. c. 12. LORD MANSFIELD'S ARGUMENT. 267 his speech was listened to with the interest wliich Ch. 7. became the dignity of the question, no less than ~^ the reputation and authority of the speaker. He set out by denying the omnipotence of Parliament, and its right to pass the law which was about to be repealed ; illustrating the first position by referring to the incompetency of Parliament to deprive a man of his property without compensa- tion, or to pass a bill of attainder without a hearing. In proof of the limited power of Parliament in the matter of taxation, he quoted several prece- dents, as the clergy who formerly taxed themselves, likewise the counties palatine, Wales, and Ireland. Lord Mansfield's arojument, in reply, was a Lord Mans- ° ' ^ "^ . field's argu- masterpiece, full of historical and legal learning, ment. lucid in arrangement, cogent in reasoning; and all these merits were set off by the most exquisite grace of elocution, and the happiest adaptation of style and manner to the fastidious audience which he addressed. The Chief Justice of England maintained that the authority of the British legislature was co-extensive with the empire ; that in this respect there was no difference between the parts within and those without the realm; that the colonies, from the circumstances and conditions under which they were established, instead of being entitled to claim independence, were made espe- cially subject to the control of Great Britain. He declared that, after the most diligent research, he had been unable to discover any distinction between 268 THE DECLARATORY BILL. Ch. 7. the power of levying taxes and making laws. The j~^g cases cited by Camden, he disposed of very suc- cessfully. The clergy, it is true, were at one time exempted from taxation by the laity, but that was a concession to the predominance of the priesthood in a rude and superstitious age. Wales had been specially excepted out of many statutes for impos- ing taxes, because the people contributed their proportion in the shape of mises, but when that tribute was abolished by the acts which incorpo- rated Wales with England, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the Welsh were taxed like the other inha- bitants of the realm. He showed that the counties palatine, and other places which had been named, were bound by the laws of Parliament long before they were represented ; and that the right of send- ing members to Parliament was conferred upon them, in consequence of their being bound by its acts. He placed in a striking light the futility of the pretensions of a chartered colony to be inde- pendent of Parliament, when its constitution was liable to be dissolved (as that of Massachusetts Bay had been in the time of Charles the Second) in the English courts of justice for a breach of the conditions upon which it was founded; and he con- cluded with a solemn warning to Parliament not to abandon its functions. The Deciara- The Declaratory Bill gave rise to much discussion tory Bill. jj^ i^^^j^ Houses ; but there was only one division upon it; and that took place in the Lords upon the motion of Camden. A minority of four peers only REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 269 agreed with him in denying the assertion of the Ch. 7. unlimited authority of Parhament. ~~ This enactment™ accompanying, as it did, another which retracted the practical assertion of the power on the first occasion of its being resisted, was cer- tainly not a very dignified proceeding. It would have been more becoming the magnanimity of the Imperial Legislature to have simply repealed the Stamp Act, without condescending to an idle vaunt of omnipotence. But the government probably had no choice in the matter. Many persons even among those who were opposed to Grenville's colonial policy felt incensed at the insolence of the colonists ; and more sober men were inclined to think that the dangerous tenet put forth by such an authority as Pitt required an authentic refutation. Both AVhigs and Tories were in the main agreed in up- holding the ascendancy of Parliament against a democratic theory more formidable than the actual resistance which had been offered to it. The Bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act was Repeal of the then brought forward. It was well known that ^^^^ the Act could be put into operation only by force of arms ; yet it was for some time doubtful whether the repeal could be carried. The ministry them- selves had no weight or credit to carry this or any other measure. The regular parliamentary oppo- sition headed by Bedford and Grenville, were vehe- mently adverse to the abrogation of their own "" See Addenda E, p. 273. 270 MANSFIELD'S OPINION Ch. 7. capital policy. The Tories, including many of the "7g subordinate placemen, voted against the minister. / Lord Mansfield was of opinion that the repeal of A the Act would be an imprudent concession to the / 1 rebellious spirit of the provinces ; but was content that it should be stripped of all its offensive provi- sions, and in point of fact be reduced to a nullity. Many independent members who were against en- forcing the Act, preferred this middle term to the precipitate repeal of a statute passed with the all but unanimous assent of Parliament only the year before. The King also caused it to be made known'^ that he was favorable to the policy of modification. On the other hand, the Bill was supported by the influence of Pitt, backed by a strong expression of public opinion, and by the wholesome fears of many who were not prepared to risk the effusion of blood and the integrity of the empire. The policy of concession happily prevailed, and the government were ultimately enabled to carry the bill through both Houses by commanding majorities. Propriety of It will hardly be disputed at the present day that the unconditional repeal of the Stamp Act was the preferable course. A great legislature can afford to admit that it is not infallible, even when it has been most deliberate in its proceedings ; and the prompt acknowledgment of error is surely far more respectable than the attempt to preserve the form, while the essential of consistency is abandoned. the repeal. " See Addenda F, p. 273. OF THE STAMP ACT. 271 But in this instance, Parliament had in truth little Ch. 7. or no sacrifice in dignity to make; the Stamp Act ^^ had passed almost unnoticed as one of the minor financial projects of the year; and unless the matter had been swollen into importance by perverse pride and party spirit, it would have been easy to repair the inadvertence by withdrawing a measure too insignificant to afi'ect the revenue in any material degree. But there was one conclusive argument for the repeal. After Pitt had openly countenanced and encouraged the resistance of the colonies, British legislation on this head was deprived of all moral force, and could be maintained only at the cost of civil war. It is easy to censure Pitt for giving the weight of his great name to open rebellion. Ordinary prudence and loyalty, indeed, can afibrd no justification for such conduct. But there are times and occasions when a more enlightened dis- cretion sees the path of safety beyond the beaten tracks of precedent and routine. His daring and decisive opposition prevented England at this time from entering upon a doubtful and disastrous con- flict with her colonies ; had Pitt taken a diff'erent course, and directed it, as he must have done, the same zeal and energy would doubtless have 'crushed America to atoms.' But the dictates of justice, of humanity and sound policy would have been alike violated by such a disastrous triumph. ADDENDA TO CHAP. VII. Supposed pre- (A. p. 256.) This allusion referred not, as lias been judice of Pitt, gypposed^ to Bute, but to Newcastle. — Lord Charle- mont's Letters. A little consideration, indeed, will show that Bute could not have been meant. Pitt alone, of all the eminent public men of the day, had never refused to be pohtically asso- ciated with the obnoxious Scotchman. He had been will- ing to return to office through the mediation of Bute in 1763; the persons whom he proscribed on that occasion were not the 'King's Friends,' but the Bedfords and the New- castles, who had thwarted his war policy. So in 1765, he was quite willing to restore Stuart Mackenzie to his sine- cure, and to let the King's men remain in the enjoyment of their obscure places, but he insisted on the reversal of the policy which had been pursued both at home and abroad since his retirement from power. He had finally broken with Newcastle in the early part of the same year. The Rockingham administration was notoriously formed in op- position to the Bute school of policy, and was composed of those Whig grandees whose yoke the King had once de- clared he never would endure. It included Newcastle, whose political resurrection was extremely offensive to Pitt; having ever regarded the Duke as the father of jobbery and intrigue, a far more formidable obstacle to good government than the manager of a futile system of prerogative policy. Rule of the (B. p. 257.) The rule had been established for more than House of Com- g^ centurv and a half, of not allowino; a member to speak twice to the same question, when the House was not in com- mittee. — Hatsell's Precedents, vol. ii. p. 74. Possibly in a debate upon the Speech from the Throne, when there is no question in particular before the House, the rule may not apply in its strictness. It is more likely, however, that the Speaker yielded to the will of the House, and the old predominance of Pitt. mons. ADDENDA TO CHAP. VII. 273 (C. p. 260.) 'His (Pitt's) opinion about tlie power of Colonial taxes, taxing the colonies seems to be peculiar to himself and Lord Camden.' — Lady Hervey's Letters. (D. p. 261.) ' In the reign of Elizabeth, the House of Popu'^vr no- Commons was considered in no other light than as a means ija,ncj,t jn the of supply ; insomuch that the Queen made a merit to her '"e'gn of Eliza- people of seldom summoning a Parliament. No redress of grievances was expected from these assemblies. They were supposed to meet for no other purposes than to impose taxes.' — Hume's History. (E. p. 269.) ' That the said colonies and plantations in Act of Par- America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordi- JoloniaUaxa- nate unto and dependent upon the Imperial Crown and Par- tion. liament of Great Britain; and that the King's Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever J — 6 Geo. HL, c. 12, sec. i. (F. p. 270.) Through Lord Strange, one of the Tory Lord Strange's placemen. The ministers had intimated that His Majesty ^^^'^^™'^°t- approved of their plan; and when Kockingham, who had certainly so understood the King, heard that Strange had been making a contrary statement, he instantly demanded an audience ; and Strange, being present at his desire, reminded His ]\Iajesty of having sanctioned the measure of repeal. The King, however, asserted that Rockingham omitted a very important qualification, and made a memorandum of what he had said, — ' The question asked me by my ministers was, whether I was for enforcing the act by the sword, or for the repeal? Of the two extremes, 1 was for the repeal, but inost certainly preferred modification to either.' — Wal- POLe's Histortj, vol. ii. p. 281. — Grenville's Diari/. VOL. L CHAPTER VIIT. MEASURES OF THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION ITS DISMISSAL — PITT PRIME MINISTER AND EARL OF CHATHAM HIS SCHEMES HIS ILLNESS AND SECLUSION DISTRACTED STATE OF THE CABINET TOWNSHEND's RASHNESS AND AMBITION MINISTERIAL CHANGES NULLUM TEMPUS BILL. 1766 Conciliatory measures towards the colonies. Ch. 8. HTHE repeal of the Stamp Duty was followed by another healing measure freemg the commerce of the colonies from many of the vexatious restric- tions to which it had been subjected by the former administration. At the same time the trade in bullion and cattle, formerly carried on with the Spanish colonists, and the suppression of which by the custom-house cruisers had been one of the most substantial grievances of which the Americans complained, was restored to them by an Act con- stituting Dominica and Jamaica free ports for live stock and unmanufactured commodities. While they pursued this course of just and reasonable conciliation towards the colonies, the government sought to strengthen themselves at home by other popular measures. The ill-advised Cider Act, the principal financial measure of Bute's CHANGE OF MEASURES. 275 administration, was materially altered. The duty ch. 8. of four shillings in the hogshead, which the most ~^ ignorant of Chancellors of the Exchequer'' had im- cider duty posed upon the manufacturer, with no other effect, '"'^"'''■^'^"S'- • as might have been anticipated, than to check the trade, was transferred with an additional duty of two shillings to the retailer, who was much better fitted to deal with it; and the differential duty of forty shillings upon the foreign article was, by way of compensation, increased to a prohibitory duty of three pounds. Upon the short-siojhted Foreign silks .. T • 1 1 . 1 1 ^ prohibited. principles of political economy which then od- tained, an Act was passed for the exclusion of foreig-n-wroujjht silks, in order that the distress of the weavers might be relieved by forcing the inferior domestic production. This measure was of course received with clamorous joy by the poor people, whose untaught resistance to Parlia- ment the year before thus received the same consi- deration as the just revolt of the injured Americans. The House of Commons also, at the instance of the ya''f>"s ' domestic administration, passed a just though tardy condem- measures, nation on the proceeding of arrest by general war- rant, and the arbitrary seizure of private papers. The government are likewise entitled to the praise of having discredited the practice of dismissing military officers for insubordination in their political capacity. The law of England still recognises in the soldier his indelible character of a citizen, im- * See Addenda A, p. 328. T 2 276 WANT OF STRENGTH IN Ch. 8. paired though it be for the time by the rigour of ~^^ miUtary discipline; and though standing armies, in this country at least, are perhaps no longer dan- gerous to liberty, it must ever be of importance in a free state that the absolute obedience of the sol- dier should be limited to his military commission. !_ Since this period the distinction between the civil and military character in the same individual has been respected; and General Conway himself was the last officer deprived of professional employment for his vote in Parliament. Weakness of But notwithstaudino; that the government had the govern- _ ^ *-' ment. succeeded in carrying through all these as well as other useful measures during a single year, they acquired no strength nor stability. Their short tenure of office was almost from the first but a lingering existence^ protracted from day to day, contrary to public expectation. A few noblemen and gentlemen of little or no official experience, of moderate personal ability, hardly known to the public, and with a slender parliamentary connection had undertaken to carry on the government in op- position to the most powerful section of the Whig party, disparaged by the highest parliamentary authority, and thwarted by the courtiers at every turn. The country had endured, with one brilliant exception, a succession of weak and short-lived ad- ministrations during the twelve years which had elapsed since the death of Pelham; but the See Addenda B, p. 3 28. 1/66 THE ROCKINGHAxM MINISTRY. 277 Rockingham administration was the weakest and ch. 8. most transitory of them all. They had little, in- deed, beyond integrity and singleness of purpose to recommend them ; and for these qualities they hardly obtained any credit, so little had the na- tion been accustomed to look for public spirit and disinterestedness in those who directed its affairs.*^ The exact discipline which has been long estab- insui>ordina- lished throughout the administration from the officers. highest to the lowest offices, was but imperfectly exercised during the first century after the Revo- lution. The principal ministers frequently opposed each other in Parliament;^ and the inferior tenants of office followed their example. Sometimes, indeed, the first minister enraged at such insolence, would dismiss all the delinquents, including even their kinsmen and friends who had given no ofi'ence. Walpole, Fox and Grenville had each inflicted a cruel vengeance upon insubordination. But never had this mutinous spirit reached such a pitch as under Rockingham. Not only did the whole tribe of courtiers^ but several men holding political office go against him. On one occasion, after he had complained to the King, and obtained a promise of support, he was run to a narrow majority of eight in the House of Commons the same evening, the Tory placemen voting in a body against the go- vernment ; and when he asked for the dismissal of •= See Addenda C, p. 328. '^ See Addenda D, p. 328. 278 ROCKINGHAM OPENS Ch. 8. 1766 Overtures made to Pitt. Partial resig- nation of the ministry. a junior lord of trade^ for the sake of example, he was met with a refusal. The King had not been so forbearing on the question of the Peace and of the General Warrants. On those occasions, the di- vision lists had been closely scanned; and every placeholder who hesitated to approve of either of those measures was immediately expelled. The ministry were conscious that their only chance of maintaining their position was by an alli- ance with that great man who alone possessed public confidence, and could bend both Courts and Parlia- ments to his will. Many overtures accordingly had been made to Pitt ; his wishes had been consulted by the ministry, not on the most important mea- sures of public policy, and even in the dispensation of official patronage. But all in vain. Pitt ad- mitted that their characters were ' fair,' that he had never been 'betrayed' by any of them, that they had sometimes been guided by his 'poor opinion,' — but still he could not give them his ' confidence.' It was far from the wish of Rockingham and his colleagues to cling tenaciously to office ; and so disheartened were they by the difficulties which gathered around them, and the want of support from every quarter, that they meditated resigna- tion, even before the all-important measures for tranquillising the colonies had been presented to Parliament. And this intention would have been carried into effect, if Bedford and Grenville * See Addenda E, p. 329. NEGOTIATIONS WITH PITT. 279 had succeeded in an attempt which they made Ch. 8. about the same time, to form a coalition with Bute ~^^ and the Tories/ The Duke of Grafton, indeed, unwilling to be involved in the fate which inevitably awaited the ministry, withdrew not very hand- somely, in the middle of the session, and the Duke of Richmond succeeded him as Secretary of State. At length, the Lord Chancellor Northington seized the opportunity of a difference of opinion with the other members of the cabinet, on the subject of a bill for the government of Canada, to tell them plainly that he should not again sit in council with them; and, proceeding from the cabinet to the royal closet, informed His ^lajesty that the government could go on no longer, and tendered his resignation of the Great Seal. Northington, who had courted the King's favour both in the pre- sent and in the former ministry, knew that this in- telligence would be very graciously received, and, for purposes of his own, was willing to be em- ployed as the mediator of a new administration. Pitt was, of course, to have the refusal of office ; Pitt forms a . new adiiiiuis- and Northington was desired to communicate with tration. him on the subject. At the same time, the King informed the ministry of the step which he had taken. Rockingham received the intimation with silent acquiescence ; but Conway, sensible of his incompetency for the office which he had reluctantly undertaken, and of Pitt's paramount qualifications. ^ See Addenda F, p. 329. 28o PITT CONSENTS TO TAKE OFFICE. Ch. 8. expressed his unfeigned satisfaction at the intelli- '766 Sence. Pitt's florid Pitt was at his house in Somersetshire, when he ^^^* received the King's commands. His answer to Northington's letter was in that florid style which he aflected on such occasions, and which in any other man would have been fulsome and ridiculous.^ This was the third time within a period of five years that the administration had been formally offered to this eminent person ; and now, under cir- cumstances the least auspicious, he was induced to accept the charge. His constitution, which had been for some time past sinking under the increase of years, and the repeated ravages of that disease which had embittered his whole existence, now ex- hibited a new form of disorder. The gout had dis- appeared, and a low fever, freer from anguish, in- deed, but more depressing than acute pain, had taken possession of him. The excitement of a sudden summons and a hasty journey to London aggravated his malady. The climate of Richmond, where he had to attend the King, was too mild for his feverish frame; and every day, after the au- dience, he retired to the cooler air of Hampstead, The progress of the arrangement of the new ministry was not such as to allay his irritation. Interference of His Unhappy connection with Temple proved, on Temple. this occasion, as it had formerly, the source of dif- ficulty and disappointment. That proud and ill- conditioned peer, who derived all his political im- e See Addenda G, p. 330. TEMPLE'S OBSTRUCTIVE CONDUCT. 281 portance from Pitt, thought himself entitled to ch. 8. exercise an influence over his illustrious kinsman, ~^ 1766 to which he had little or no title in respect of ability and good sense. The year before, he had defeated the opportunity of forming an efficient administration under Pitt, because he had deter- mined that the country should be governed exclu- sively by the family of Grenville. The same arrogant and silly project was again pressed upon Pitt. Temple had, indeed, just discretion enougli to see that his brother George, at that moment the most unpopular man in England, was not quite eligible as a minister. He engaged, therefore, that Grenville should support the ministry without office, intending no doubt to admit him into the government at a future day. Pitt, however, Pitt's treat- determined on this occasion to deal with his ° ^ ™- brother-in-law on the same footing as any public man, charged by his sovereign with the con- struction of a ministry, would deal with any other public man whom he wished to include in his arrano-ements. He offered him office— the hio-h office of First Commissioner of the Treasury — which included a seat in the Cabinet, together with the nomination of his colleaofues at the Board, in- eluding the Chancellor of the Exchequer; but this did not satisfy the overbearing temper of the chief of the Grenvilles. If all political power could not be concentrated in his family, he required at least that he should be associated with Pitt in an equality of power and patronage. Such a plan as that of 282 PITT'S NEW ADMINISTRATION. Ch. 8. two joint first ministers was unprecedented and ~Z. absurd ; and Pitt, of all men, was the last to 1766 ' ' ... endure the trial of such an experiment in his person. He placed before Temple the names of the persons whom he had designated for the dif- ferent offices in the administration, informing him, at the same time, perhaps in the peremptory style which belonged to him, that the list could not be altered. Temple, in his audience of the King, which had preceded his interview with Pitt, in- sisted on the removal of the whole Rockingham connection, while Pitt proposed to retain a large proportion, including some of the principal of them, such as Conway and the Duke of Grafton. Temple then offered to nominate two of his friends, the Lords Gower and Lyttelton, for high places in the government ; but even this being refused, he took his leave with strong expressions of resent- ment, and thus was severed, at the same time, the political connection and the private friendship of these kinsmen. Composition Relieved from a captious and impracticable col- league, Pitt was enabled, without difficulty, to com- plete his administration. Grafton, who had declared himself ready to serve under Pitt in the humblest capacity, and had refused to continue in office with- out him, was appointed First Lord of the Treasury. Camden, his able and devoted follower, received the Great Seal. Conway retained his office of Secretary of State with the lead of the House of Commons. Northington was transferred to the dignified post of the new ministry. PITT CREATED EARL OF CHATHAM. 283 of President of the Council, receiving at the same Ch 8. time some substantial compensation^' for the emo- ~^^ luments of Chancellor, the duties of which his infirmities rendered him unable any longer to dis- charge. Charles Townshend became Chancellor of the Exchequer; Shelburne was the other Secre- tary of State. Pitt himself was contented with the Privy Seal; and at the same time it was announced to the astonished and indignant nation, who seemed willing to claim him ever as their own, that their Great Connnoner had merged in the Earl of Pitt created Chatham. I need not here repeat the observations Chatham, which I have made in a former page upon the shallow and vulgar quality of the censure which is often lavished upon eminent statesmen who accept honours and emoluments from the Crown. That those favours have been often unworthily conferred is no reason why they should always diminish the credit and character of great men. The first Chatham peerage and pension had indeed too much the appearance of compensation for the loss of place and power; and the abject language and demeanour to which Pitt descended on that occasion in the presence of his sovereign, while it favored the malice of his enemies, and caused his friends to grieve that he should so misrepresent himself, was in truth only an exhibition of that exaggerated and affected style which pervaded all his public conduct, and marred, as far as it could, '" See Addenda H, p. 330. 284 COMPOSITION OF Ch. 8. his real greatness. To the liberal mind, a title may 1766 appear a thing of little or no value ; it can neither give real elevation to meanness, nor enhance true dignity; but the bulk of mankind do not refine so curiously. A title by them is taken for what it professes to be — a badge of honour — and is perhaps by none valued higher than by those whom envy prompts to employ the cant of philosophy in its disparagement. If ever there was a title fairly won, and well bestowed, it was the Earldom of Chatham. For thirty years had Pitt been a member of the House of Commons; and now the state of his health even more than his years, disqualified him from sustaining an active part in that Assembly. He was First Minister ; and in that capacity he could not continue in the House of Commons without assuming the lead and management. To retire from Parliament, disdaining a seat in the Upper House, the comparative tranquillity of which was suitable to his years and infirmities, might have obtained a certain kind of popular applause, but must have ended in his retirement from public life. Pitt took a wiser and more dignified course. He relied upon his fame; upon the authority derived from past success; and upon the generous confidence of the people, who had once before called him to power, and whom he had ever nobly served. The Chatham Thc Chatham administration has been criticised, adininistra- t r 'j. a j.' 'j. j. -\ tion. as II irom its very construction, it must necessarily have fallen to pieces.' But upon examination, ' See Addenda I, p. 330. CHATHAM'S MINISTRY. 285 without reference to the event, there appears to be Ch. 8. no reason Avhy it should not have worked well. T^ The materials of which it was composed were, upon the whole, better than those of its predecessors in the existing reign. The experience and ability of Northington were retained, though in another department. Camden, Shelburne and Townshend were all men of ability superior to the Egremonts, the Halifaxes and the Grenvilles. Grafton, though he had only a few months' experience of office, was a good speaker and a man of acknowledged promise. These with Chatham himself formed the cabinet. They were all of the Whig connection. In the inferior offices there were Lord North, a rising statesman, and destined shortly to be the chief of an administration; Barre, a partizan of Shelburne, and one of the most effective speakers in Parliament, and James Grenville, a brother of Lord Temple, but a staunch adherent of Pitt. A large proportion of the Rockingham party continued in office with the consent of their chief.'' The Court also seemed favourable to the new government. The King' significantly expressed his belief that ' the Earl of Chatham would zealously give his aid towards destroying all party distinctions. '°^ Some of the 'King's men' were retained; others were provided for in the new distribution of offices; and Bute ^ See Addenda K, p. 330. ' See Addenda L, p. 331. •" Letter from the King to Pitt, July 29. — Chatham Corr. 286 INSTABILITY OF Ch. 8. was propitiated by the restoration of his brother jl^^ Mackenzie to the Privy Seal of Scotland. Objections to It was Said then, and has been repeated since, Chatham's , , n -i -i • • i ministry. that the government was founded on no principle. But this is merely verbal objection. The enuncia- tion of a particular principle upon which a govern- ment is to be conducted is only called for when the principle is ripe for application. Thus, in Pitt's former administration, the chastisement of the House of Bourbon was the object. To quell the evil spirit of a democracy which threatened uni- versal despotism was in like manner the mission of Pitt's illustrious son. Again, in 1830, Peace, Re- trenchment, and Reform were the intelligible aims of Lord Grey's administration. But to lay down a principle without any definite purpose savours too much of empiricism; and must either have a mischievous effect in stirring questions prema- turely, or end in exposing the projector to just derision. It would be easy, in 1854, to draw up a catalogue of measures which were wanted in 1766. The representative system, for example, was more depraved, and Parliament itself far less entitled to public confidence and respect in that year than in 1832. But the reform of Parliament would never- theless at that time have proved a hopeless attempt. Religious liberty, education and commerce were each in a deplorable state for want of wholesome laws; but a minister would in vain have called upon public opinion for support in legislating upon such matters. Pitt had in his earlier years descended CHATHAM'S GOVERNMENT. 287 to the arts of popularity; but now in the fulness of Ch. 8. his age and fame, it was surely not for him to con- T^ cern himself about the mere pedantry of principles. His very name was itself a principle. All men un- Pitt's prin- derstood that an administration of which Pitt was tion. the ruling genius, meant terror to the enemies of England, conciliation to her dependencies, the dis- couragement of factions at home and the cause of honest government. The unfortunate fate of this ministry is not, therefore, to be attributed either to its heterogeneous composition, or to its want of fixed principles. Chatham alone destroyed his own work. His situation at this time was very different to what it had been when he entered upon his first administration. In 1757, the patience of the nation had been worn out by misgovernraent ; the country was literally, and not as in the declamation of dis- appointed politicians, on the brink of ruin. Since the reign of Charles the Second, when a foreign fleet were at London Bridge, England was never in such danger of insult. It was notorious that Pitt was the last and only public hope. Fox, the only man of parliamentary standing or ability who could pretend to be his rival, was known in public life to be utterly heartless, profligate and unprin- cipled. Pitt, as he justly boasted, was called to power by the voice of the people ; and faction, for a time awed and intimidated, shrank into insignifi- cance. There was no man, no party, which could stand against him, flushed as he was by unexampled 288 CHATHAM'S OVERBEARING CONDUCT. Ch. 8. success and urged on by the enthusiastic plaudits ~7g of a grateful and admiring people. Times had since Change of changed. A new reign, the revival of the Tory cumstances." party together with the old maxims of loyalty and submission to the Avill of the sovereign, and the in- creased energy of the Whigs to counteract this doctrine, had brought forward in public life many individuals of considerable weight from, their rank and talents, who had hitherto remained in compar- ative obscurity and inaction. Chatham, though still high above all other men in the public favour, had no longer that commanding popularity which en- abled him nine years before to overbear the cabals of jealousy and faction; and his elevation to the peerage, in the estimation of the people, whom ex- perience had made suspicious of all pretensions to public spirit, reduced him to a level with the cor- rupt herd of politicians. Conscious of surpassing ability, and looking down from a moral eminence still more exalted upon the sordid intrigues and low ambition of other men, Chatham had been long inured to a style of haughty contempt towards his opponents; and, towards his colleagues in adminis- tration, of reserve and dictation almost imperial. The generation of statesmen which had succeeded the Newcastles and the Legges, were not disposed to submit to such treatment. Rockingham, himself a proud and high-minded man, keenly resented the contumelious repulse with which his advances had been met, and even Conway, the mildest of men, THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE. 289 ir6j and the least assuming of ministers, could not help cii. 8. exclaiming that such language as Lord Chatham's had not been heard west of Constantinople. A few days after the ministerial arrangements Overtures to had been completed, Lord Chatham made an at- party. tempt to gain the support of the Bedford connec- tion by offering the first seat at the Board of Admiralty to Lord Gower, whose accession to office when dictated by Temple, he had haughtily re- jected. But the Bedfords not being satisfied to have only one member of their party in office, the proposal was declined. The first m'and obiect of Chatham's policy was Proposed ° "^ ^ ^ i J alliances. now, as it had ever been since his fall from power, to secure to the country the due result of those great and successful exertions which, under his direction, she had made in the last war. Had he returned to power at an earlier period, it is pro- bable that he would have broken the peace so hastily, and in his opinion so shamefully, con- cluded. But now he was content ° to efi'ect his favourite object by negotiation. The Northern Powers were to be united with Great Britain in a - leao:ue to circumscribe the ambition of the House of Bourbon; and this extensive confederation, in- cluding Denmark, Sweden, and the States General, was to be based on the triple alliance of Russia, Prussia and Great Britain. IS or does it appear that Chatham exaggerated the importance of this " See Addenda M, p. 331. VOL. I. U 2QO NEGOTIATIONS WITH PRUSSIA. Ch. 8. policy. The Cabinet of St. James's had long been ~^ possessed of information" that the French govern- ment contemplated a descent upon the English coast, and that they meant to do so without a declaration of war, by way of reprisal for the seizure of the French ships in 1756.P But, even in the absence of any such advice, the English ministry were not justified in waiting supinely for some movement from the parties to the Family Compact, before taking any measure of precaution. Negotiations Forcigu affairs being thus uppermost in his mind^ commenced. n -i ^ ^ t n, ^ • a very tew days only elapsed alter his resumption of office, before Lord Chatham took measures to carry into effect his great scheme of a European alliance. Hans Stanley, the able diplomatist, whom he had formerly employed in the negotia- tion at Paris, and who had thus become intimately conversant with his views, was appointed to an embassy to St. Petersburg, with instructions to stop at Berlin on his way. Chatham seems to have assumed that Frederick would be favour- able to his views. Whatever cause of com- plaint the Prussian monarch might have against Eno;land, it was well known to him that Chatham had been the vehement opponent of the policy which disappointed his ambitious designs. All Europe knew that he had made a sacrifice of power ° See Addenda N, p. 33 1 . P Military report by a French officer to the Minister (1767), found among Lord Chatham's papers. 1 See Addenda O, p. 331. OBJECTIONS OF FREDERICK. 291 rather than consent to the peace. But when the Ch. 8. matter was first broached to Frederick by Sir '~ . Andrew Mitchell, the able and experienced resident at the Court of Berlin, it met with a very cold reception. The Kinor put it off with many excuses, impractica- and when Mitchell pressed His Majesty for his real erick. reasons, he alleged the instability of English coun- sels, owing to the frequent changes of administra- tion. He had confidence in Lord Chatham; but f how was he to be assured that Chatham would remain in power, or that his policy would be pur- sued by his successors? It was not easy to answer this objection ; Mitchell could only say that Chatham was high in favour both with the King and the people. The King, better informed, expressed his doubts even on those points.^ But Frederick had other reasons which he could not avow. Gratitude had no place in the morals of this great sovereign, and he scofi'ed at creeds. The subjugation of Great Britain, and the ascendancy of Romish doc- trine would have been matters of indifi'erence to him unless they affected his own political position. But though insensible to gratitude, he could cherish resentment; and so far from being indifferent to the fate of England, he would have rejoiced at her adversity, or even downfall, because she had refused any longer to minister to his wanton passion for war. Moreover, he was at this time, in conjunc- >■ * I fear ' said be to Mitchell, ' my friend has hurt himself by accepting a peerage.' u 2 292 CHATHAM DISAPPOINTED. Ch. 8. tion witli the Czarina, meditating that act of per- ~7, ficlious and cruel rapacity which was afterwards so ably and shamefully carried into effect by those worthy allies. A participation in the spoil of Poland was a far more attractive scheme to the invader of Silesia, than an alliance with Great Britain for the defence of religion and liberty against the Family Compact. Chatham's The rcports of the ambassador at Berlin having defeated. made it clcar that Frederick was impracticable on the subject of the proposed alliance, the mission to St. Petersburg was abandoned; and thus the leading object of Chatham's policy for the last ten years was entirely defeated. A similar disappoint- ment forty years after, broke the heart of the younger Pitt; and it is certain that this sudden and unexpected extinction of his long cherished hopes must have had a sensible effect on the declining years and failing health of Chatham. His private letters, at this time, exhibit the irrita- tion of his mind; and his natural infirmity of arroo^ance was ao-o-ravated to a deo:ree which became intolerable. Soon afterwards that great mind was, for a time at least, obscured. Imperious If there was any avowed principle upon which Srciimhlmi. I^ord Chatham formed his administration, it was that of breaking wp party connection. The King believed, or affected to believe, that he had at last got a minister who was willing to carry out his favourite idea. But the King and his minister attached different ideas to the terms which they THE ROCKINGHAM PARTY INSULTED. 293 employed. His Majesty meant to exalt preroga- Ch. 8. tive on the ruins of party; Chatham meant that his ~^^ own will should not again be thwarted by the fac- tions to which he had before fallen a sacrifice. The meaning which the country attached to the phrase was the ascendancy of the Scotch junto; yet, under happier circumstances, Chatham would no doubt have been supported by the people, as far as they were able to support him, in his hostility to those combinations of public men, of which none either possessed or deserved, in the least degree, the respect or confidence of the country. But his acceptance of a peerage "svas considered as a deser- tion of the people for the court; and when he talked of breaking up party, he was told that he had sold himself to the Earl of Bute. To destroy existing party divisions, and to have consolidated the great party of the Revolution upon a wide and solid basis would have been a design worthy of Chatham; but the course which he pursued was to affront the Rockinghams, the most respectable of the Whig connection, and who had shewn them- selves willing to be partially represented in office, for the sole purpose, as it appeared, of bringing in the Bedfords, who were insatiable of office. The mode of procedure also resembled the mean and shifty tactics of Newcastle rather than the lofty style of Pitt. An inferior place was wanted in furtherance of the scheme for conciliating the friends of the Duke of Bedford ; and Grafton, whom Pitt employed on these occasions, wrote to Lord Gowcr. 294 CHATHAM MAKES OVERTURES Ch, 8. Monson intimating that his resignation would be 1766 acceptable, and offering him a step in the peerage as a recompense. Monson drily declined the proffered earldom, and took no notice of the broad hint to resign. But Chatham was not to be turned from his purpose; and wishing to gratify an ad- herent of Bute's, he fixed upon the office of Trea- surer of the Household, which was filled by Lord Edgecumbe, who received a peremptory dismissal.^ Upon this, the whole of the Rockingham connec- tion, to avoid the indignity of being turned out, resigned in a body. Viiciiiating Having tlius broken with the Rockingham party conduct 10- •11 111 wards Lord lor uo othcr rcasou, as it would seem, than that he would not have the freedom of his administration hampered by a powerful connection in office; so ill were his plans matured, or so little did he act upon any plan in the prosecution of his design, that Chatham had no other resource than to repeat his application to that rival party which had already rejected his advances. But on this occasion, instead of employing the Duke of Grafton, he sent for Lord GoAver himself, and placed certain offices* at the disposal of that lord and his friends. Gower imme- diately communicated the offer to the head of his party; and Bedford, Avho was at his seat of Woburn, came to London that he might treat iu person with the minister upon a matter of so much importance. But in the interim, Chatham had ^ See Addenda P, p 331. ' See Addenda Q, p. 332. TO THE BEDFORD PARTY. ngr seen the King, who expressed himself strongly cii. 8. averse to the proposed alliance with the Bedford ~. party, both on the general ground of hostility to all connections, and on account of his personal dis- like to the Duke. In deference to His Majesty's wishes, if not in obedience to his express commands, the Board of Admiralty and other vacancies, except those which had been named to Gower, were immediately filled up, so as to preclude the possibi- lity of making a more extensive provision for the admission of the Bedford party than that which had been already offered and could not be with- drawn. But the dignity or rapacity of the Bed- fords was not to be satisfied Avithout a large con- cession of power and place. Chatham appears to have met the Duke's demands with all the arro- gance and contempt with which his royal master could wish his chosen minister to treat the leader of a great party. The negotiation was broken off with high words on both sides; and the interview closed with an offer which, under the circumstances, could hardly be considered otherwise than imper- tinent, namely, to call up the heir of the House of Russell to the Lords. This proposal was, of course, rejected, and the Duke retired to hide his chagrin and indignation at Woburn, The distinguished admiral, Hawke, was placed Anangement at the head of the Admiralty; but, with that ex- ception, all the vacancies were filled up by Tories and courtiers. Chatham proved very unfortunate in his dispensation of places; a department, which 296 CHATHAM'S ARROGANCE. Ch. 8. in his better days he had left to the more expert and ~ . confrenial manas^emeiit of Newcastle. Whether it 1766 . be possible to carry on parliamentary government without party is a problem which remains to be solved ; but Chatham can hardly be said to have False policy of gi^cu a fair trial to the experiment. He merely meiS?"^^"'' alienated the great Whig families, without attach- ing any other party, or even any men of promise or influence, to the support of his ministry. His haughty and contemptuous bearing"" was ill calcu- lated to make friends; and though he bestowed a large number of offices on persons who were sup- posed to act under the influence of Lord Bute, he gained nothing in stability or influence to compen- sate for the public odium which attended such patronage. "'^ The party of Lord Bute, if, indeed, any such party can be said to have existed, was founded on a principle hostile to the influence of every minister, because it placed the minister in subordination to the executive instead of the lejris- lative power. It was in vain, therefore, that Bute's brother, Mackenzie, was restored to his place; that his kinsman, Northumberland, obtained the duke- Burke to Marquis of Eockingham, Nov. 14, 1769. — Corr. vol. i. p. 215. 1770 4o8 THE KING'S SPEECH ABOUT MURRAIN. Ch. lo. It was a momentous period. A spirit of discontent more wide and deep than had been known since the last reign of the Stuarts, pervaded England. The most sacred rights of the people had been violated by Parliament ; and the treachery of their represen- tatives had been abetted by the Crown. The people of the colonies were all but in arms in vindication of their privileges which had been wantonly invaded ; and the commerce of the mother country was de- ranged by the disturbances of those relations with the colonies, on the stability of which it mainly depended. Lastly, war itself was menaced by the common enemy, restored to vigour by a sufficient interval of peace, and burning for revenge. The royal lu addition to these many and various grievances, there was one calamity of a purely domestic cha- racter. A murrain prevailed among the bullocks ; and many thousands of these useful animals had perished. This was a circumstance, no doubt, to be deplored, but hardly one of sufficient dignity and importance, even in the dearth of other matter, to be noticed in that great state paper in which the sovereign inaugurates the annual labours of his Parliament. Yet, while the minds of all men were full of such matters as the quarrel between Parlia- ment and the people; the differences between Eng- land and her vast dependencies in America; and an impending war with France and Spain, his Majesty was advised to make the disease among the horned cattle the burden of his speech. The possibility of war was afterwards referred to in ambiguous terms ; spcccii. LORD CFIATHAM'S MOTION ON THE ADDRESS. 409 770 the distractions in America were slightly mentioned. Ch. 10 The discontents at home were wholly omitted. Whether ignorance or insolence possessed the framers of this document may be doubtful; but never was a King's Speech received with such an ebullition of ridicule and contempt. But the absurdity of the Royal Speech was for Rc-appcaranrc ,1 • 1 1 1 1 1 • ^"^^ sj)ecch ot the moment cast into the shade by the interest Chatham, which the re-appearance of Lord Chatham excited in Parliament and throughout the nation. On the first day of the session, and on the usual motion for the address, he moved an amendment, the pur- port of which was to censure the conduct of the House of Commons in the affair of Wilkes, and to assert the right of the constituency to make a free choice of their representatives. But though his motion was confined to one particular subject, his censures glanced over the whole field of foreign, colonial and domestic policy.*^ The grievance of which for nine years he had never failed to explain, that, namely, of a glorious war closed by a peace which secured to this country few of the benefits she was entitled to derive from great exertions and unexampled success, was again forcibly urged. * If war is unavoidable,' said he, ' you will enter into it without a single ally, while the whole House of Bourbon was united within itself, and supported by the closest connections with the principal powers in *^ This speech is reported hy Sir Philip Francis, the reputed author of Junius. — Note to Chatham Corr. vol. iii. p. 369. 41 LORD CHATHAM'S SPEECH. Ch. lo. Europe.' He then passed 'to the distractions and j~ divisions which prevailed in every part of the em- pire.' He objected to the term 'unwarrantable' as applied in the Speech to the proceedings of the Americans. Their combinations to exclude English manufactures were indeed dangerous to the com- mercial interests of this country ; but they were, in no wise, illegal. As to the conduct of the Ameri- cans in other respects, he would reserve his opinion until authentic information should be laid before Parliament. For the present, he would only say that we should be cautious how we invaded the liberties of any part of our fellow-subjects, however remote in situation, or unable to make resistance. The Americans had purchased their liberty at a dear rate, since they had quitted their native country and gone in search of freedom to a desert. But it was on the proceedings in the Middlesex elections, that he laid the heaviest weight of censure ; and never in the days of his greatest vigour did he use more daring and emphatic language. The allusion to the King, in a passage which he quoted from Robertson's History of Charles the Fifth^ then recently published, was far more pointed and severe, as well as more apposite, than anything contained in the sharp scurrility of Wilkes, or the classic libel of Junius. ' The peers of Castile,' said he, ' were so far cajoled and seduced by Charles the Fifth (a great, ambitious, wicked man), as to join him in overturning that part of the Cortes which represented the people. They were weak LORD CAMDEN'S SPEECH. 41 i enough to adopt, and base enough to be flattered Ch. 10. with an expectation, that by assisting their master ~ in this iniquitous purpose, they should increase their own strength and importance. What was the consequence? They exchanged the constitu- tional authority of peers for the titular vanity of grandees. They were no longer a part of a Parlia- ment, for that they had destroyed ; and when they pretended to have an opinion as grandees, he told them he did not understand it; and naturally enough, when they had surendered their authority, treated their advice with contempt. The conse- quences did not stop here. He made use of the people whom he had enslaved to enslave others; and employed the strength of the Castilians to destroy the rights of their free neighbours of Aragon.' When Lord Chatham had concluded, the Sreccii ..f Lord Camden. Chancellor rose, but not to defend that admin- istration of which he was the ablest member. He rose to support the opposition of Chatham ; and he did so with equal energy, with equal virulence, and hardly with inferior eloquence and effect. He had beheld, he said, with silent indignation the arbitrary measures that were pursued by the ministry. He had often hung down his head in council, and dis- approved by his looks of those steps which he knew his avowed opposition could not prevent. He denounced the vote of the House of Commons by which Wilkes had been incapacitated. It was a direct attack upon the first principles of the con- 412 ANOMALOUS POSITION Ch. lo. stitution. Still he was prudent enough to confine his animadversion to the House of Commons and 1770 the ministry. CoiifUict, of I cannot, however, but think that these senti- Lord Camden. raents were more discreditable to the speaker himself than to the objects of his censure. Why did Lord Camden behold with silent indignation the measures of a ministry in which he occupied the most prominent position ? Why did he sanction, by his presence and the authority of his great name, measures which he did not approve? It is difficult to conceive an apology for a cabinet coun- cillor retaining office under such circumstances; certainly, I can discover none in Lord Camden's situation. But the Lord Chancellor seemed to think it a triumph to provoke his expulsion from office, by holding up to public scorn and detestation those colleagues with whom he had chosen to associate himself in confidential counsel, and from whom he could separate whenever he thought fit. There might have been dignity or policy in this position; but certainly it was very difi*erent from the conduct of that great man whom he afi^ected to call ' his pole star/ when he Avas placed in a similar position. Pitt would not remain in office a moment after the Government, of which he was a leading member, determined on a course of policy contrary to his opinion and advice. '^SnT Lord Camden, notwithstanding his denunciation Lord Camden, of the policy of the Government, continued to keep possession of the Great Seal. But his conduct in OF LORD CAMDEN. 413 1770 this particular, though it had the sanction of his Ch. 10. friends, seems to me to have been still more un- worthy than his retention of office during the past year. The policy of the opposition in forcing the Government to deprive Lord Camden of his office, was to make it appear that an upright judge had been dismissed for declaring the law; an independ- ent Member of Parliament, for pronouncing his opinion. Nothing could be more false and un- candid. It was not for anything done in his judicial capacity that Lord Camden was to be dismissed. When Chief Justice, he had gained great applause by vindicating, with more than judicial emphasis,'^ the rights of the people against the proceedings of the Government. The law which had passed at the commencement of the reign pro- tected him from being deprived of his office, but could not have prevented his advancement being barred by this fearless discharge of his duty. Yet so far from feeling the displeasure of the Crown, the bold and independent judge was soon after- wards promoted to the highest dignity of his pro- fession. The position of the Lord Chancellor is a peculiar one. While every other judge of the land is confined exclusively to judicial duties, the Chan- cellor alone has a two -fold capacity — that of judge and that of minister of state. A judge of the land can be removed by the Crown only upon a joint address of both Houses of Parliament. The Chan- ^ See Addenda A, p. 427. 414 LORD MANSFIELD'S SPEECH. Ch. lo. 1770 Camden's want of delicate feel- ing. Lovd Mans- Jiuld's speech. cellor, who has no commission, but is appointed solely by the delivery of the Great Seal into his possession, is expected to surrender that symbol of his rank as a Privy Councillor, as well as of his judicial authority, when he ceases to be a political adviser of the Crown. Neither could there be any pretence for comparing the case of Camden to that of a military or other officer not immediately con- nected with administration, dismissed from his em- ployment for a vote in Parliament. Such a stretch of power is unconstitutional and unnecessary. But when a cabinet minister differs from his colleagues upon an important question of policy, he should either acquiesce in the decision of the majority, or relieve himself from responsibility by resignation. He has no right to appeal from the council to the parliament; and he deserts his duty as a confidential adviser of the Crown, if he absents himself from the deliberations of the cabinet, and reserves his opinion for the House of Lords. Moreover, there is something of treachery in hold- ing office as the Chancellor did, in concert with the opposition, and in subservience to their party objects. It would be impossible for any confidence to exist among public men, or for the Sovereign to have the least reliance upon his ministers, if Lord Camden's conduct is to be justified. Lord Mansfield also took a part in this remark- able debate ; but with his usual caution, studiously forbore expressing an opinion as to the legality of the proceedings of the House of Commons with I770 MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT. 415 reference to the Middlesex elections. He treated Ch. 10. the question as one of privilege ; and consequently as one the Lords were precluded from entertaining by constitutional etiquette. Arguing upon this narrow ground, he deprecated the amendment which Chatham had moved, as calculated only to produce a collision between the two Houses. Chatham felt the force of this reasoning, and made a laboured reply. But instead of putting the question on its proper footing, namely, that the Commons, under the pretext of privilege, had inter- fered with the law of the land, which defined capacity and incapacity to sit in Parliament, the great orator went off into a declamation about liberty, which, however eloquent and impressive, did not meet the plausible objection which Mans- field had stated with his usual perspicuity and reasoning power. The address was carried by a large majority. Motion for ,. . . y 1 T-> 1 • adjournment. Immediately after the division. Lord Kockingham gave notice of a motion to inquire into the state of the nation for the morrow, upon which Lord Pomfret moved an adjournment for a week. Temple said the purpose for which the adjourn- ment was required was obvious; it was to settle the disordered state of the administration; and, particularly, to dismiss the virtuous and independent lord who sat on the woolsack, and supply his place with some obsequious lawyer who would do as he was commanded. Lord Shelburne used still stronger language : ' The Great Seal,' he said. 1770 41 6 CHARLES YORKE. Ch. lo. 'would go a begging; but he hoped there would not be found in the kingdom a wretch so base and mean-spirited as to accept of them on the conditions on which they must be offered.' The Great It Seemed that Shelburne's hope was likely to be Seal offered to,._. -. tip •, . Yorke. realised. A week elapsed before any appomtment was made. It was known that neither of the Chief Justices would take it. The Solicitor- General, Dunning, whose distinguished merit would have added lustre to the Great Seal, retired with his friend Lord Camden, at whose instance alone he had retained ofhce after the resignation of Chatham. At length it was offered to Yorke, the son of the great Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. No man was better fitted for such preferment. He His political was a ripe lawyer, and still in the vigour of his J"story. ^g^^ jj^ j^^^ l^ggj^ appointed Solicitor-General so far back as the year 1757, on the occasion of Mans- field's elevation to the bench. He had twice filled the office of Attorney-General ; the last time, in the administration of Rockingham. The Great Seal had ever been the object of his ambition; and was one to which he might fairly look, from his profes- sional standing, the high legal offices which he had filled, his acknowledged merit, and even the very name he bore. One reason only has been suggested why Yorke should have refused the splendid offer of the Duke of Grafton ; and that was, that his acceptance of it would be a violation of those party engagements, from which no public man can honourably set himself free for the purpose of his HIS POLITICAL CONNECTIONS. 417 own benefit and advancement. But in reality, it Ch. 10. appears that no such obstacle existed. Yorke had ,~ been in office under Newcastle, under Bute, and under Rockingham. He resigned with the Marquis, not from political attachment, but from private pique and resentment, because the King, after having promised him the Great Seal, had refused him the Chief Justiceship vnih a peerage."^ For the same reason he abstained from giving his opinion in Parliament on the Middlesex election, although he approved of the course which the House of Commons had taken under the direction of the Court. ' I cannot do it,' said he, when pressed by his brother, Lord Hardwicke, to deliver his senti- ments, ' because if I go Avith the Court, they will betray me, or give me up as they did before ; and if with the opposition, it will be against my convic- tions.'^ He expressed himself in this manner when the Yorke family were assembled at Wimpole in the Christmas of 1769 to consider the line they should follow in the approaching parliamentary session. On that occasion. Lord Hardwicke warns his brother to be cautious in not committing him- self to the Rockingham party. It is true that he consulted Lord Rockingham as well as his brother upon the Duke of Grafton's offer of the Great Seal ; and that they both advised him to decline it, not because his acceptance of it would be a breach <= From his own MS. Journal, printed by Mr. Harris in his lately published Life of Lord Hardwicke, vol. iii. *■ Lord Hardwicke's MS. Journal. Ilai-ris's Life, vol. iii. VOL. I. E E 41 8 YORKE ACCEPTS THE GREAT SEAL. Ch. lo. of any party engagement; but on the ground that ~ it was intended only to make use of him as a prop to a government which could not stand.s Con- vinced by this reasoning, he determined to decline the offer. All this time his mind, relaxed perhaps by bodily ailment, was in a state of perturbation, distracted between the fear of being outwitted by the Court and of losing the opportunity of ambition. Next day, accordingly, he wavered. In the after- noon he saw the King, fancied that he was coldly received, declined the Seal, and authorised his brother to announce that such was his final deter- mination. After passing a restless night, he attended the levee on the following morning. The He accepts the King Called him into the closet, and there, by gpnjg dint of importunity, and even menace, so wrought upon his infirm resolution, that he at length re- tracted his refusal, and obeyed His Majesty's com- mands. He went immediately to acquaint his brother with what had taken place. Lord Hard- wicke and Lord Rockingham, who happened to be in the room, expressed their astonishment at this intelligence; and Hardwicke seems to have given utterance to some indignation, as well he might, at the way in which his brother had trifled with him. They both urged Yorke to entreat the King to put the Great Seal in commission, or, at least to allow him until next morning to give his final answer. But Yorke said it was too late ; his word was pledged, as he had kissed hands. In the 8 See Addenda B, p. 427, SUDDEN DEATH OF LORD CHANCELLOR YORKE. 419 evening he went again to his brother's house, Ch. 10. bringing with him the Great Seal, which the King ~^^ had just dehvered to him. By this time, Lord Hardwicke's irritation had disappeared ; the brothers discussed the matter cahnly, and parted on the most friendly terms. Yorke, as his brother affec- tionately remarks, seemed 'composed but unhappy.'^ Three days after, the I^ord Chancellor was no Death of more. It was reported that he had committed suicide. By another account, which is not impro- bable, he had ruptured a blood vessel. But whether he died by his own hand, or from natural causes, there is every reason to believe that his death was precipitated by mental excitement. The conduct of Yorke, throughout this sad affair, was certainly not dignified ; but his memory must be freed from the imputation of treachery and breach of faith which has been rashly cast upon it.^ Lord Granby, one of the most amiable and Eesignation of popular men in England, was more fortunate. On the first night of the session, he had expressed his contrition for the vote which he gave on the Mid- dlesex election ; but, notwithstanding the utter- ance of a sentiment so much opposed to the favourite policy of the court, both the King and the Duke of Grafton were extremely reluctant to lose an adherent whose gallantry and good nature ^ My account of this melancholy transaction is taken from a private memorial by the second Earl of Hardwicke, and printed in Harris's Life of Lord Hardwicke, from the MSS. at Wimpole. * See Addenda C, p. 427. E E 2 4^0 PROCEEDINGS OF ROCKINGHAM. 1770 motion. Ch. 10. had endeared him to the nation. They entreated him not to resign ;^ and, when he was firm upon that point, the Duke thought it something gained, that he should yield so far as to defer his purpose for twenty-four hours.^ Lord Chatham was im- patient that he should have made even this trifling concession. Several other resignations by noble- men and gentlemen of inferior note took place about the same time. Among these were James Gren- ville, a brother of Lord Temple's, and Dunning, the Solicitor-General. Eockingimm's The ministry, thus broken and discredited, had to meet the party movement of the Opposition, which was to take efi*ect in the Lords, after the adjournment. Rockingham's resolution was, that the House would take into consideration the state of the nation on an early day. This was for the purpose of introducing a speech in which he cen- sured every act of the government. He dated the present discontents from the King's accession, ascribing them to the change which had been in- troduced into the system of government, and the prevalence of the maxim that the royal prerogative alone was sufficient to support government, to whatever hands it might be committed. The Duke of Grafton assented to the motion, professing him- self ready and willing to enter into the whole ques- ^ Earl Temple to the Earl of Chatham. — Chatham Corr. vol. iii. p. 391- ' Calcraft to the Earl of Chatham, p. 393. DUKE OF GRAFTON'S CONDUCT. 421 tion whenever it should be brought forward; and, Ch. 10. in the meantime, vindicated some of the measures ~^ of his administration. Chatham followed in an- other great oration similar to that which he had made on the first day of the session, and going over the same ground. He stated, moreover, that a reform in the constitution of the House of Commons was a necessary remedy for the corrup- tion and abuses which impeded the wholesome ac- tion of the government. His plan of parliamentary reform, however, was far more limited than that which a later generation has thought adequate to the exigencies of the case. He was content to re- tain the rotten boroughs, although he believed that they were the source from which the evil mainly flowed ; and the principal change which he proposed was to add one representative to each of the counties, for the purpose of increasing the weight and influence of the independent gentry. He con- cluded by emphatically asserting the existence of a cordial union between himself and the noble mover ; and announced that Rockingham and his friends were united with him and his adherents on a prin- ciple which he trusted would make their union in- dissoluble. It was not to possess or divide the emoluments of oflice, but, if possible, to save the state. The government had little to fear from an oppo- sition founded on such a principle as that enun- ciated by Lord Chatham; indeed, no opposition could be held together upon such terms. Public 422 DUKE OF GRAFTON'S RESIGNATION. 1770 of Grafton. Ch, 10. spirit may be a sufficient bond of union among a few generous and independent men ; but the staff, as well as the rank and file of a party, must always be actuated at least in an equal degree by motives of a more gross and selfish character. Resignation The day for the renewal of the debate was fixed for the second of February. But three days pre- viously, the Duke of Grafton resigned his office. This resignation appears to have been as unex- pected, and to have caused as much surprise, as that of Lord Bute, in 1762. But if the retreat of the latter was capable of rational explanation, that of Grafton seems to be still more intelligible. Ad- vanced to the post of principal responsibility by an unforeseen event, he had always been an unwilling minister, conscious of his own incapacity. Every day, after the loss of that leader, whom it had been his pride to follow, Grafton found himself borne away, by an overruling will, farther and farther from the policy of Chatham. He had been forced into connections alike hostile to that policy and to its author. On a question of the greatest moment, and upon which he entertained a profound convic- tion, he had been outvoted in his cabinet. And, lastly, he was deserted by that eminent colleague,™ — the chosen friend and follower of Chatham, the constitutional judge, — whose presence in the go- vernment afforded the angry nation some hope that it was not altogether ruined and betrayed. Far "> See Addenda D, p, 427. LORD NORTH. 423 from wondering at Grafton's resignation, the diffi- Ch. 10. ciilty is to discover any motive which could induce ~^ him to remain. The government was now a mere wreck. The Duke of Bedford's nominees still adhered to it, — • Weymouth, Gower, and Rigby. There were also Lord Rochford, and the colonial minister, who had almost lost the Colonies. The only man of mark who remained was Lord North, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But the King was determined not to yield. He Lord North told General Conway he would rather abdicate, or new cabinet, appeal to the Sword." And, as Lord North was the only one of his adherents who could pretend to reconstruct the government, he laid his commands upon that nobleman to undertake the task. If it had been the intention of the court to insult and defy public opinion, a more appropriate selec- tion of a minister could not have been made. Lord North had recently, when speaking in his character of leader of the House of Commons, gone out of his way to remind the House that he had opposed every popular measure for the last seven years. He had supported the cider-tax, and afterwards opposed its repeal. He had voted for the American Stamp Act. He had been against the reduction of the land-tax. He moved the first expulsion of Wilkes, and supported every subsequent proceeding against that champion of popular rights. He had even ° Lord Albemarle's Memoirs of Rockingham, vol. ii. p. 179. 4^4 LORD NORTH'S Ch. lo. refused liis assent to the recognition by Parliament j^^Q of the plain law of the land with respect to General Opinions of Warrants. Nor would he agree to a statute of Lord North, v ., ^. , , . /. i nmitation upon dormant clarnis or the cro^vn. But the truth is, the appointment of North was a matter of the last necessity. There was no other man capable of conducting the public business through Parliament who would undertake the office. Even Conway, though he no longer be- longed to the Rockingham party, refused to remain in the cabinet. There was no doubt about the stability of a court administration ; for the court could command a parliamentary majority. The difficulty was to find any public man of character who could accept office on the King's terms ; the first condition upon which every minister had hitherto insisted being the expulsion of the King's friends. Lord North was probably the only man of parliamentary reputation who would have for- borne to press this essential article. But no creeping ambition actuated his conduct. When he enumerated his unpopular votes as a proof that he was not ambitious, I have no doubt that he spoke with perfect sincerity; although it so happened that the very course which seemed to him to lead in an opposite direction, was the one which conducted him to power. He had never been in connection with either of the great AVhig parties; he knew, as every man knew, their pride, their jealousy, their selfish- ness, their want of public spirit. Though him- POLITICAL TENDENCIES. 425 self of a gentle temper and an easy disposition, Ch. 10. Lord North's political tendencies were all in ~ favour of power and authority. He supported Loyalty of the King against the aristocracy; the Parliament against the people; and the nation against the Colonies. His loyalty at this critical period postponed for many years the progress of good government, and involved the nation in great calamity. Had Lord North shrunk from the post of danger, it is not likely that any other man could have been found to occupy it. The King must have given way. Chatham and his friends. Temple and the Grenvilles, Rockingham and his followers, much grown in public import- ance since their short tenure of office, would have come into power, if not with acclamation, at least with more general assent and confi- dence than had attended the advent to office of any previous administration. The same causes which had so long prevented the union of these parties might, indeed, have soon again dissolved this auspicious coalition. But, in all probability, great results would have been first obtained. The dissolution of Parliament, followed, perhaps, by the amendment of its constitution, and the set- tlement of the American question, might have resulted from the new administration. And, if nothing else had been accomplished, the monarchy might, by these means, have escaped an agitation which, twenty years afterwards, imperilled its existence ; the country would have been spared the 426 EFFECTS OF THE DISPUTES WITH AMERICA. Ch. lo. ignominious loss of thirteen colonies; the burden of an enormous debt, and those unfriendly feelings on the part of our emancipated dependencies, the most dire effects of the quarrel, which it may take more than a century to allay. 1770 ADDENDA TO CHAP. X. (A. p. 413.) ' Upon the maturest consideration, I am bold Illegality of to say, this warrant is illegal If a superior jurisdic- tion should declare my opinion erroneous, I submit, as will become me, and kiss the rod ; but I must say, / shall always consider it as a rod of iron for the chastisement of the people of Great Britain.^ — Charge to the Jury by Pratt, C. J., Money V. Leach. (B. p. 418.) Lord Chatham also viewed the matter in Lord Chat- the same light. ' Mr. Yorke's refusal is of moment ; and 1 ^°^ ^ views, can readily believe it, from my opinion of his prudence and discernment. No man with a grain of either would em- bark in a rotten vessel, in the middle of a tempest, to go he knows not whither.' — Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 398. (C. p. 419.) A touching anecdote is related of his last Decease of moments. Wlien he was asked whether the Great Seal ^*i!r^^ ^^T ceilor Yorke. should be put to the patent for his barony of Morden, — * 1 had hoped,' he said, 'it was no longer in my possession.' — Lord Hardwicke's Narrative. (D. p. 422.) Lord Camden had expressed the strongest dis- Camden and approbation of the course which the cabinet resolved to pur- sue with regard to the Middlesex election and the American colonies. He had even addressed a formal letter of remon- strance to Grafton on both those questions. Finding his opinion overruled, he had ceased, for more than a year, to attend the cabinet councils, with the exception of that one memorable meeting at which the Duke proposed the repeal of Townshend's Act. The King had urged Grafton to dis- miss the Chancellor before the meeting of Parliament in 428 ADDENDA TO CHAP. X. 1773. But this tlie Duke had positively declined doing. — Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. v. p. 284. Grafton, so far from having wilfully deserted Chatham, afterwards deplored his resignation and consequent absence on that occasion, as the cause of all the misfortunes that en- sued. — MS. Memoirs. CHAPTER XL DISUNION OF THE OPPOSITION — GRENVILLE'S BILL ON CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS CITY ADDRESS AND EEMONSTRANCE DISPLEASURE OF THE COURT EENEWAL OF PETITIONS THE TEA DUTY RESISTED IN AMERICA BLOODSHED AT BOSTON — THE IRISH PARLIAMENT. npHE resolution and promptitude of the King had ch. n. the effect which those qualities usually command. ... '^11° The appointment of Lord North, without hesitation success of or delay, to the head of the government baffled the ^""^ ^«'*- tardy and ill-concerted schemes of a half united Opposition. While the King was wholly intent on securing his only chance of success, the Opposition with a great game in their hands, played it so badly that they were beaten in the end. It was of moment that they should act in unison in both Houses. But on the first day of the session there was a difference of opinion between Chatham and Grenville as to the course to be taken in Parlia- ment. Thus, while Chatham moved an amendment to the address, it was allowed to pass in the Com- mons without opposition.* In the crisis of the ^ Chatham Corr. vol. iii. p. 389. 43 O SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPORT Ch. II. ministry, some stiff and formal notes were passing ~ between the two great lords of Opposition relative to a motion in the Upper House. Rockingham kept haughtily aloof from Chatham's city friends, who, of course, took umbrage at such treatment.^ The Society for the support of the Bill of Rights was the vigorous offspring of the popular agitation on the Middlesex elections. Its leading members were merchants, lawyers, and other persons of substance and respectability. They were earnest men brought together by a deep resentment against injustice and oppression. Some of their notions were crude^ some wild and impracticable. Their language was not always measured, though hardly so strong as that which Chatham was in the habit of using, with the approbation of Rocking- ham. But what was commendable in the House of Lords was intolerable at Mile End. The Whigs accordingly denounced the Bill of Rights' men, who, in their turn, declared open war against the Whigs. Chatham justly despised this squeamish- ness*^ which would risk the loss of a great cause, rather than accept the aid of sincere though, perhaps, rude and coarse allies. The Court re- garded these differences with much complacency, and saw in them the most favourable prospect for their system.^ The opposition, nevertheless, was carried on with great vigour in the House of ^ Chatham Corr. vol. iii. p. 436. •= See Addenda A, p. 465. 1770 OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. 43 1 Commons. The violated rights of the constituency Ch. n. gave occasion for various modes of attack. On bringing up the report of the address Sir George Savile, the member for the county of York, whom I have before mentioned as a person of great im- portance, endeavoured to provoke a quarrel by language of insult and contumely. ' I look on this House,' said he, ^as sitting illegally, after their illegal act.^ They have betrayed their trust. I will not add epithets, because epithets only weaken ; therefore I will not say that they have betrayed their trust corruptly, flagitiously and scandalously ; but I do say they have betrayed their country. And I stand here to receive the punishment for having said so.' A young member uttered a faint threat of committal to the Tower, and Conway opened a door for retreat by suggesting that the words were spoken in heat. Savile disclaimed the excuse ; but Lord North, who was very successful in meeting the violence of opposition with a passive good humour, treated the matter lightly, and it was suffered to drop. Serjeant Glynn, the new member for Middlesex, tried to revive the old practice of withholding supply until grievances should be re^ dressed, and there ensued a very disorderly debate, in which the authority of the new Speaker*^ was wholly set at nought. Lord North took this oppor- tunity to speak of the petitions, which had been ** In seating Luttrell. * Sir Fletcher Norton, who had been elected on the resignation of Su' John Cust. 432 LORD NORTH'S DENIAL OF GRIEVANCES. Ch. II. presented to Parliament on the subject of the j~ Middlesex election, with the greatest contempt. He denied the existence of any grievance which re- quired redress. Ignorant mechanics and rustics had been treated with beer, and had broken windows. Was the annual supply to be withheld, every func- tion of government suspended, the public creditors unpaid, and the army and navy want clothes and bread, because the drunken and the ignorant had been made dupes to the crafty and the factious, signed papers they had not read, and determined questions they could not understand? Such language could be held with impunity in a House of Commons, which neither represented the people, nor showed any regard to English liberty. It was safe, also, from the indignation of the people themselves, who were kept in ignorance of what passed within the walls of Parliament. No con- stitutional minister w^ould have spoken in this inso- lent manner of the right of petitioning, which is as ancient as Parliament, or the crown itself. It would be easy to fritter away the character of any petition by scanning the motives and competency of the several persons by whom it was signed. And if ever there was a plain question which igno- rance itself might comprehend, it was this. The House of Commons had taken upon itself to refuse the man whom the electors had chosen, and to admit another whom they had rejected. Mr. Dowdcs- ^ motion of a more precise and pertinent cha- wcll s motion. ^ ^ ractcr was brought forward by Mr. Dowdeswell. SIR G. SAVILE'S ATTACK ON MINISTERS. 433 It was this:— 'That, in judging of elections, tho Ch. ii. House ouiiht to be reo-ulated by the law of the ,~ land, and the known and established law and sir George custom of Parliament, which made a part thereof.' on ministers. This was a proposition which could not be disputed ; and could only be opposed as being an unnecessary- statement of an abstract truth, or as introductory to some particular application which was not equally admissible. Lord North, choosing to re- cognise its real import, and to qualify its effect, moved, by way of addition, — 'And that the judg- ment of the House, on the Middlesex Election, is conformable to law and the usage of Parliament."' This distinct and deliberate affirmation of a vote passed the year before, in the heat of the conflict with the Middlesex electors, was well calculated to prove the extent of the influence which the govern- ment, when supported by the Crown, could exer- cise over the House of Commons. The resolution which seated Luttrell, instead of Wilkes, was carried by a diminished majority of fifty-four. But Lord North's amendment to Mr. Dowdeswell's motion prevailed only by forty-two, in the fullest House which had divided for many years. ^ A motion of much more importance, as regarded DovydesweU's its practical bearmg, was also made by Dowdeswell. disfranchise revenue officers. •^ The numbers were 224 to 182. The King, in a letter to Lord North, declares himself satisfied with the division. Well he might be ; for, if the court could carry such a proposition as Lord North's, they could carry anything. VOL. I. F F 434 MOTION TO DISFRANCHISE REVENUE OFFICERS. Ch II. The ffreat and o-rowin"; increase in the customs and 1770 excise since the late war had enlisted in the service of the government numerous persons, engaged in the collection and supervision of this extensive re- venue. These men were necessarily spread over the country, and most of them had votes for members of Parliament. Holding their offices at pleasure, their votes were of course at the command of the government, and the memorable example of 1762, when the vengeance of the minister for par- liamentary insubordination was visited upon every public servant, from Lords- Lieutenant and great officers of state, down to the humblest individual, who ate his daily bread at the pleasure of the crown, was doubtless still regarded as the leading rule and precedent. Dowdeswell moved for leave to bring in a bill to disfranchise these revenue officers ; and considering that they mainly influ- enced the elections in nearly seventy boroughs, and numbered nearly twelve thousand votes in other places,^ it is not surprising that the govern- ment made a strenuous effi^rt to defeat a measure which, if carried, might have gone far to destroy their influence in the House of Commons. The Treasury members affected to be shocked at this attempted confiscation of the franchise; and were apprehensive that men would not be found to sacri- s Such was the uncontradicted statement of Lord Rockingham, when he introduced and carried a similar bill in 1782. GRENVILLE'S BILL ON CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS. 435 fice their votes for appointments as revenue officers. CIi. n. But it was not to argument that they trusted for ~~ the defeat of such a formidable motion. A House still more numerous than that which had affirmed the vote of the preceding year, on the Middlesex election, now assembled to protect the menaced rights of electors. The motion was rejected by a majority of seventy-five, in a division of four hundred and fifty-one members. There was, however, one measure relating to the Grenviiie's bin constitution of the House of Commons proposed by verted eiec- a high authority, and which, notwithstanding the opposition of the ministers, obtained its assent. This was Grenviiie's justly-celebrated bill for the trial of controverted elections. The House, indeed, must have been lost to all sense of decency, if they had rejected a proposal to redress a most flagrant scandal touching the administration of justice. The Commons had always been extremely jealous of their exclusive jurisdiction in questions relating to the due election of their own members. In the earlier times, these questions were sometimes re- ferred to committees of their own body, especially chosen for the purpose, but more commonly to the committee for privileges, which was aj^pointed at the commencement of each session, and consisted chiefly of eminent lawyers. The report of the committee was always adopted by the House. During the civil troubles of 1640, the committee for privileges was increased to a hundred members, and in 1672 its members swelled to two hundred and r F 2 436 SYSTEM OF ADJUDICATING 1770 Ch. II. forty. So large an assemblage being found quite unfit to transact business of a judicial character, it was thought preferable, for the sake of order and solemnity, that election petitions should be tried at the bar of the whole House ; this practice was adopted at the accession of the House of Hanover, and had been continued ever since; but the result, as might have been expected, was that the judicial character of the proceeding was quite lost sight of, and an election petition came to be treated as a party question. The vote which ultimately decided the fate of Sir Robert Walpole's administration was taken on a petition complaining of an undue return for the borough of Chippenham ; and Lord Rockingham himself, when lately in office com- plained of being outvoted by the King's friends on a similar question. Mode of The operation of this system was detailed in petitions"^ Striking terms by the distinguished mover, who spoke from a parliamentary experience of thirty years. 'When petitions, complaining of undue returns, are presented, what is the practice ? Every gentleman knows what it is, though perhaps it has not till now been publicly stated. The peti™ tioner applies to all his private friends. When that is done, his next care is to apply to one of the two parties, to the Court, or the Opposition, The next step is, ' Pray hear my case ; pray attend for me.' A meeting is appointed ; fourteen or fifteen gentle- men, all judges, are to meet, to settle the pro- ceedings of the case, which they are to judge upon, ON CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS. 437 on the liearing of one party only. When they ch. 11. come into the House, as might be expected from such judges, they become managers on one side or tlie other, like advocates at the bar. The next thing is, ' How are we to vote? It is almost dinner time. I am for A. ; you are for B. Let us be off.' ' Other members corroborated this statement. '^ Dunning, just on the point of leaving the office of Solicitor-General, which he retained until the ap- pointment of his successor, bore testimony to the ' strange decisions of the House upon cases heard at the bar. Decisions in Turkey would, in his opinion, be far preferable.' The main provision of Grenville's Bill withdrew Transference the trial of election petitions from the body of the House, and transferred it to a committee of thirteen SAVorn members, chosen on the principle of a special jury ; though in the numbers, and in the mode of deciding by a majority, it resembled the grand in- quest. This clear and simple plan seemed to be open to no material objection ; for, while it retained the trial of controverted elections in the hands of the House, it took care that justice should be done, by conducting the trial in accordance with the practice of the regular tribunals. Experience, however, has proved that the analogy of a jury does not exactly apply to this case. A jury, taken from the body of the people, is likely to be ^ Among tlie influences employed, Grenville mentioned that • strings of ladies were brought down to muster the troops.' 1770 438 MINISTERS OBSTRUCT GRENVILLE'S BILL. Cli. II. indifferent between the parties; but a select com- mittee of thirteen members, drawn from the body of the House, could hardly enter with impartial minds upon an inquiry, in the result of which each member of the committee, as a party man, was im- mediately interested. This natural bias insensibly sways even the most upright and honorable minds ; and its tendency is necessarily increased in times of severe party conflict. The only way in which it can be diminished is, by diminishing the number of triers, and thus augmentino: the sense of individual re- sponsibility. The election committee has recently been reduced to five members, and might, perhaps, be farther reduced to three, with advantage to the dispensation of justice. Rigby and Rigby and Dyson were the ministerial members disparage the appropriately put forward to disparage a measure which had for its object the removal of an abuse in parliamentary elections. But even these shameless abettors of corruption did not attempt to gainsay the facts. They took higher ground. The mea- sure, they said, was a surrender of the consti- tutional rights of the House by delegating its functions to a small body of its members, without revision or appeal. This argument, however, was too gross. The bill was suffered to pass into com- mittee, where Lord North did his best to obstruct its progress ; and failing there, he opposed the third reading. The country gentlemen, however, who usually supported the King's government^ gave an independent vote upon this occasion, and the bill measure. THE CORPORATION OF LONDON. 439 passed its final stage in the Commons by a consi- Ch. 11. derable majority. In the Lords, it encountered ~^^ but little opposition. Lord Mansfield, in a matter which concerned the administration of justice, laid aside his usual cautious reserve, and gave the bill a cordial reception. Chatham took the opportunity of paying a graceful and well-merited compliment to his old antagonist. While an able and vigorous opposition were Corporation of TT 1 London. harassing administration m both Houses, they were aided, or perhaps damaged, by a daring and violent proceeding on the part of the City of London. This great corporation had for centuries been distin- o^uished for its love of libertv and its bold assertion of popular rights. It was the only corporation in England, the members of which were elected by popular sufi'rage. It w^as the most dignified, the most powerful, the wealthiest of all the municipal bodies. Its origin, like that of many other corpo- rations, was lost in prescription ; but its privileges were recognised or extended by no less than one hundred and twenty charters, beginning with the reign of William the Conqueror, and ending with that of His Majesty's immediate predecessor.' The constitution and privileges of this famous body are, indeed, a remarkable proof of what the bold and independent spirit of the people could effect even in the earliest times. They erected a government * Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of the Corporation of the City of London, p. 15 (1854). 440 ANTIQUITY AND PRIVILEGES Ch. 1 1 . side by side with that of the Sovereign in his j~ capital city; imitating, if not emulating, the great institutions of the realm. This Government had its Chief Magistrate, its Court of Eldermen, its Common Council, analogous to King, Lords and Commons. It was in some respects an imperium in miperio affecting independent rights, and almost equal degree. The City of London to this day closes its gates on certain occasions at the approach of Royalty, or the representatives of the Crown. By a particular exception in the annual Mutiny Act, soldiers are not to be billeted within its domain. Li all Acts of Parliament touching municipal rights, the privilege of the city is ex- pressly excepted. When the Corporation address the Cro's\ai, the Lord Mayor and principal officers insist upon being received in state by tlie King on the throne. If they approach the House of Com- mons, their petition is not presented in the or- dinary way by one of their representatives, but is delivered at the bar by their Sheriffs in full dress. The Lord Qu the oth of Novcmbcr in every year, the new Mayor's pri- -^ i t i ^ i i i viieges. Lord Mayor is presented to the Judges of the land sitting in banco in their respective courts. On that occasion, their lordships appear in their robes of state, but the great magistrate stands covered, while the Recorder claims respect for the ancient rights and privileges of the City of London. Every event of great national importance, the demise of the Crown, or a declaration of war, is immediately communicated to the Lord Mayor by one of the OF THE CITY OF LONDON. 441 principal Secretaries of State. But it would be Ch. n. tedious to enumerate in all its particulars the ~' grandeur of this mighty corporation ; which if it has sometimes assumed the air of sovereignty, equals many sovereign states in the extent of its revenue and the wealth of its domains. But thouo;h declined from the eminence which it main- tained for centuries, and doomed perhaps to a speedy fall, the corporation of London will claim a more prominent place in history than many petty states whose existence has not been illustrated by any great or useful actions. The liberties of Eng- land are indebted to the City of London, ^lan}^ a time has it been a safe refuge from tyranny, and at all times the steady and potent ally of national freedom. Not to go back to ruder periods, it was in the city that the five members found a se- cure retreat from the vengeance of Charles Stuart. When the quarrel between the King and the Parliament came to an issue of arms, the City was the first to declare for the Parliament, and to place its vast resources at their command. Again, when the royal army approached the capital, the City turned the scale in favour of the Parlia- ment by placing its trained bands, a corps of high military reputation, under the orders of the parlia- mentary general. And as they had been foremost in vindicating the cause of the nation against the violence of 1 he Crown, so when the Parliament had dwindled away under military violence, the City were equally prompt and decided in declaring for 442 THE LORD MAYOR BECKFORD. 1770 Ch. II. a free Parliament. It was probably, indeed, the firnmess of tlie City which determined the inde- cision of Monk, and gave one more trial to legiti- mate monarchy. The city's The last memorable occasion on which the interposition. corporate body had interposed between the Crown and the people, was when they demanded a Par- liament in 1680, to protect religious liberty, then supposed to be endangered by Popish machinations. They now stood forward to vindicate the rights of the people in the choice of their representatives. In the preceding year, they had presented an address to the Crown on the subject of the Mid- dlesex election, to which no answer had been vouchsafed. It was determined, therefore, to re- peat this proceeding, but in a more solemn and emphatic manner. A common hall having been convened in pursuance of a requisition to the common council, was attended by nearly three thousand of the livery. The Lord Mayor, Beck- ford, addressed this large assembly in a speech which would have been inflammatory but for the already heated temperature of public feeling. A paper was eagerly signed, containing language such as had never before been addressed by a subject to a Sovereign. After complaining of the contempt with which the petitions of the people had been treated, it referred to ' the secret malignant influ- ence,' which through each successive administra- tion had defeated every good and suggested every bad measure, and had at last procured the majority THE CITY ADDRESS AND REMONSTRANCE. 4^^ of the House of Commons to deprive the people of ch. n. their dearest ri":hts. The petitioners, or rather the o I ' 1770 remonstrants^ for so they styled themselves, affirmed that the House of Commons had no longer any validity, and intimated to His Majesty in significant terms that in tampering with the constitution of Parliament, he was pursuing a course similar to that which lost James the Second his crown. And they assured him that if the substance of liberty had been violated, it would make no difference that its forms had been respected. ' The misdeeds of your ministers in violating the freedom of election, and depraving the noble constitution of Parliament, are notorious, as well as subversive of the funda- mental laws and liberties of the realm; and since your Majesty is both in honour and justice, obliged inviolably to preserve them according to the oath made to God and your subjects at your coronation, we, your remonstrants, assure ourselves that your Majesty will restore the constitutional government and quiet of your people, by dissolving this Parlia- ment, and removing those evil ministers for ever from your councils. This paper, which was entitled ' an Address, Address and , . . ■ remonstrance Kemonstrance and 1 etition, they determined to of the city. present, in accordance with the privilege of the city, to the King on his throne. A copy having been previously sent to the Secretary of State in the usual manner, it was debated at Court whether an address worded and entitled in such an extra- ordinary manner should be received. The Attorney- 177° 444 LORD WEYMOUTH'S LETTER TO THE SHERIFFS. Ch. II. general was consulted whether such an address would not be impeachable, but it seems that learned functionary declined giving an answer to a question so absurd. Lord Weymouth addressed an imper- tinent letter to the Sheriffs of London, enquiring what was the nature of the meeting at which the address had been voted, and how the document was authenticated? promising that when these queries were answered. His Majesty's pleasure would be signified. The Sheriffs informed the Secretary of State, that their answers to the questions which he had addressed to them would be delivered to the King in person, and they demanded an audience for that purpose. The claim was allowed, and the Sheriffs having formally satisfied His Majesty of the authenticity of the address, a day was named for its being presented. The Lord Mayor, accom- panied by some of the Aldermen and a numerous body of the Common Council and Livery, accord- ingly attended at St. James. The Recorder, whose duty it was to read the address, had excused him- self on this occasion ; the Common Serjeant, the law ofiicer of the corporation next in rank, undertook the task, but was so confounded at the audacity of the language that, after reading a few sentences, he refused, or was unable to proceed. The Town Clerk then took the paper, and succeeded in getting through it. The King's The King's answer, which had been prepared by his friends, and revised, it was said, by Lord Mans- field, administered a severe rebuke to the citizens. reply. UNUSUAL ANSWER TO THE CITY ADDRESS. 445 He pronounced their remonstrance disrespectful to Ch. 1 1 himself, injurious to his Parliament, and irreconcil- ^ able to the principles of the constitution. Taking the remonstrance as a charge against himself rather than his ministers, he denied that he had ever in- vaded any of those powers which the constitution had placed in other hands ; and concluded by avow- ing his belief that the conduct which he had pursued was such as to entitle him to the steady and affec- tionate support of his people. It was observed,'^ that since the Revolution there The city's . r X 1 address cen- had not been an mstance 01 an answer Irom the smed bythe throne carrying with it a degree of censure. But it may be also said, that since the Revolution such an address had never been carried up to the throne. There are many who think that the throne should never be approached but with the choicest expres- sions of duty and loyalty. To such persons the tone and language of the city remonstrance must appear altogether unjustifiable. But it would be difficult to shew, that it is inconsistent with a due respect for monarchy — for a constitutional and limited monarchy at least — that a free people should sometimes address their complaints to the sovereign in plain and simple language. The city address was, no doubt, exaggerated in its terms, and not altogether accurate in its assertions. Still •^ Wedderburn. Debate in the House of Commons on motion for a copy of the Remonstrance and the Answer. — Cavendish Debates. 446 DEBATE ON THE CITY PETITION. 1770 Ch. II. it was far from being that mere ebullition of civic insolence which courtiers and flatterers would fain have made it out. The city had received provoca- tion. Their first petition which was not so strongly worded as many other petitions emanating from less important bodies, or dictated by statesmen, had not received the common courtesy of an answer. In complaining of undue irresponsible influence under the direction of the Crown, they did no more than had been done by every minister Avho had served the Crown since the accession of His Majesty. In saying that the House of Commons was corrupt, and that its proceedings had been illegal, they merely repeated what had been said by men of the highest mark in their places in Parliament; by Lord Chat- ham in one House, and by Sir George Savile in the other. The question was, whether the country should be governed by a free Parliament, acting under the guidance of known responsible ministers, or by a packed Parliament under the direction of a secret irresponsible cabal. If such is a true state- ment of the issue between the Cro^vn and the coun- try, then surely it became a body of Englishmen to lay aside courtly phrases, and to tell the sovereign the truth in plain terms. But if there was no cor- ruption in the House of Commons, and no intrigue in the Court, then, indeed, the language of the re- monstrance was to the last degree insolent and seditious. The anger of the Court was extreme : and finding BECKFORD'S DEFENCE OF THE CITY. 447 that the movers of the city agitation were not ac- Ch. 11. cessible by the ordinary process of the hiw, they ^ tried to engage Parhament in their design of in- The anger of /T • .1 .•,• T) X .^ the Court. liicting vengeance on the petitioners. Isut even 11 the Court had been content to let the matter rest, the House of Commons could hardly have passed over imputations of the grossest kind upon their character and title, contained in a paper which had been laid at the foot of the throne. Sir Thomas Clavering, a country gentleman, moved for a copy of the Remonstrance; and such was the temper of the majority that some violent proceeding would have been adopted, had it not been for the prudence of Lord North as well as the firmness of the city representatives.^ Lord Mayor Beckford and Alderman Trecothick Angn- feelings '' of the Crown. immediately stood up, iustified what had been —Firmness of •' i. ' .^ the city meni- done, and challenged the censure of the House, bers. The Sheriffs, Townshend and Sawbridge, followed to the same purpose. Lord North then interposed, and seeing the danger of provoking a collision with the city, and thus reviving the agitation of the pre- ceding year, he seemed to aim at imparting a calmer tone to the debate. Contenting himself with a simple denial of parliamentary corruption, he ad- dressed his argument to that part of the city mani- festo which was the least defensible. To contend that the House of Commons had ceased legally to re- present the people, because they had committed one ' See Addenda B, p. 465. 1770 448 WEDDERBURN'S SPEECH. Ch. II. questionable or even illegal act, was utterly extra- vagant. The bonds of law and order might con- stantly be in danger of dissolution, if such a doctrine were to obtain ; since the House of Commons is the last resort of that supreme power which must exist in every polity. Such vast responsibility can rest only on the ample faith and dutiful obedience of the great body of the people. To censure the con- duct of the House, even to dispute the validity of its acts, as was done in the case of the Middlesex election, was one thing ; but to deny the title of the House of Commons is to deny the title of Parlia- ment, since the other branches of the legislature have no power to make binding laws without the concurrence of the representative body.°^ Lord North's Lord North attacked this point, upon which he Wedder" could obtain an easy victory, as if it had been the burn's speech, j^^tg^^^i p^i^t in the rcmonstrancc. He would no doubt, have got rid of the motion, had he been a free agent ; but, urged on by the court, he as- sented to it, the less reluctantly, perhaps, because he knew it could end in nothing. Wedderburn, in an excellent speech, showed the House that the remonstrance was protected by the express terms of the Bill of Rights; and asked the government whether they proposed to proceed against the cor- poration by quo warranto, after the precedent of 1679, or whether they meant to bring in a bill of pains and penalties? ™ See Addenda C, p. 465. POPULAR MOVEMENTS. 4^0 The issue of the debate was for some time Ch. 1 1 doubtful. If the opposition had been firm and ~ united, it is said they might have prevailed f but ' the moderate Whigs and temperate statesmen ' of the Rockingham school, who regarded the city movement with great aversion, either stayed away or voted with the court. The motion was carried by a large majority. The debate was renewed when the papers came regularly before the House, but the matter ended in an empty resolution. If the court were indignant at the city address, Westminster the people of London and its neighbourhood were not less exasperated at the unprecedented style of the royal answer. The City of Westminister im- mediately sent up a petition, or remonstrance, after the pattern of London. The counties of Middle- sex and Kent did the like. Lord Chatham gave his sanction and support to Popniar move- . ments sane- these popular movements. He had announced his tionci by Lord f. -,. 1 -vxr • • Chatham. intention 01 attendmo^ at the Westminster meetmo;. '&i but was prevented by illness. Lord Rockingham, at his instance, was present at a great political dinner, given by the Lord Mayor to the members of the Opposition in both Houses, on the very day that the resolution of the Commons on the City remonstrance was sent up to the Lords for their concurrence. A few weeks afterwards, Chatham brought in a Chatham's bill, condemnatory of the resolutions of the Lower mil *^"^ ° Calcraft to Chatham, March 13. — Chatham Corr. VOL. I. G G 450 DEBATE IN THE LORDS Ch. II. 1770 Chatham's speech. Mansfield's speech. House with respect to the Middlesex election. The enacting clause was in the following extraordinary terms: — 'That all the adjudications': contained in the above-mentioned resolutions are arbitrary and illegal, and the same are and shall be hereby re- versed, annulled, and made void to all intents and purposes whatsoever.' To suppose that the House of Commons which had passed the several resolutions recited in this bill by large majorities only a year previously, could concur in such an enactment, was to expect a marvel. Nor could a House of Commons of any spirit have suffered the hereditary branch of the legislature to originate a bill which dealt with the right of election. But the bill was of course introduced only for the pur- pose of keeping up the agitation against the go- vernment. Chatham's speech on the occasion was, according to his practice in opposition, highly ag- gressive and inflammatory. He accused the King, almost in plain terms, as the author of the pro- ceedings which he asked the House to pronounce 'arbitrary and illegal.' He was called to order, but he refused either to retract his words or to ex- plain away the meaning which attached to them. Lord Mansfield, without venturing expressly to de- fend the doctrine of the Lower House, opposed the bill on the ground that it professed to interfere in a matter which belonged exclusively to the other House. They are the only judges of questions arising out of contested elections, and from their judgments there was no appeal. This called up his ON THE MIDDLESEX ELECTION. 451 li. I r rival, Camden, who supported his friend and patron, Ch Chatham, in a speech more declamatory than argu- ~ raentative. He also alluded in a significant manner camden's to the 'secret influence' which had decided that ^^*^*^^ '' ' Wilkes should not sit,' and repeated the ominous allusions to Charles the First and Hampden, which formed part of every speech and paper on this subiect. After the bill had been rejected, Lord Chatham pro- '' , poses a vote of Chatham desired that the House might be sum- censure. moned for the following day, when he intended to submit a motion of great importance. This was for the purpose of proposing a vote of censure on the King's answer to the City Remonstrance, by way of retaliation for the censure which Parlia- ment had passed on the remonstrance itself, at the instance of the court. Chatham, as had been his practice this session, used language of the most provoking and insulting character ; but the mi- nisters, relying on their secure majority, prudently avoided the hazardous ground of debate. The veteran leader of opposition, not checked by these repeated failures, nor by the still more disheartening coldness and reserve on the part of his Whig allies, persevered in bringing forward motion after motion. A few days after his last discomfiture, and in spite of the contrary opinion of Lord Rockingham, he moved an Address to the Chatham -1- -1 moves an ad- Crown for a dissolution of r arliament. in order dress to the 11. /.I • 1 • 1 crown. to frustrate the object of these motions, which was to keep up the excitement of the public mind, the government rigidly enforced the standing order for G G 2 452 NEGLECT OF AMERICAN AFFAIRS. Ch. II. the exclusion of strangers on the day when Chatham's motion was to be debated. This motion 1770 was negatived without a division. Neglect of the While the Court, the Parliament, and the American ~ i . i t • question. Countrj, Were engaged m these angry discussions about the Middlesex Election, a far more momen- tous subject was comparatively neglected. The persecution of Wilkes was an unworthy condescen- sion on the part of the Sovereign ; the substitution of Luttrell for Wilkes was a violent and unlawful act on the part of the House of Commons. But after all, the constitution was really in no great danger by these proceedings. The time had gone by when a King of England could ruin an ob- noxious subject. The oppression of Wilkes, so far from ruining that worthless adventurer, had made his fortune. The House of Commons had no plan of usurping the elective franchise. Their corrup- tion, indeed, had a tendency to subvert the institu- tion of Parliament; but even this was a remote danger. The real, the pressing danger, which menaced the integrity of the empire, its wealth, prosperity, and power, was the wide-spreading dis- aiFection of its American provinces. But though no English statesman took so wise and liberal a view of the Colonial Question as Chatham, American independence was the last word to answer the purpose of party oj^position. The people of this country believed that the colonists were their in- feriors, and were content that the Government LORD NORTH'S INJUDICIOUS CONDUCT. 4^3 should use measures of coercion to bring them to Ch. n. submission.** ~^ Upon this point, the King and the people were proposed of one mind. There was hardly any public man of xownshend's credit who did not agree in the expediency of dis- continuing American taxation. Substantially, this was done by the proposal to repeal the whole of Townshend's act, with the exception of the tea duty, which, valueless to the revenue, was retained only, as we have seen, at the instance of the King, for the purpose of taking away the whole virtue as well as grace of the concession. Nevertheless, it is probable that Parliament would for once have taken a wise and independent course by repealing the act entirely, had not Lord North assured the House of Commons, on the authority of some letters which he read, that the colonists were about to give way, and to abandon their non-importation agreements.? This unfortunate assertion was more likely to have had weight with the House than the argument by which it was followed. ' To what purpose,' said the minister, ' should we repeal this statute while we retain the Declaratory Act? The Colonies would continue discontented as long as this country asserted the right of imposing taxation upon them.' But what had been the consequence of the repeal of o See Addenda D, p. 466. I' Sir Denis le Marchant's note to Walpole's History, vol. iv. p. 96. 454 AMERICAN OPPOSITION TO THE TEA DUTY. 1770 Ch. II. the Stamp Act ? The agitation of the Colony im- mediately subsided. Nor did it make the least difference that the removal of the substantial grievance was accompanied by an empty affirma- tion of the right to inflict it. The Kings of England, for centuries after they had lost their French possessions, continued to style themselves Kings of France ; but this vain title was never for a moment regarded by the French people than whom none are more distinguished by high spirit and jealousy of their national honour. So the Americans did not consider the Declaratory Act to have been passed with a view to future aggression upon them- selves, but simply to gratify the pride of the mother country; and as such, they treated it with indifference. But the tea duty was regarded by the people of Boston in the same light as the tax of twenty shillings upon Hampden was regarded by the freeholders of Buckinghamshire. Party feeling Notwithstanding Lord North's endeavour to reduce the question to one of merely commercial expediency, there was a visible inclination to sup- port the amendment for including tea among the articles to be exempted from duty, and thus repealing Townshend's act altogether. Grenville justified the policy which it had been his ill fortune to originate, but declined to vote on the question before the Plouse. Lord Barrington, the Secretary at War, and a staunch adherent of the Kino-'s party, also declined to vote. The amendment was lost; but a minority of 142 out of 346, was suffi- • 1 in the house. DISTURBANCES AT BOSTON. 455 cient to shew that the sense of the House was Ch. n. opposed . to the policy of the Government. It is ~ worthy of remark, that this question, though at length fully recognised, in political society at least, as one of the gravest importance, did not attract nearly so large a concourse of members as any of the matters of party interest which had been agitated during the session. Whenever a vote was (^' taken which involved the fate of the Government, j , more than four hundred members had divided. The largest House which had been collected this Parliament was on Dowdeswell's motion to dis- franchise the revenue officers, when four hundred and fifty-one members voted. Of so much more I consequence did it seem, that the influence of the Cro^vn over the House of Commons should be maintained and increased, than that the integrity of the empire should be preserved. The same day on which this discussion took The Revoiu- , , , , 1 1 J 1 TT tion breaks out place — nay, at the very hour when the Jtlouse was in Boston. assembled, and while Lord North was persuading them that America was about to give way^ the first blood of the revolution was flowing in the streets of Boston. The bitterest animosity had, from the first, ex- Affray i>c- isted between the people of Boston and the two sowicrs and regiments quartered there, for the purpose of * ® '^'^'^^"®' overawing them. The soldiers treated the inha- bitants as rebels, and were in their turn regarded as the hateful instruments of tyranny and oppres- sion. Nor was this feeling confined to the lower 1770 456 THE SOLDIERS INSULTED IN BOSTON. Ch. II. sort. The traders^ merchants, and even the magis- trates, who were drawn from those classes, were even ready to shew their dislike to the soldiers, and to punish them with rigour for every act of license or infringement of the law which they might com- mit.*! The populace insulted them whenever they appeared in the streets ; and nothing but the patience and forbearance enjoined and taught by military discipline prevented a bloody quarrel. Frequent affrays, indeed, had taken place, but none of these had resulted in bloodshed. At length, on the evening of the 5tli of ^larch, upon one of the nu- merous causes of provocation which had been daily occurring, a conflict took place between some soldiers and some townspeople. The latter raised an alarm, crowds rushed into the streets calling upon the inhabitants to defend their houses. The officer on duty having reason to apprehend that the Custom-house was to be attacked, called out a sergeant's party, and accompanied them himself to the scene of tumult. Captain Preston seems to have behaved with the temper and self-possession which a British officer usually displays in scenes of civil commotion : but the soldiers, exasperated at the ill usage which they had received, fired, as they will sometimes do on such occasions, without the orders of their commanding officer. The result was that four persons were killed, and a few others wounded. 1 See Addenda E, p. 466. THE POPULACE FIRED UPON. 457 1770 The populace fled; but shortly afterwards re- Ch. n, assembled in still greater numbers ; and the troops would again have tired, had they not been restrained by the positive orders of Preston. The governor and the colonel commanding the regiment were shortly on the spot; and, the men being dismissed to their quarters, the people were induced to dis- perse. The malcontent party, as was to be expected, immediate made the most of this unfortunate affair. A meeting tumidt. of the inhabitants was held at the town hall, and language of the most exciting description was uttered. A deputation waited on the Lieutenant- governor Hutchinson, demanding that the troops should be removed out of the town ; and this the governor, with the vnianimous advice of the council, consented to do. The two regiments were sent to Fort William ; and the soldiers who fired the fatal shots, together with the commanding officer Preston, were committed to take their trial for murder. It was generally believed that the fate of these un- happy men was prejudged; and that nothing but the prerogative of the Crown could save them either from a judicial sentence, or from popular fury. It Avas doubted even whether a counsel could be found to undertake the odious task of conducting their defence. But none of these anticipations were verified. The accused found an advocate in one of the popular leaders. It was John Adams, the future President of that great Republic which his patriotism and ability did much to create, who at 458 THE SOLDIERS CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER. Ch. II. the call of professional duty, never for a moment hesitated to hazard his political prospects by de- fendino- the men who were charo;ed with havinoj O CD CJ shed the blood of his fellow citizens. The Boston jury also, to their honour be it recorded, acquitted all the prisoners on the capital charge, convicting only two of them of the minor offence of man- slaughter. And the people quietly acquiesced in the decision. Very different from this was the conduct of the people both high and low, who took part in the proceedings against the Scotch soldiers who were charged with murder in one of the riots arising out of the Middlesex election. Not only were the men convicted by a harsh sentence, but the court of justice was disgraced by the savage clamour of the exulting populace. And the go- vernment, as if emulating the prejudice and passion of the mob, were not content with giving the cri- minals a free pardon to which they were perhaps entitled, but must confer upon them honours and rewards to which they certainly had no claim. The non- But thougli the pcoplc of Bostou allovved public coSpacV justice to take its even course, the angry excitement did not subside, and the unhappy affair of the 5th of March was still designated as a ' massacre.' Still, even Massachusetts, though the principal seat of agitation, seemed far from a rupture with the mother country. The non-importation compact had been reluctantly entered into by several of the states; and after some months' experience of the privation inflicted by the suspension of commercial RESISTANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 459 intercourse with Great Britain, several were disposed Ch. 1 1 . to abandon the league. Rhode Island had already ~ withdrawn, and the more important colony of New York was about to do the like. The arrival of the Act of Repeal was only wanted to sever the last tie which held the confederacy together. A trade worth five millions annually seemed too great a price to pay for political principle ; and had it not been for the firmness of one province, the day of American independence might have been long post- poned. The people of Massachusetts, however, adhered Obstinacy of ■•■ ^ , , Massachusetts to their determination of offering an uncompromising opposition to British policy; and these sentiments prevailed not merely in Boston, but throughout the whole province.'" The non-importation compact was enforced with as much rigour as if it had been law. They would suffer none to infringe it; ships containing what they called contraband goods, that is, all imports from Great Britam, except certain enumerated goods, were sent back without being permitted to land their cargoes. The importers re- monstrated that they should be ruined ; the answer was that a ship which brought the plague would be excluded; much more one which brought British goods. The revenue ofiicers in vain endeavoured to enforce the laws. A tide-waiter having, in the discharge of his duty, seized a small coasting vessel, "■ Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson to Lord Hillsborough, April 27, 1770. 460 THE IRISH LEGISLATURE. 1770 Ch. II. containing a few casks of sugar, was seized, stripped, tarred and feathered, and in this state paraded through the town for several hours. The magis- trates never interfered to suppress these disorders. Some of them were kept back by sympathy; others were deterred by fear. Even the Council, which had hitherto always supported the government against the Assembly, now refused their sanction to any measures for the restoration and mainte- nance of its authority. It had been hoped that the removal of Bernard the obnoxious governor, and the appointment of Hutchinson, a native of the province and a man of ability, in his room, mio:ht have mitigated discontent. But it was evident that no secondary measure of concilia- tion could be of any avail. There remained but one alternative to England ; that of giving up the claim to tax the colonies, or giving up the colonies themselves. Affairs of A few days before the prorogation, the affairs of Ireland were brought under the considera- tion of the House of Commons. It so happened that, at this time, a dis2)ute had arisen be- tween the Parliament of Ireland and the govern- ment, very similar to that which had almost ended in a rupture between the colonial assemblies of legislature and the same supreme authority. The Irish legislature had been originally consti- tuted in the reign of Henry the Seventh, on the same model as the English Parliament, with this DISCONTENTS OF IRELAND. 461 difference, that, instead of originating measures of Ch. n. legislation, they could only entertain those projects ~ of law which had been approved of by the King in council and certified under the Great Seal.^ This rule was so far relaxed by an act of Philip and Mary, that, instead of waiting until all the measures for the session were prepared, the Parliament were permitted to commence business as soon as the draft of a single bill had been certified. This bill was usually a money bill, and in time came to be considered a mere matter of form ; but in the first Parliament holden in Ireland after the Revolution, two money bills having been presented in the usual manner, under the Great Seal, the House of Commons took that opportunity so favourable to such pretensions, to assert their right of originating all bills of supply. One of the bills, which was for an additional excise, they allowed to be read, in consideration of the pressing exigencies of the public service ; but they desired that it should not be drawn into a precedent. The other biU they rejected, on the ground that it had not originated with themselves; and they caused a resolution to be inserted in their journals to that effect. This pretension was, however, severely censured by the Viceroy, and condemned by the judges both of England and Ireland. The Parliament was pro- rogued and never suffered to meet again. Its ^ See Addenda F, p. 466, 1770 462 CONSTITUTION OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT. Ch. II. successor was more submissive, and affirmed an entry in the journals of the date of 16 14 by which the right of the English government to initiate their legislation was expressly recognised. The right, though often questioned, was not again practically resisted until 1764, when a motion for expunging from the journals the entry of 16 14 was made and carried; but the influence of the government, which, in Ireland at least, was that of Duration of the grosscst corruptiou, caused this vote to be the Irish Par- . , ., liament. rescuided. Efforts, also, were made to promote the indepen- dence of Parliament by fixing the period of its du- ration, the Irish Parliament being indissoluble save by the demise or pleasure of the Crown. At length, after frequent miscarriages, a bill was carried in 1767 for terminating its existence at the octennial period. In the ensuing session, the claim to originate money bills was revived; a bill of this description coming down as usual from the execu- tive government was rejected on the ground of privilege; but, instead of bringing the question to an issue in a parliamentary way, by withholding supply altogether, the Irish Commons, with charac- teristic improvidence^ voted, of their own free will, a supply for two years, being just the amount which would enable the government to dispense with their attendance until the regular time for their being re-assembled. And this was the course which the government pursued. Accepting the DEBATE ON IRISH AFFAIRS. 463 money voted, the Lord Lieutenant severely repri- Ch. n. manded the Parhament for the vioUition of tlie ~ law in rejecting the bill sent down by the Privy Council; and, having ordered his protest to that effect to be entered on the journals, he immediately prorogued them. This arbitrarv measure, althouo-h in accordance Debate on •^ . . J Irish affairs. with precedent, caused much excitement in Ireland and was the subject of a party motion in the English House of Commons. The debate was remarkable for the absence of sympathy with the real grievance of the Irish legislature. Not a word appears to have been said Avith respect to the denial of that first and essential privilege of a represen- tative body, the entire and exclusive right, namely, of taxation. But the government was denounced by the Opposition for having 'prorogued^ when they ought to have dissolved^ a Parliament which had a great amount of important business before it. They were, no doubt, censurable for having taken a course which postponed the whole legislation of the country ; but this consideration was insignificant, in comparison with the paramount importance of the principle at issue between the Irish Parliament and the Crown. The House of Commons at West- minster, however, regarded the House of Com- mons at Dublin in the same light as the House of Burgesses at Virginia, or the Assembly at Boston. The provincial character was common to all; nor could they be permitted to advance pretensions 464 REJECTION OF WALSINGHAM'S MOTION. Ch. II. inconsistent with due subordination to the Imperial j~ Parliament. Walsingham's motion, though sup- ported by Grenville and Burke excited little in- terest; and was negatived by a large majority in a thin House. ADDENDA TO CHAP. XI. (A. p. 430.) ' I was in town on "Wednesday last; saw Policy of Lord Kockingham, and learned nothing more than what I miuistry. ' knew before ; namely, that the marquis is an honest and honourable man, but that ' moderation, moderation ' is the burden of the song among the body. For myself, I am re- solved to be in earnest for the public, and shall be a scarecrow . of violence to the gentle warblers of the grove, the moderate S Whigs and temperate statesmen.' — Chatham to Calcraft. — Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 469. 'They are well acquainted with the difference between the Bill of Rights and your lordship's friends, and they are very insolently rejoiced at it. They respect and fear that wretched knot beyond anything you can readily imagine, and far more than any part, or all the other parts of the Opposition.' — Burke to Rockingham. — Burke's Correspond- ence^ vol. i. p. 237. (B. p. 447.) '' Let it be sufficient, when I tell you that I Beckford's have been menaced with impeachment, sequestration of my iiver}% estates and banishment ; but I was supported by a worthy colleague, one o£ your representatives, and your two worthy sheriffs ; and 1 verily believe that without such support, something very hostile and disagreeable to me, your Lord Mayor, would have been the consequence.' — Beckford's Speech to the Livery on announcing the King's Answer to the Address and Remonstrance, — ■Ge7itleman^s Magazine, vol. xl. p. 166. (C. p. 448.) Upon this view, that the House of Com- Sheriff Town- mons, by their vote on the INIiddlesex election, had ceased to ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ become a legal assembly. Sheriff Townsend refused to pay land-tax. the land-tax; and being distrained upon, brought an action of trespass against the bailiff. Lord Mansfield, who tried the cause, told the jury that the only question was, whether VOL. I. 11 II ^56 ADDENDA TO CHAP. XT, /there was any government in the country? The verdict was * for the defendant. B'll f (^' P" 4-53-) ^ '^""^y ^^ reminded that the assembly Rights' of North Carolina sent £1500 to the Society for the sup- society, p^^j. ^^ ^j^g -g-^Yl of Eights. But the democratic doctrines of that Society met with little support. Col. Mackay's (E. p. 456.) Colonel ]\Iackay, who spoke from personal the* a™ce"ptance knowledge, derived from recent military service in the colony, of soldiers in stated in the House of Commons, that the clamour against the troops was confined to a few individuals of no great im- portance. And as a proof that they were not unpopular, he mentioned that £60,000 had been spent in the town in con- sequence of their being quartered in town. The farmers and tradesmen could now get a good price and ready money for their produce and goods; therefore, so far from being dis- contented at the presence of the military, they were de- lighted to have them. There always are an abundance of 'respectable' people, as the gallant colonel termed them, ready, under any circumstances, to welcome soldiers or any other class of persons who circulate money. The English farmer, for example, is generally an advocate for war, be- cause it brings high prices. Practice of the (F. p. 46 1.) The practice of the House of Commons, of 2ons!°^^°™" wl"c^ t^^® earliest record is the 22nd of March 1603, to com- mence the business of the session by reading a bill, is sup- posed by Hatsell to be a claim of right on the part of the Commons to proceed in the first place upon any matter which they think material, without being limited to give a preference to the subjects contained in the King's Speech. — Hatsell, Precedents, vol. ii. p. 58. — ' Before Her Majesty's Speech is reported, some bill is read a first time p7'o forma. — Rules, Orders and Proceedings of the House of Commons, rule 34. — 1854. CPIAPTER XII. DISUNION OF THE OPPOSITION — ANOTHER CITY AD- DRESS DEATH AND CHARACTER OF GRENVILLE OF LORD GRANBY OF THE DUKE OF BEDFORD •^ THE FALKLAND ISLANDS PROSECUTION OF THE PRINTERS — QUARREL BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES SHOREHAM ELECTION. npiIE session of Parliament closed on the 19th of ch. 12. May, leaving the government uninjured by the vigorous efforts of the opposition in both Houses, Mutual dissen- ... , sions of the as well as out 01 doors. JNor is this result by any Opposition. means unaccountable. There was no frank or cor- dial intercourse between the leaders of the parties in alliance against the Court. Rockingham, proud of his position as chief of the Whigs, and bigoted to the tradition of government by the great Revo- lution-families, was jealous of the predominance of Chatham. Himself a rigid Whig, he probably re- garded Chatham as unsound in doctrine, and in some measure as an upstart who ought not to take too great a lead in affairs which appertained to hereditary statesmen. Rockingham was certainly much scandalised by the irregular connection which H H 2 I770 468 ROCKINGHAM AND GRENVILLE. Ch. 12. his brilliant ally had formed. He had no toleration for persons who formed associations and presumed to deal with grievances independently of Whig di- rection and control.*^ Chatham, on the other hand, is not very likely to have dissembled his contempt for the narrow views and decorous moderation of the Whig aristocracy ; while the arrogant and dic- tatorial tone which he affected, had always proved peculiarly offensive to, and throughout his political life, had gone far to alienate from him, that proud and exclusive race. Again, the Rockingham party bore no good will to the Grenvilles. We have seen how coldly the earnest overtures of Lord Temple had been received by the agent of that party the year before. A political connection which consisted of a single family and that too of recent origin, had no right to set itself up, and court alliances on a footing of equality with the great houses. Neither were the opposition in any harmony with regard to the great political questions of the day. On the Middlesex election, the Whigs would not be led by Chatham; and the Grenvilles seemed to have troubled themselves very little about that matter. On the colonial question, Grenville was of one opinion, Chatham of another, and Rockingham of a third. Dctermina- The government, on the other hand, possessed liJng. the great advantage which is derived from unity and decision of purpose. The King was, as ever, * See Addenda A, p. 507. I770 ADDRESS OF THE CITY. 469 determined to resist the domineering rule of the ch. 12. Whig lords ; to maintain the present Parliament ; to uphold the decision of the Commons in the Middle- sex election ; and to chastise American revolt. He found a minister with no fixed opinions on any of these subjects, but faithful to his service, and pos- sessed of tact and ability to carry on his business. The fate of the administration was for some time doubtful ; but the patience and courage of the mi- nister, his good humour and address, backed by the hearty support of the Crown, at length prevailed. The time-servers who decide the fate of so many cabinets, at length gave in their adhesion ; and at the end of its first session. Lord North's govern- ment shewed signs of thaj; longevity which, un- happily for the empire, it was destined to attain. A few days after the proroo-ation, the city, un- Address of the ^ 1 o ' . city of London. willing to submit patiently to the rebuke which they had received from the mouth of the sovereign, resolved to go up with another address, expressive of their discontent. And the Lord Mayor, in anti- cipation of the answer which he would probably receive, prepared himself with a reply. The address, though resolute in its tone, was Answer to the worded in decent, and even courtly terms. The King replied briefly that he had done no more than his duty in censuring the remonstrance. And here properly the audience should have terminated. The Lord Mayor, as the chief of the corporation, had presented the address which they had voted. Having done so, he had fulfilled his duty ; and his 470 BECKFORD'S REPLY TO THE KING. 1770 Ch. 12. authority in that particular was at an end. Ac- cording to ancient precedent, he had demanded and obtained as of right, the privilege of presenting the city address to the King on the throne. But he had no right to add anything to that address. He had come determined, however, to reply upon the King. No sooner therefore had His Majesty spoken, than Beckford asked permission to say something more, and at once proceeded in a set speech^ to reite- rate the expression of affliction at His Majesty's displeasure; to declare the devotion of the citizens to the Crown ; to entreat a more favourable answer ; and to denounce, as a violator of the public peace and a traitor to the constitution, any person who should attempt by falsa- insinuations to alienate His Majesty's affections from his subjects in general, and from the city of London in particular. The King took no notice of this extraordinary address : and the Lord Mayor with the other mem- bers of the deputation were allowed, as usual, to kiss hands and withdraw. Death of Beck- Tliis incident was for the time a subject of much discussion. Courtiers could only regard the con- duct of the Mayor as a shocking breach of etiquette. The Whigs did not approve of it. The more un- compromising assertors of popular rights, with Chatham at their head, were loud in their applause. Beckford dying a few weeks afterwards, the corpo- foid '' It was written by Home Tooke. Adolphus's History, vol. i. p. 438. See Addenda B, p. 507. CHARACTER OF GRENVILLE. 4y i ration caused his statue to be erected in the Guild- Ch. 12. hall, with his speech to the Kinoj en o^raven in letters , of gold on the pedestal. Other men of greater note also died this year, i^cat^i of . ^ , , •' Greiiville. His Grenville, whose health had been failing for many character. months, expired on the same day that Parliament re-assembled for the usual autumnal session. His vacant seat must have given rise to some emotion in that House, of which he had been a constant attendant for thirty years, and one of its most im- portant members during the greater part of that time. He left behind him some men his superiors in eloquence and address, but none who equalled him in knowledge of parliamentary law and public business. These are qualities more highly valued in the House of Commons than the most brilliant talents without such attainments. Charles Town- shend could always carry away the applause and admiration of the House; but Grenville was looked up to as its leader. Indeed, of all the public men who filled the office of chief minister in the House of Commons during his time, there was none, — Pitt of course being out of question, — who obtained so great a share of influence as Grenville. Nor did he owe this influence to any great superiority of talents or accomplishments. In the important art of secret management, he was far excelled both by Pelliam and Fox; in amenity of manners by Conway; in tact and debating power by Lord North. Even in respect of connection he was weaker than any of his competitors for power. Pelham was backed by 472 GRENVILLE'S ADHERENCE TO PRECEDENT. Ch. 1 2. the unparalleled parliamentary interestof his brother ~~ the Duke of Newcastle. Fox and North were sup- ported by the Court, and Conway by the great Rockingham party; whilst Grenville during the greater part of the time that he filled the most pro- minent place in the administration, was at variance with his family, and was opposed by the Court. But his unremitting application to public business, the fulness and accuracy of information with which he spoke; and it must be added the honest and con- sistent course which he pursued, gave a stability to his character which that of no other contemporary statesman can be said to have possessed. Grenville of His mind was of the common capacity. He had iioextraordi -i p it • • i i -, naiy ability, uo idea 01 pubiic opmiou, savc as expressed by its legitimate organ, the House of Commons. '^ His notions of public policy were strictly regulated by law and precedent. Hence it was, that finding the taxation of the Colonies by the parent state was neither contrary to their charter nor to Parlia- mentary precedent, he submitted his measure of colonial taxation to the House of Commons, and, having obtained its sanction, he never was able to understand how there could be another side to the question. In like manner, he prosecuted Wilkes as he would have prosecuted any other seditious libeller; and, afterwards, was the most strenuous, as well as the ablest, defender of Wilkes' seat, when the House exceeded their privilege, and tres- See Addenda C, ]). 507. MODERATION OF HIS CHARACTER. 473 passed on the domain of positive law. In either Ch. 12. case, he was guided by a strict sense of right and ^ justice, regardless alike of popular clamour or applause. At the commencement of the reign, he supported the policy of peace, because he thought, with the leaders of the AVhig party, that the war had accomplished its objects; and, on that impor- tant point, he did not hesitate to relinquish the powerful political connection of his kinsman Temple, and Pitt. On the other hand, he submitted to be displaced rather than lend himself to the foolish precipitation of Bute in concluding a treaty, and was prepared to give up office altogether rather than be a party to a peace which did not secure to his country the benefits and advantages she had a right to expect from her arduous and triumphant struggle. A. man of high spirit would not, indeed, have submitted to the indignity of being set aside for a rival who was thought more fitted for a parti- cular service than himself. But Grenville was measured and limited in his sense of self-respect, as well as in every other part of his conduct ; and he thouo:ht he had made a sufficient sacrifice to his independence by quitting his place in the cabinet for a place of subordinate importance. The same decent consistency is maintained throughout his character. Essentially an honest man, lie had no conception of the exalted probity of Pitt, and though incorrupt himself, was not too nice to dabble in that foul channel of corruption on which public business had been borne during his experience of 474 GRENVILLE'S ECONOMY. 1770 Ch. 12. Parliament; one of his grounds of quarrel with Bute was that he had not been permitted that peculiar confidential intercourse with members, Avhich was then considered necessary by a leader of the House of Commons.*^ For the rest, he was a frugal manager of the public revenues; nor would he consent to what he considered any, the smallest, misappropriation of the public funds, whether for the gratification of the sovereign,^ or the meanest of his servants. Grenville's private life was regu- lated with the same method as his public conduct. Respectable in all his domestic relations, he had from his youth been remarkable in a dissolute age for the decorum of his manners. In one respect, at least, his practice is deserving of imitation by public men. He made it his rule, whether in or out of office, to live within a private fortune by no means ample; and thus he was enabled to preserve that independence so valuable to a man embarked in public life, but which can be maintained only by a due regard to private economy. Grenville was only fifty-eight years of age at his decease. Death of the About the Same time, the hand of death fell Granby! ^ upou another person of less political note, but of wider fame, the brave and generous Granby. Born in the highest rank, and heir to great estates, this amiable nobleman was doomed to experience, during many years of a life which terminated in middle age, the bitter effects of early profusion and c- ^ See Addenda D, p. 507. ^ See Addenda E, p. 508. THE MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 475 improvidence. Having adopted the profession of (11.12. arms, he distinguished himself in the German war ; ~ and especially at the great battle of Minden, being the second in command of the British cavalry, he had, by his promptitude, endeavoured to retrieve the opportunity which was almost lost by the cowardice or hesitation of his superior officer. Lord George Sackvile, the general officer in chief command. Towards the close of the war, he held the chief command of the British forces in Germany, but without an opportunity of rendering any extraor- dinary service. He was the idol of the army, with whom he always shared the dangers of the field and the privations of the camp. On one occasion, when they were in bad quarters, he provided for the soldiers at his own cost, and kept an open table for his officers. By these means, as well as by a too lavish and indiscriminate bounty, and not through selfish indulgence, he became involved in pecuniary embarassment. His qualities were such, indeed, as in his station, render a man beloved rather than respected. Easiness of access, open- handed charity, facility of disposition, may, when carried to an extreme, cease to be virtues, but they will always obtain the love and admiration of the common people. Granby was long remembered as the model of a brave soldier and a kind English nobleman. And, to this day, many a village sign- board exhibits that open countenance and bald head which were well known in every parish nearly a hundred years ago. As a politician, he had no 476 THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. Ch. 12. -weight but what he derived from his high rank, his j~ military reputation, and his extensive popularity. Chatham, however, knew the value of such a par- tisan ; and when desirous of breaking up the Grafton administration, there was no man, not even Camden himself, whom he showed so much anxiety to detach from the government as the Marquis of Granby. Death of the Qf ^ very oppositc character was John, Duke of j3edford. Bedford, who also paid the debt of nature about this time. If Granby was the most popular man in England, Bedford may be described as the public man of all others most odious to the people. Bute, during his short career, was reviled by the popu- lace; Grenville, and other statesmen, had expe- rienced their displeasure; but none of these had been pursued with the enduring obloquy which through life assailed the great Whig peer. When he returned from Paris, after concluding the treaty of peace, he was charged, in conjunction with Bute, with having sold the country.^ Two years later, he was accused of insulting the distress of the silk weavers, and his house in London would have been torn down, had it not been guarded by a strong military force. At a subsequent period, he nar- rowly escaped with his life, when he went down into Devonshire, where he had influence, arising from great estates, to dissuade that county from joining in the petitions to the crown on the subject f See Addenda F, p. 508. HIS CHARACTER. 477 of the ^Ilddlesex election. Popularity is hardly any Ch. 1 2. criterion of a statesman's merit ; and it is not to be ~^^ supposed that Bedford was justly obnoxious to all this odium. Nevertheless, it was not altogether without cause that hatred and contempt had sul- lied the once dear and honoured name of Russell. The Duke of Bedford, as Secretary of State, had dictated the pusillanimous treaty of Aix la Chapelle, or had assented to it as dictated by the enemy. The war, it is true, had been foolishly commenced, but that was no reason why it should be brought to an ignominious conclusion. It might not have been practicable to obtain the entire renunciation of the Right of Search, which was often exercised in a manner so vexatious to British commerce ; but hardly an attempt was made to procure a modifi- cation of its rigour, or a limit to its exercise. The island of Cape Breton, which had become a con- quest of the British arms, and was an important acquisition to the British possessions in North America, was unconditionally restored to France. Nay, so unnecessarily anxious had Bedford been to conciliate the belligerents, that he withdrew two frigates which had been sent on a voyage of dis- covery into the South American waters, because the jealousy of the Spanish minister was alarmed lest Great Britain should establish some settlement in those seas. The same spirit was displayed in the subsequent negotiation of the Treaty of Paris, which the Duke of Bedford conducted in person. He had been so eager to conclude the peace that 478 SELFISH POLICY OF Ch. 12. even Bute had checked his ignoble ardour; and he j~ suffered his parasite, Rigby, to write him letters, expressing hopes that some disaster might befall the British arms. When he was conducting the negotiation at Paris as Plenipotentiary for Great Britain, Egremont, the Secretary of State, fre- quently expressed his disapprobation of the un- worthy tone of his diplomacy, and at length the King himself thought it necessary to lay his express commands upon the ambassador to demand some terms in consideration of the Havannah, a most important conquest, and one which had tasked the military skill and energy employed more than any other service during the war. The Duke of Bed- ford shewed the wisdom and forethought of a statesman in opposing the ignorant clamour of the silk- weavers for protective laws; but he shewed, at the same time, a cruel insensibility to the sufferings of those poor people. On the question of the Middlesex election, he deserted the Whig party and Whig doctrine, and joined the court in assail- ing the fundamental principles of constitutional law. The same arbitrary temper directed the whole of his public conduct. Nothing daunted by the detestation in which he was held by his own countrymen, he seemed to court the resentment of the colonial people likewise. The revenue laws, the Declaratory Act, the suspension of the legisla- tion of New York, were all acts of power; but they were acts passed in the face of the world, and of which the Imperial Parliament assumed the full THE DUKE OF REDFORD. 479 responsibility. But it was to Bedford's malignant Ch. 12. research that the government were indebted for the ~^^ discovery of an act passed by the timid and obse- quious Parliament of Henry the Eighth, to serve his tyrannical purpose; and it was this obsolete statute, long since forgotten in the prevalence of better maxims of government, that the Duke of Bedford sought to turn against the rising liberties of the American people. He would have deprived the Colonists of that cherished maxim of English freedom, that every man shall be tried by his peers and fellow countrymen. It is true that this scheme, though adopted, was never put in force : but the attempt, or the threat of employing it, did more to alienate the Colonies than any stretch of power by which they had hitherto suffered ; for it shewed that the parent state could be vindictive as well as oppressive, and that they could no longer feel any security against a fresh attempt upon their privi- leges, whenever an opportunity should occur. The memory of the Duke of Bedford has de- rived some benefit from the reaction produced by the foul slanders of Junius; but he will ulti- mately be written in the page of history as a man who exercised an evil influence on the for- tunes of his country. If an individual in a private station, who squanders the gifts of providence in mere selfish gratification, is to be held responsible to society, how much more so must that man be, who, placed in a great and commanding position, regards nothing but his own wilful pride, and the 480 SELFISH POLICY OF 1770 Ch. 12. personal aggrandisement of his retainers! Yet such was the case with the Duke of Bedford. The measures of public policy which he advanced may have been matters on which a fair dilFerence of opi- nion could exist; but he was a great English noble, the possessor of a historic name, the head of a powerful party in the state. He found the crown openly avowing an intention, and actively organis- ing a system of governing independently of poli- tical parties, and in a manner hardly consistent with the principles of the Revolution. The Duke of Bedford might have frustrated this design. Had he come forward at the time when there was a disposition on the part of other eminent men to dismiss the petty jealousies by which they had for so many years been divided, he might have been a principal agent in consolidating a great national party which would have revived public spirit, and spared the nation many calamities which she after- wards endured. But instead of taking a course worthy of his name and his ability, the Duke of Bed- ford was intent only on securing the preponder- ance of his own Aveight in the government. What that government should be was a secondary object. His first desire was, that it should be constituted principally of his nominees. The court might take what line of policy they pleased, the Whigs might be a scattered and disbanded corps, the Duke of Bedford would not take the responsibility of office upon himself, but must have his Gowers, his Wey- mouths, and his Rigbys in administration. Those FRENCH DESIGNS ON CORSICA. 48 I 1768 men, whom his interest had placed in their offices, Ch. 12. retained them afterwards af^jainst his Avill; and the Duke, before his death, found himself deserted by the party, for whose sake he had abandoned the higher duties of his position. Since the conclusion of the treaty of Paris, it Affairs of Corsica. was generally believed that the ' Family Alliance' were only waiting for a convenient opportunity to avenge their disgrace by provoking a new war. Every movement of France and Spain was, there- fore, jealously watched in this country. In 1768, the French, partly by intrigue and partly by gold, had obtained possession of Corsica, a dependency of the Genoese republic; an acquisition of no real value, and which did not affect, in the least degree, the European balance of power. The island itself, as it could not maintain its independence, was better off under the protection of a powerful and generous monarchy, than under the dominion of a petty Italian state. The English ambassador at Paris , was, however, instructed to make a strong remonstrance against this addition to the French territory; and Choiseul, not being prepared for war, it is thought, would have abandoned the project rather than hazard a rupture with England, but Lord Mansfield, who was then at Paris, having spoken with ridicule of his country going to war on such a frivolous pretence, the representations of the British minister were disregarded; and Corsica, after a spirited resistance by a band of VOL. I. II 482 FRENCH OCCUPATION OF Ch. 12. i^atriots in arras, was annexed to the French em- The Falkland But an event of a more serious character took place in the following year. It is said, that the treaty of Paris was accompanied by a secret article between France and Spain, in which it was agreed that, at some future period, the war should be re- newed by an attack on the Falkland Islands. Why such an intention should have been entertained, or, if entertained, why it should have been the subject of a secret article, does not very clearly appear; since the Falkland Islands were not, at that time, oc- cupied by the English, or by any other power ; nor was there any reason to suppose that their occupa- tion by France or Spain would have been considered by England as a matter in which she was much concerned. These dreary, inhospitable islands had been visited at different periods by the English, Dutch, and French ; each of whom claimed them to the extent of giving them a name ; but neither nation had taken any further step to confirm its possession of such barren and useless territory. The English government in 1748 had sent out an exploring squadron, with instructions to visit the Falkland islands; but on some objection being raised by Spain, the expedition was withdrawn. At length, in 1764, one of these islands was occupied in the name of the King of France, but immediately afterwards ceded to Spain, to which, if it was to be occupied at all, it was of more importance, as I770 THE FALKLAND ISLES. 483 being near the Strait of Magellan and the Spanish ch. 12. provinces in South America. But it happened, that later in the same year the British government sent out an expedition under Captain Byron, who took possession of an adjacent island forming part of the same group, in the name of his sovereign; and this officer, having carried home an exaggerated account of the value of the acquisition, a small fort was built, and a garrison was established there. An encounter soon took place between the settlers from the two nations. The Spanish governor affected to be ignorant of the pretensions of Great Britain; while the English Captain, on the other hand, required the Spaniard to evacuate territory which belonged to His Britannic Majesty. After a great deal of recrimination, the dispute ended in the expulsion of the British by a superior Spanish force. For this insult and aggression, as it was termed, Satisfoction T 1 . . n r^ T^ ^ ^ .i demanded by though m pomt 01 fact Jingland was the aggressor, England. the British government peremptorily demanded redress from the Catholic King. A correspond- ence was commenced both at London and Madrid, and extended, as usual, to a great length. The English and French governments made active pre- parations for hostilities ; but it proved that Spain was in no condition for war. Her finances were unable to support a war establishment; and her regular military force was only sufficient to maintain II 2 484 DEBASEMENT OF THE FRENCH COURT. Ch. 12. internal order in that distracted and decaying ~ empire.^ Choiseul, indeed, Avas still as ever intent on a warlike policy; but Louis the Fifteenth, sunk in debauchery, was averse to a policy which might disturb his voluptuous repose. A change also, of more importance than that of a minister, took place about this time, at the Court of Ver- sailles. A new mistress came into power. Pom- padour, who had been the immediate instigator of the Seven Years' war, was dead; and Du Barri had succeeded to her place. This lady was a friend of England. She was even connected by marriage with an Irish nobleman.^ Still these might not have been sufficient inducements for her interference to prevent a war, had not the Duke de Choiseul, too confident in his power, committed a mistake similar to that which Frederick the Great had made with regard to Madame Du Barri's predecessor. He treated the mistress with contempt instead of con- ciliating her favour. The consequence was, that the long administration of Choiseul was terminated by a leitre de cachet; and, the Court of Madrid finding all hope of support from France at an end, imme- diately terminated the negotiation with the English government by agreeing to the terms which the latter had prescribed. The act of the Spanish commandant who had expelled the British was disavowed, and the Falkland Islands were ceded to g Despatches of Mr. Harris, the EngHsh minister at Madrid. Mahnesbury Corr. vol. i. '' See Addenda G, p. 508. DISSATISFACTION IN ENGLAND. 485 Great Britain. The government of Spain, to save Ch. 12. their credit and the pride of the nation, gave out ~ that they had received a verbal assurance from England that she would evacuate the Falkland Islands in two months. But though Lord Wey- mouth, who was not a very skilful diplomatist,^ was not unlikely to have intimated something to this effect in his conversation with Masserano, the ambassador at London, there certainly was not, as the opposition maintained, any secret article of such an import. While the ne<^otiations relative to this affair Popular dis- ^ , conteui. were in progress, loud clamours were raised against the ministry as if they had compromised the na- tional honour by failing to resort to immediate hostilities. The people were in that temper that they were ready to put the worst construction on every act of government; and as self-interest and corruption seemed to govern the conduct of each individual engaged in public affairs, the coarsest and vilest motives were assigned to almost every doubtful or disastrous act of policy which had been adopted during later years. The government were not in this instance, however, worthy of blame. They were bound to demand reparation for the insult offered to the British flag ; but there was no case of war until the Catholic King had avowed and adopted the act of his ofiicer. The people showed a bad spirit on this occasion. ' See Addenda. H, p. 508. 486 BAD SPIRIT OF THE SEAMEN. 1770 Ch, 12. The government having put several ships in com- mission with a view to war, the seamen, though willing to serve, were dissuaded from coming forward by representations that they had been ill-used in the distribution of the Havannah prize- money in the late war; and they resorted to the practice so much in fashion, though very foreign to the habits of their calling, by presenting a learned argument to the throne in the shape of a petition against the legality and justice of recruit- ing the navy by means of impressment. The city of London also, no longer under the influence of Beckford, who himself acted under the guidance of Chatham, took a foolish and factious course. The magistrates at first refused to back the press- warrants. Meetings were held under the superin- tendence of Wilkes, who w^as again at liberty to bring discredit on the cause which he affected to espouse. One meeting resolved that Lord North should be impeached. Another voted a fresh re- monstrance to the King, praying him not only to dismiss his ministers, but also to remove Lord Mansfield from his councils, and not to admit a Scotchman into the administration. Such pitiful impertinence was calculated to disgust all men of reflection, and to alienate its best supporters from the popular cause. Chatham, who never for a mo- ment suffered any consideration or party interest to weigh in the scale against the dictates of a high public spirit, rebuked the conduct of the city in LORD BARRINGTON'S BLUNDERS. 487 attempting to obstruct the recruiting of the navy Cli. 12. at the moment of impendino^ war.'' I o 1770 Parliament assembled for the autumnal session parliament as usual in November. The Royal speech dwelt ^'^'^"' chiefly on the quarrel with Spain, which at that time had a doubtful aspect ; and invited the counsel and aid of Parliament in determining this important affair. The opposition did not require this sug- gestion to enter upon a topic so attractive. The Middlesex election had been exhausted by repeated debates during two sessions ; and a new question was required for party purposes. The conduct of the ministry in the transaction with Spain was as- sailed in both Houses with great eloquence, but with little reason and small effect. The debate in the Commons was remarkable only for a ridiculous blunder by Lord Barrington, the Secretary at War. The government had been censured, among other things, for omitting to fill up the office of Comman- der-in-chief, which had been left open since the resignation of the JMarquis of Granby. The Secre- tary's excuse was that he knew not whom to appoint, and challenged the House to name a proper person. He intimated, moreover, that there Avas no necessity for a Commander-in-chief at all; and that he him- self, with the assistance of the Adjutant-general, was perfectly competent to the management of the army. Barrington had been a placeman since the commencement of the reign, and had even filled '' See Addenda I, p. 508. 488 LORD BARRINGTON'S 1770 Ch. 12. some important offices, though never with any degree of credit. He had succeeded the able and experienced financier, Legge, as Chancellor of the Exchequer; but fulfilled the duties of that arduous office in such a manner that even Sir Francis Dash- wood was considered an improvement upon him. As Secretary at War, he had incurred odium and contempt by issuing the General Order, thanking the soldiers employed to clear the streets in the riots of St. George's Fields, and who, in the discharge of that unimportant but disagreeable duty, had been so unfortunate as to kill an innocent man. BarrinKtoii's Shortly aftcrwards he took upon himself, without consulting his colleagues, to move the House of Commons for leave to bring in a bill to enable the King, on certain emergencies, to embody the militia without the previous notice required by the militia acts. This motion, meeting with no favour, and being disavowed by Lord North who con- ducted the business of the government, the Secre- tary at War withdrew it in some confusion. He put himself forward to move the expulsion of Wilkes, and when Lord North proposed the par- tial repeal of Townshend's act for taxing the Colo- nies, the whole House, with the exceptions of Barrington and Welbore Ellis, another partisan of the Court, agreed to a measure intended to heal dissensions which every man of moderation and good sense considered dangerous to the integrity of the empire. But his flippant and presumptuous answer to the UNFITNESS FOR OFFICE. 489 question put to him in the House of Commons, re- Ch. 1 2. lative to the appointment of a Commander-in-chief ~ — a question of some pertinence where the country was supposed to be on the eve of war — was only wanting to cover him with derision and contempt. The general officers, indeed, resented it as an insult to their order, and considering that there were such men as Conway, Waldegrave, Albemarle, Amherst and Monckton, either of whom had professional pretensions equal at least to those of Granby, it is hardly credible any man who had been thought fit to fill an office of responsibility could be guilty of such stupid impertinence. Lord ^Yaldegrave and General Monckton took the matter up with a high hand, supported by the indignation of the whole service; and Barrington, ovenvhelmed with confusion, made an awkward apology.^ Barrinffton, however, is responsible only for his His subser- ° ' ' ^ _ '' viency to the own awkwardness. He did not intend to put an King: afi'ront upon any of the distinguished generals who were eligible for the chief command. The real difficulty was supposed to exist in the highest quarter. The King was unwilling to give up the innnediate control of the army. It has been said, and the statement is not improbable, that he con- templated the possibility of resorting to military force in defence of his prerogative. He had told Conway that he Avould draw the sword or abdicate, ' Lord Barrington to Ear] Waldegrave— Rockingham Corr. vol. ii. 490 PROSECUTION OF THE PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS 1770 Ch. 12. rather than yield to the petitions for a dissolution of Parliament. Barrington, who had no will but that of his sovereign/" would hardly have thought it his duty to recommend any person for the office of Commander-in-chief, if it was His Majesty's pleasure that it should remain vacant; and he accidentally gave offence in attempting his escape from an inconvenient question by an awkward pleasantry. The other business transacted in both Houses during the remainder of this short session, was for the most part of a very unprofitable nature. The printers and publishers of Junius's letter to the King had been prosecuted for libel. These indict- ments were tried before Lord Mansfield in the usual course. In the case against the printer of the news- paper in which the libel first appeared, he directed the jury to confine their enquiry to the fact of pub- lication and the truth of the innuendoes, that is, the suggestions in the indictment putting a libellous construction upon the several passages of the letter, and applying them to the King. The jury, how- ever, determined not to give a triumph to the Court, returned their verdict 'guilty' of publishing only^' thereby implying that the paper was not a libel; and as it was doubtful how judgment should be re- corded on such a finding, the Court of King's Bench ordered a new trial. But as the crown lawyers had little hope of getting a better verdict against the "" See Addenda K, p. 509. OF JUxNIUS'S LETTER TO THE KING. 491 publisher of Junius, the prosecution was suffered Ch. 12. to drop. Miller, a printer who had re- issued the ~ letter to the King-, and in point of law had incurred the same guilt as the original publisher, was ac- quitted. The only conviction obtained, was in the case of Almon, a bookseller who had sold the libel in the way of his trade. It so happened that the particular paper which was the subject of the indictment had been purchased not from the hands of the defendant himself, but from those of his shopman; and a question was therefore made, whether a man could be criminally liable for the act of his servant. The rule of law certainly is, that no person can be responsible for a crime committed through the free agency of another. But this rule was never with- out exception. For example, a man is in many cases liable for an offence committed by the hands of his wife ; and the woman is acquitted on the pre- sumption that she acted under her husband's in- fluence and authority. If the general rule were to be applied to the charge of publication in the case of a libel, it is obvious that every printed libel might be circulated with impunity; but the judges never allowed the law to be reduced to a practical ab- surdity ; and long before the case of the King and Almon, it had been ruled" that when a libel is sold in a bookseller's shop, the bookseller shall be re- sponsible, unless he can prove that it was sold ^ Bacon's Abridgment, Libel. B. 2. 1770 49 2 CONDUCT OF LORD MANSFIELD. Ch. 12. without his knowledge or authority. Lord Mans- field, therefore, acted in accordance with precedent as well as common sense in directing the jury that there was sufficient evide-nce to convict the defend- ant; and the Court of King's Bench confirmed the law as laid down by the Chief Justice. Interference of Yet the conduct of Lord Mansfield in respect to these trials, or more correctly the decision of the Court of King's Bench — for the ruling at Nisi Prius was merged in the adjudication in banc — became a subject of question in both Houses of Parliament ; and lawyers of eminence were found not only to dispute the judgments of the King's Bench delivered after solemn argument, but to enter into the discussion, as if the law laid down on one side of Westminster Hall was a fit subject for re- view on the other. Independence It Can hardly need demonstration, however, that such a practice is not only most inconvenient, but incompatible with that independence on the part of the judges which it had been the wise and patriotic object of recent legislation to secure. The statutes of William and of His present Majesty had indeed deprived the Crown of all control over the judges, but had virtually transferred that control to the Parliament, since on the joint address of both Houses, a judge was still removeable. And if judi- cial decisions were to be subjected to the censure of Parliament, then were the judges still dependent; only they were to be intimidated by faction, instead of being intimidated by the Court. of the judges. I770 Kesponsihility LORD CHATHAM'S ANIMADVERSION ON IT. 4^3 Such certainly was not the spirit or intention of ch. 12. those righteous laws. If a judge is partial or cor- rupt, it is right that there should be a power of dismissing him; and that power is properly reserved of the judges, to the Crown at the instance of the responsible Council of the nation. But the power so vested should be exercised with the utmost caution ; and { venture to say, it is abused whenever Parliament takes upon itself to discuss the conduct of a judge upon any other pretence than that of a motion for his dismissal. If they except to the law as laid down by a judge or a court of justice, they have the remedy in their own hands ; they can alter or declare the law; but they can have no right to at- tempt that object by the intimidation of its sworn ministers. Chatham, who was never more scrupulous than Chatham and other leaders of opposition in the choice of his offensive Aveapons, took the occasion of a motion on the Middlesex election which he had himself introduced, to comment with his usual force of lan2:uao:e on what he had been instructed to call the modern doctrine laid down by the Chief Justice. But the eloquence and authority of Chatham, with- out knowledge of the subject on which he declaimed, could avail little in that assembly in which Mans- field spoke with equal eloquence, equal authority and consummate learning. The great Chief Justice replied with a well sustained assumption of superi- ority. He respected the abilities of his accuser, he said, in other matters; but on this point he was 494 MANSFIELD'S REPLY TO CHATHAM. Ch. 1 2. entirely destitute of information ; so mucli so indeed, ~ that, were it not for misconstruction, it would hardly 1770 ' ' J be worth while to distinguish his statement by a reply. He proceeded to shew that the directions lately given to juries were the same that they had ever been — the same that he had himself given during the fourteen years that he had held the first place in the administration of the common law. He then went into the particulars of the case, and quoted the authorities and arguments bearing upon it, a detail not out of place in the House of Lords, accustomed, as the court of appeal in the last resort, to the highest order of legal argumentation. After having thus completely disposed of the charge which had been so rashly made against him, he concluded by rallying his old antagonist on an assertion, which, in his ignorance of the elementary principles of the common law, he had ventured — that an ac- tion would lie against the House of Commons for expelling Wilkes. Lord Camden. I havc already had occasion to expose the extra- vagance — the unprincipled extravagance of asser- tion to whicli Lord Camden could resort for a momentary advantage in debate ; still it was hardly to be expected that he would have the audacity to rise in his place, and defend the nonsensical oj^inion which Chatham, either in loose declamation, or ar- guing from the bare theory of the law, that there is no right without a remedy, had hastily thrown out. Yet this great legal dignity, who had himself been a Chief Justice, ventured to tell the House of CAMDEN'S DEFENCE OF CHATHAM'S DOCTRINE. 495 Lords, that there was no such ignorance in main- Ch. 12. taining 'that an action for damages would lie ~ against the House of Commons for disfranchising the county of Middlesex.' He did not, indeed, venture to maintain such a position in terms; but he reasoned upon it as if he thought it was not altogether untenable. To refute Lord Mans- field's elaborate vindication of his judgment in the case of the printers, was not so easy, and he therefore reserved his opinion upon that head, until an authentic version of the judgment, if such was to be obtained, should be laid before the House. The charge of the Chief Justice, and the whole of the proceedings could easily have been obtained, if Lord Camden had thought proper to move for them. This motion he omitted to make. Lord Mansfield, however, took the hint, and left umvorthypro- ., ' ^ ^ ^ ^ p ^.^ ceeding in the a copy of the judgment with the clerk 01 the Lords. House. This was a very irregular and not a very dignified proceeding. If the Chief Justice thought it worth his while to make a more formal vindication of his conduct, he should himself have challenged inquiry by moving for a copy of the judgment. It would have been more becoming his dignity and reputation, however, to have let the matter pass. The course which he took shewed a want of moral courage, and gave an advantage to his disingenuous opponent, who did not fail to profit by it. Lord Camden, having taken a day to examine the paper, boldly contradicted the law which it laid down, 1770 496 DUNNING AND WEDDERBURN. Ch. 12. and came down with a series of questions artfully- prepared for the purpose of confounding the Chief Justice. He partly succeeded in this unworthy- object. Mansfield being assailed at once, and with very little fairness or decency, by Camden, Chatham, and other members of the Opposition, faltered, contradicted himself, and sat down in evident distress. It was a scene which did no credit to any of the parties concerned. Debate in the The Commons entered into long debates on the same subject. Serjeant Glynn, the popular member for Middlesex, moved for a Committee of Inquiry into the administration of justice in Westminster Hall, especially with reference to the liberty of the press. The House of Commons, that evening, re- sembled a court of common law in term, when a rule for a new trial is argued by two or three counsel on either side. Dunning and Wedderburn supported the motion with great ability indeed, but which would have found a more appropriate theatre for its display on the other side of West- minster Hall. The Attorney and Solicitor General, on the other hand, supported the doctrine of the judges, and clearly shewed that this doctrine was no innovation, but founded on a series of precedents from the earliest times. Dunning contended that these precedents originated in arbitrary and corrupt times — with Queen Elizabeth's judges, with Scroggs and Jeifreys ; and that the sages of the law were not then unanimous upon the subject. After citing and discussing cases at great length, he proceeded DUNNING'S CHARGE AGAINST MANSFIELD. 497 1770 to insinuate a graver charge against the great judge Ch. 1 2. who presided at Ahnon's trial. He said that the defendant had been prepared to rebut the prima facie proof of notice establislied by the fact that the alleged libel was sold from his shop, but that some intimation from the bench having given the counsel to understand that there was no evidence against their client, they had thought it needless to call his witnesses ; upon which Lord Mansfield told the jury that as the defendant had not contradicted the presumptive case made out on the part of the crown, it must be taken as conclusive. If it had been true that Lord Mansfield obtained the verdict by such a trick, the strong language of Dunning would have been amply deserved; nay, more, it would have been a sufficient ground for an address to the crown in pursuance of the statute of William. ' His management,' said Dunning, 'was much supe- rior to that of the judges he had cited (Scroggs and Jeffreys, among others of the same class); whatever their doctrines were, they declared them from the beginning, and throughout the trial; they did not, by skulking and concealment, filch a con- viction from the jury, but committed a bold robbery on justice, looking in the faces of the laws and the defendant.' ° But Dunning's statement is neither borne out by the report of the trial, nor was it corroborated by Glynn, who defended Almon, or by any other la-\vyer who took jiart in the debate. ° Parliamentary History, vol. xvi. VOL. I. K K 498 MODERATION OF WEDDERBURN. 1770 Ch. 1 2 Counsel, who have exercised a mistaken discretion in the conduct of their case, especially with refer- ence to the perplexing question of calling or omit- ting to call evidence, are sometimes apt to believe, or to persuade their clients, that they have been misled by the presiding judge. Even supposing Mansfield to have been capable of such iniquity as he is here charged with, he would hardly have ventured upon a trick as palpable as it would have been infamous. But I fear that Dunning was capable, for party purposes, of making a scan- dalous assertion upon light and insufficient grounds. He was the intimate friend of Camden, whose party spirit and personal animosity against Mansfield had always been allowed too much license. He had lately been flattered by Chatham, who previously had taken no notice of him. It must be remem- bered, moreover, that Dunning, who now so loudly denounced precedents drawn from arbitrary times, had himself a few months before, being the Solicitor General, defended the arbitrary proposal of the Duke of Bedford to revive a statute of Henry the Eighth, for the purpose of depriving the colonists of trial by jury. Speech of _^ Wcddcrburn, Avho followed Dunning, was much more measured in his language. He spoke of Mansfield with respect, and gave up the Avhole question by admitting that the judges had acted in accordance with the weight of precedent. He only maintained that in a criminal prosecution for libel, the jury should return a general verdict of guilty Wedderburn. INDIFFERENCE OF THE MINISTERS. 499 or not guilty, and not be restricted in their inquiry Ch. 12. merely to the fact of publication. To this every J L J 1770 friend of liberty and constitutional right readily assented; and such is now happily, by an act of the legislature, the state of the law.i' Burke and other eminent laymen took a part in this debate, but as they could not speak with any authority upon a question which was properly one of mere law, it dwindled in their hands into an ordinary party motion. And such, in reality, it was.^ The motion was negatived by a large majority; as was, also, one made on a previous day by Mr. Constantino Phipps for depriving the Attorney-General of the power of exhibiting informations ex-officio in the Court of King's Bench. The government cared little for these attacks on Conduct of the the administration of justice; they refrained as much as possible from stirring the old grievance of the Middlesex election, and were content to leave the defence of the judges in the competent hands of Lord Mansfield and the other law officers of the crown. They saw that Lord Chatham was sup- ported in these violent proceedings only by his own immediate friends, and the clamours of the Middlesex and city parties out of doors; and to encounter these^ they could rely with certainty on a large majority in Parliament. But the energetic efforts of the Opposition on the subject of the war P The Libel Act, 32 Geo. III. c. 60. 1 See Addenda L, p. 509. K K 2 500 CLAMOUR AGAINST CHATHAM. Ch. 12. which was then supposed to be inevitable were ~ regarded by the ministry with serious alarm. On this question every section of the Opposition was united. The orthodox Whigs, of whom the Marquis of Rockingham was now the acknowledged chief, were as earnest as the 'Bill of Rights' men'; and neither could for a moment dispute the undoubted right of Chatham to take the lead when the honour of England was to be vindicated. It was certain, that if England was again to declare war against the allied House of Bourbon, the minister of 1756 must have the direction of that war. No court intrigue, no secret influence, no amount of parlia- mentary corruption, could in that event avert the ascendancy of Chatham. His very name in the ministry would prevent a war,^' or if war was inevitable, would secure a successful and a glorious result. Extraordinary The disputc witli Spain had already been twice Lords. the subject of debate during this short session in either House of Parliament. Chatham, on those occasions, had exhorted the government, in his most solemn tones, to prepare for war f and, casting aside with contempt 'the petty policy of conceal- ment,' had, with a knowledge and an authority which belonged only to himself, exposed the de- fenceless position and the vulnerable parts of the empire. Both Houses appear, however, to have >■ See Addenda M, p. 510. " Chatham Corr. vol. iv. p. i. Speech in House of Lords. THE HOUSE CLEARED. 50 1 treated the matter with remarkable apathy until a Ch. 12. few days before the Christmas recess, when, upon ~^ a motion of the Duke of Manchester for accelerat- ing the preparations for war, an extraordinary scene took place. While the Duke was in the middle of his speech, censuring the inactivity of the administration. Lord Gower, the President of the Council, interrupted him with a motion that the standing order for the exclusion of strangers should be read. A shout of ' Clear the House ! ' was immediately raised; two court lords, March- mont and Denbigh, being conspicuous in their vociferations. Chatham, having in vain endea- voured to obtain a hearing, withdrew in high indignation, accompanied by eighteen other peers, sixteen of whom subsequently recorded a protest, in which, after describing the proceeding as a ' tumult in which every idea of parliamentary dignity, the right of free debate, and all pretence to reason and argument were lost and annihilated,' they went so far as to assert that it was ' preme- ditated and prepared for no other purpose than to preclude inquiry on the part of the Lords ; and, under colour of concealing secrets of state, to hide from the public eye the unjustifiable and criminal neglects of the ministry, in not making sufficient and timely provision for the public honour and security.' In consequence of Gower's motion, the members Excitement of 1 . tl**^ Commons. of the House of Commons who were present were required to withdraw, and some lords actually went 502 EXCITEMENT IN THE COMMONS. 1770 Ch. 12. to the bar for the purpose of enforcing this order. In vain did some of the members represent that they were there in the discharge of their duty, being charged to carry up a bill. They were turned out with the rest ; re-admitted to go through the form of delivering the bill, and, hav- ing performed that ceremony, were actually hooted out of the House. The members returned to their own House, boiling with indignation, and complained of the insult which they had received. The Commons, in a fury, immediately retaliated by enforcing their own order against strangers ; and it happened, ridiculously, that the first persons turned out were the sixteen peers, with the Duke of Man- chester and the Marquis of Rockingham at their head, Avho, a few minutes before, had quitted their own Chamber, to mark their disapprobation of the proceeding. The Commons, laying aside all other business, could talk of nothing but avenging the insult they had received. Several motions were made. Speeches, incoherent with rage, were uttered. Colonel Barre gave a ludicrous account of the scene in the Lords, and even held up the personal peculiarities of Marchmont and Denbigh, the chief actors in it, to the derision of his excited audience. One member reflected in contemptuous terms on the low and corrupt origin of many of the peers. Others used still coarser terms of abuse. The equanimity of the Chair even was disturbed. The Speaker having occasion, in one of the debates, to rebuke the impatience of the House, reproached BURKE'S COMPLIMENT TO CHATHAM. 503 them with being as unmannerly and disorderly as Ch. 1 2. the House of Lords ! The more moderate members, ~^ who preserved a command of their tempers, were nevertheless sufficiently pointed in their remarks. Sir Gilbert Elliott observed, that if the Lords could not conduct themselves like gentlemen, the Com- mons should shew them a better example. And Lord North, whose good humour was seldom ruffled, though he tried to allay the irritation, was evidently vexed at the petulant folly which had provoked such a conflict. Mr. Jeremiah Dyson, the busy and servile agent of the court, and well known to be such, did what he could to aggravate the quarrel, by defending the conduct of the Lords. The only redeeming incident of this wretched affair was, that it afforded occasion to one man of genius to pay a graceful and noble compliment to another. Burke, amono; others, expressed his indignation at Burke's opi- ' ° ' ^ ° . niou of Chat- being excluded from the Upper House ; but his re- ham. gret, he said, was chiefly because he was thus deprived of the instruction which he derived from the wisdom and eloquence of Chatham. ' I desire,' said he, ' to learn the opinions of that great person who, at a moment of national humiliation when the country lay prostrate, was considered by great and by small to have some political knowledge. Though not a member of the cabinet, he seems to have the key of it, and to possess the capacity of informing and instructing us in all things.' * ' Cavendish Debates, vol. ii. 504 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LORDS AND COMMONS. Ch. 12. The compliment was the more happy, as there jIIq had never been any personal cordiality between Chatham and Burke. The Commons, when the first heat had subsided, relaxed their order against the admission of strangers ; but the Lords were so ill advised as to persevere, and their doors remained closed during the whole session. The immediate consequence was, that the usual interchange of courtesy between the two Houses was suspended. >The Lords treated the members of the Lower House, when they came up on business, with no more respect than ordinary messengers; and the Commons, when they brought up bills, instead of making the usual obeisances, walked erect up to the bar, and having delivered their bills, with a single bow to the lord who came from the woolsack to receive them, retired, with the same omission of ceremony. The ultimate result of this quarrel was, as we shall presently see, the most important political event that had taken place since the Revolution — the regular publication, namely, of the debates and proceedings of Parlia- ment. Electoral Bcforc this sliort session closed, a "flagrant case corniiJtion at „ , , shorcham. 01 electoral corruption was brought under the notice of the House of Commons. A petition was presented complaining of an undue return for the borough of Shoreham, The returning officer, en- couraged, I suppose, by the example of the House of Commons itself, had taken upon him to set aside the candidate who })ollcd the large majority ELECTORAL CORRUPTION AT SHOREHAM. 505 1770 of votes, and to declare duly elected the candidate ch. 12. who had obtained less than half as many. The former petitioned ; and upon the inquiry, it came out that the election for Shoreham was managed by an association called the Christian Club, which, under the pretext of being concerned in works of charity, had organised a system of bribery, and regularly sold the borough to the highest bidder. The members of this association were bound by an oath of secresy, and by bond in the penalty of £500 to adhere to their corrupt combination. A committee of management negotiated with the candidate, and whenever business was to be transacted which required the presence of the whole body, they were convened by a flag signal. The returning officer had, at one time been a member of this Society, but, influenced by some qualms of conscience, or by apprehension of danger from such proceedings, had requested leave to secede, and, long before becoming returning officer, had ceased to attend its meetings. These facts were proved before the election committee, and were afterwards stated at the bar of the House by the officer in extenuation of his conduct ; and his reason for passing over Rum- bold, the candidate highest on the poll, was that he had been informed on affidavit, of the truth of which he was assured from his own knowledge of the Christian Club, that Rumbold had purchased his votes for E^S each. The officer had, no doubt, exceeded his duty in trying the question of bribery. 5o6 SHOREHAM ELECTION CASE, Ch. 12. but as he appeared to have acted without a corrupt ~^ motive, he was dismissed with a reprimand. Operation of The Shoreham election was the first case tried VI e s ac . 1^^ ^ committee constituted under Grenville's act of the former session. The treasury and court agents, wishing to discredit a measure calculated to interfere so materially with their secret manage- ment of elections, had sought, in this instance, at once to impede its operation, and to secure the seat which by decision of the returning officer was held by their nominee. The act seemed to provide only for two parties to an election petition — the sitting member and the defeated candidate. Dyson, the agent of the court, with the skill of the pettifogger, caused a petition to be presented on behalf of a third candidate who (being probably the honest and independent candidate) only polled four votes. Thus there were three parties before the committee ; it was objected, consequently that they had no jurisdiction under Grenville's act. And as that act had abolished the jurisdiction of the House in such matters, the result was that the sitting mem- ber must be declared duly elected.'' This inge- nious argument having been overruled, the sitting member made no attempt to impugn Rumbold's claim on the ground of bribery, but at once retired. " Gerard Hamilton to Calcraft. — Chatham Corr. vol. iv. p. 59, note. ADDENDA TO CHAP. XII. (A. p. 468.) Burke, in his letters to Lord Rockingham — Burke's opi- and he writes, too, evidently to please his patron — rails at the of-Rights'- ^Bill-of-Rights'-people,' their violence, rashness, and vricked- people.' ness, calls them villains, traitors, and so forth. Yet these people, as I have before shewn, had said no more than great Whiffs had said, and had done no more than had been done with the approbation of the Whig party. But it was one thing, it seemed, for the county of York to petition under the auspices of the Marquis of Rockingham, and another for the county of Middlesex to petition under the direction of Alderman Sawbridge or Sergeant Glynn. (B. p. 470.) ' Mr. JMaltby says that Home Tooke told Beckford's him, ' that he with others was waiting at the Mansion House ^? jjoj-n" when Bcckford returned from St. James's — that he was Tooke. asked what he had said? and his answer was that he was so flurried, that he could not remember any part of it. ' But,' said Home Tooke, ' it is necessary that a speech should be given to the public,' and accordingly he went into a room and wrote the one which was attributed to Beckford.' Mr. Maltby said that Home Tooke invariably mentioned the speech as his composition; and that some years since he [Maltby] had a request from the Corporation of the city to give them some information on the point.' — Note, Corres- pondence of Gray and Mason. (C. p. 472.) 'Sir, the Parliament of England is in all Grenville's cases supreme ; I know no other law ; I know no other rule.' parliament. — Speech on Repeal of Townshend's Act, March ^, ^77'^- — Cavendish Debates. (D. p. 474.) Diary, Grenville Papers, vol. i. There is Grenvillc not no ground for supposing that he ever descended to the bribery. 5o8 ADDENDA TO CHAP. XII. Grenville's economy. Duke of Bed- ford hooted. Madame Du Barri related to Banymore. Clioiseul's opinion of Weymouth. grossness of direct money bribes. What he meant was, that he desired to have the dispensation of patronage; but as Grenville was not privy to the Court plan of secret influence, the disposal of places and of the secret service fund could not be entrusted to his hands. (E. p. 474.) I have already mentioned his refusal of the King's request to purchase a plot of ground overlooking the gardens of Buckingham House, and which might have been obtained for .€20,000. Grosvenor Place is now built upon this site. He was equally strict with regard to petty pecu- lation, or waste and extravagance in expenditure. (F. p. 476.) Prior to the Duke of Bedford's departure for his embassy he was hooted by the mob, and as he was getting into the boat at Brighton that was to carry him to the packet, some one in the crowd called out, 'It is not the first time he has turned his back on old England.' — Rock- ingham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 30. (G. p. 484.) It was required by the rigour of Court eti- quette, that the French mistress should be a married woman. A husband was therefore found for the new favourite (who happened to be a common courtesan) in the person of the Count du Barri, who claimed relationship with Lord Barry more. (H. p. 485.) Choiseul said to Walpole, the Secretary of the English embassy at Paris, 'Your minister does not want to make war, and does not know how to make peace.' — Walpole's History of George the Third, vol.iv. Chatham re- (f-P'4^7-) ' There is also, I perceive, reason to fear a bukes the City, y.^^^ ^f frivolous and ill placed popularity about Press War- rants. I am determined to resist this ill judged attempt to shake the public safety. . . As to what the city now intends to do, I wish to hear nothing of it; resolved to applaud and defend what I think right, and to disapprove what shall appear to me wrong and untenable. All the rest is to me nothing.' — Correspondence, vol. iii, p. 485. — lie spoke to the same efTect in the Lords on the first day of the session. ADDENDA TO CHAP. XII. rQQ (K. p. 490.) Lord Barrington was merely the mouth- Lord Ban-ing- piece of the Kiiiff. ' Tlic King has lono- known,' said he, *""u ^5.^'^^'"'^ '■ ° <=>_ o _ _ ' to the King. ' that I am entirely devoted to him , having no political con- nection with any man, being determined never to form one, and conceiving that, in this age, the country and its consti- tution are best served by an unbiassed attachment to the Crown.' In thanking the soldiers who dispersed the rioters in St. George's Fields, in moving the Militia Bill, in moving the expulsion of Wilkes, in opposing Lord North's concessions to the Colonies, in keeping open the office of Commander- in-Chief, Lord Barrington, there is every reason to believe, acted under the King's express instructions. His whole official life, in fact, — which was nearly his political life — was a mere reflection of the royal will and pleasure. It is only on this account that it is worth while to commemorate his conduct and opinions. (L. p.499.) The Rockingham party abstained from any Eockingham's participation in these attacks upon the independence of the *^1','"'"^ ^J ^'^^ f ^ ^ \ ^ debate between judges. Lord Rockingham writes thus to Mr. Dowdeswell Camden and on the subject, — ' I early thought that the mode of proceed- ^^^ ^ ' ing in the House of Lords by debates, queries, questions, etc., between Lord Camden and Lord Mansfield, would ul- timately end in nothing advantageous to the public. . . . . ' However disagreeable these doctrines may be, yet if it must be acknowledged that they can be defended by the opinions of the generality of the present judges, upon the old authorities from good constitutional lawyers, I can- not think that it would be honourable or just to suffer our- selves to be led away in order to gratify personal animosi- ties, instead of doing what may effectually secure the public from receiving in future great injury from the impressions the doctrines may make.' — Rockingham to Doivdeswell, nth Feb. 1 77 1. — Rockingham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 260. The popular clamour was referred to by Dunning as Dunning's an apology for bringing it before the House of Commons. Ji^aiJfield. Lord Mansfield was stigmatised as a Scroggs or a Jeffreys. 5IO ADDENDA TO CHAP. XII. One story was, that after the trial of Woodfall, the Chief Justice had taken the jury home with him, and treated them, for the purpose of inducing them to return a cor- rupt verdict; the fact being, that Lord Mansfield, finding the jury were not agreed, adjourned the court to his house, in the usual way, to aiFord them time to deliberate. Nothing but the grossest ignorance and prejudice could have put such a construction upon so notorious a practice. Yet the posthumous malignity of Walpole has sought to perpetuate this idle and scandalous fiction. — History of George the Third, vol. iv. p.i59- With regard to the charge of disingenuousness or treachery on the part of Mansfield in the trial of Almon, there was clearly no foundation for it. The counsel for the defendant could easily have ascertained the opinion of the coiirt by submitting, at the close of the case for the prosecu- tion, that there was no evidence to go to the jury. And if the judge had ruled that there was evidence, the counsel would have at once understood that he had to dispose at least of 2i prima facie case- But Serjeant Glynn wanted the Chief Justice to advise him as to the expediency of calling witnesses, which, of course. Lord Mansfield declined doing. — See Keport of the Trial : Howell's State Trials. Single-Speech (M. p. 500.) Gerard Hamilton (Single-Speech) one of the most acute observers of the time, and no partisan of Chatham's thus writes to Calcraft: — " The best solution for all this difficulty will be to send for Lord Chatham. I look upon myself to be a moderate man ; and yet there is nothing of which I am persuaded more, thaii that his very name in the ministry would bring Spain to what is required, and, if well managed, would prevent a war.' — Chatham Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 26. Hamilton. CHAPTER XIII. PARTIES — THE CONSTITUTION, ITS THEORY AND TRACTICE LOYALTY — POLITICAL ADVENTURERS — NEWSPAPERS AND PAMPHLETS — PARLIAMENT^ARY ELOQUENCE — MANNERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — DECAY OF PARTY, T PROPOSE in this Chapter to attempt a sketch Ch. 13. of the different political parties and their 1760-70 auxiliaries, and of the Parliament in which their Sketch of conflicts were carried on, during the period to which the earlier part of this history refers. The 2;eneric divisions of Whio; and Tory had whigs and ^ 1 . 1 Tories. undergone a great change since the commencement of the century. The distinction between Whigs and Patriots — that is, Whigs in office and Whigs in opposition, no longer existed. But the party was still disunited, not by any principle of policy, but by a low and sordid rivalry for office, emolu- ments, and patronage. The Tories were freed from the Jacobite heresy which had so long reduced their distinctive doctrine to a mere specu- lative tenet. The anomalous faction of the Heir Apparent was extinct. It was the fashion at 512 THE MODERATE PARTY. Ch. 13. Court, during the earlier years of the reign of ~7 George the Third, to say that the distinctions of party had vanished, and that Whig and Tory were obsolete terms. It is true, that many men of moderate opinions approximated so closely, though starting perhaps from opposite points, that there was no essential difference between them. But men of this mild political temperament have always been numerous, though they necessarily occupy a less prominent place in history than those who mingle in the bitter strife of faction. Still such politicians have occasionally been forced by circum- stances into a conspicuous position. Falkland and Temple, Halifax and Nottingham, Walpole and Waidegrave, were statesmen who modified their opinions according to the exigencies of the times. They thought that political principles were not like the laws of an exact science, fixed and invaria- ble ; but that they were afiected by the unceasing revolution of human affairs, and by accidents, against which no human prescience could provide. Such men, who prefer expediency to principle, are commonly described as trimmers and traitors by those who extol consistency as the greatest of political virtues. But in truth, this anomalous class of politicians, which it is the policy of party to denounce, comprises almost every statesman whose genius or virtue has conferred permanent benefits on mankind. The bigot who sacrifices everything to his tenet; the faithful disciple of traditionary dogmas; the sordid camp-follower of PROSPECTS OF INTERNAL DISSENSION. r,o party — may vaunt their mean and shallow con- (h. 13. sistency; but in many more instances has it ~^ hap[)ened that great states have been ruined by an infatuated adherence to obsolete maxims and mis- chievous prejudices, than by rash innovations or premature changes in policy. The manners of the present age, humanised by Extiiution of knowledge and by the increased facilities of social ' '" ^' intercourse, are obviously favourable to the mitiga- tion of political asperity ; but this very age, in which party is said to be extinct, has witnessed the most cruel struggles in which parties have ever been en- gaged. The great conflict of religious freedom; 1829-32 the still sharper contest for electoral rights, were transactions in which the leading statesmen of to- "MS"^ day took a prominent part; while the greatest war of all, the war between the commercial and the territorial powers, in which Catholic principles fought with ancient privileges, has only just been 1846-52 terminated. Peace may continue for a time, but no great political discernment is required to point out many questions which may yet give rise to conflicts as furious as any that have hitherto raged between the party of progress and the party of conservation. The distinction between Whig and Tory was not Court wiiigs more sharply defined during the greater part ofwiiigs. the eighteenth century than it is at present. So early as the reign of George the First, two classes of Whigs were recognised, the Court Whigs and VOL. I. L L 5H WHIGS AND TOKIES IN 1760. 1760-70 Ch. 13. the Country Whigs f and little or no difference could be discovered between the latter and those Tories who cordially assented to the settlement of 1688. The Tory who admitted the vahdity of a parliamentary title to the Crown went nearly the whole length of Whig doctrine in 17 10. His loyalty perhaps was of a purer and warmer cha- racter than that of the Whig; and his reverence for the Church was certainly greater. But both Whig and Tory were agreed in the main principle of upholding monarchical and episcopal government. Both assented to the important doctrine that the ministers of the Cro^vn were responsible to Parlia- ment ; but the one held that the Sovereign had the right to choose his own confidential advisers ; while the other thought they should be nominated by the Whig aristocracy. The moderate Tory was a friend to toleration; but he could not go the length of believing that the concession of political power to the Dissenters would be compatible with the due ascendancy of the church. These seem to have been really the degrees of difference between the two parties; the other differences which, from time to time, arose, being merely occasional, or invented for party purposes. Disadvantages Philosophers and statesmen, contrasting the oi puny? turbulence and distraction of popular councils with the domestic tranquillity and the unity of action * Lady M. Wortley Montagu's Correspondence, vol. i. p. 96 Lord Wharuclifle's edition. THE DANGERS OF FREE INSTITUTIONS. 5'S which belong to absolute Government, have some- Ch. 13. times been disposed to give a preference to the -/J~- latter. Without touching upon an argument so extensive and unprofitable as this, it must be ad- mitted that party spirit, which is peculiar to free institutions, has too often a tendency not only to impair the vigour of Government, but to bring those institutions themselves into disrepute. So long as the conflict of party is about great princi- ples, the political atmosphere is purified, and public opinion undergoes a wholesome ventilation by the storm. But when important questions are settled, or cease to be contested, parties are then apt to dwindle into factions, intent only upon selfish and sordid objects. This is the time of peril for free institutions. The people, either themselves infected by the corruption of their rulers, or disgusted by it, hardly think their liberties worth a struggle, or perhaps willingly submit to the authority of an ambitious prince, or even a daring adventurer. History can shew examples, both from ancient and modern times, of nations which have lost their liberties, when party, its public spirit evaporated, had sunk to the dregs of faction ; and this would seem to be the danger with which free constitutions are menaced at the time, when every vexed ques- tion being settled, tranquillity and concord prevail throughout the legislature and the Government. The constitution has been always appealed to by Party appeals the orators and writers of party in support of their tution. particular tenets and opinions ; and it is a common L L 2 5i6 THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION 1760-70 Ch. 13. practice, at this day, to speak of a thing as con- stitutional or otherwise, as if there were an express law by "which the point could be determined. But in truth, it seldom happens that there is any such law ; and, even in respect of certain cardinal maxims which are supposed to be well defined, doubts and difficulties have arisen. I need mention only one, the very elementary principle of the constitution, that the people cannot be taxed but by the consent of their representatives in Parliament. During ten years of the reign of George the Third, that question was debated with reference to the claims of one class of the subjects of the realm, and was at last decided by an appeal to arms. The trial by jury, the Habeas Corpus, the act which provides for the regular session of Parliament, the exclusive power of the Commons in the matter of supply, the Appropriation Acts, the annual Mutiny Bill, — these, indeed, constitute a complete system of liberty, but leave ample room for difference of opinion upon minor points of great importance. The theory and practice of the constitution again are essentially at variance with each other; if the theory were carried out, the government of this nation, instead of being the purest and best, would become one of the most corrupt and degrading tyrannies by which the world has ever been op- pressed. For what is the strict law of our boasted constitution ? The sovereign can do no wrong ; he is absolute, irresponsible ; he can make war and peace of his own will; he can appoint and dismiss IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE. 517 all his principal ministers, both civil and military, Ch 13. tosrether Avith most of the subordinate public ser- 7~ . . 1760-70 vants, at his pleasure. He can impose an absolute veto upon any law which the other two branches of the legislature have passed never so often. He can dissolve Parliament whenever he will. He can at any time command a majority in one House of Parliament by the creation of legislators, either for life, or with hereditary succession. He has the direct nomination of one class, the lords spiritual of that assembly. These are the unquestioned privileges and prerogatives of the Crown, and make the Sovereign of Great Britain, on paper at least, equal in power with the most absolute monarch in Europe. The House of Lords ranks next in dignity as Privileges of well as in authority to the Crown. But the peers of England, in Parliament assembled, are respon- sible neither to the crown nor to the people. They sit, for the most part, by hereditary right ; they constitute not only an independent branch of the legislature, but the supreme court of Justice in the kingdom. A peer of the realm, therefore, is com- petent, without the least knowledge, or with no more than bare understanding, both to make laws, and to interpret existing laws on appeal from all the judges of England. When we come to the House of Commons, they The Houcc of appear to be the weakest and most dependent in authority, as well as the lowest in order. They must accommodate their measures to the taste and 5i8 THE HOUSE OF COMMONS Ch.13. interest of the aristocracy as well as the crown. 7^ o '^^^^y ^^^ under the constant apprehension of giv- ing offence to the sovereign, and consequently of being harassed and impoverished by frequent re- missions to their constituents. Obnoxious candi- dates are met at the hustings by the nominees of the court, armed with all the advantages which the influence and protection of the court alone can confer. A large proportion of seats must neces- sarily be under the immediate control of the terri- torial aristocracy. The people themselves have numerically but a small share in the choice of their representatives. Under such conditions, it would seem hardly possible that there could be much in- dependence or vigour in the House of Commons. Power of the Such, then, is the theory of the constitution; Cuiiimons. and such are the inferences fairly and reasonably deduced from that theory. But what are the facts? Nearly the reverse of this speculation. The House of Commons, instead of being the weakest estate, is comparatively by far the most powerful, after making every abatement for the foreign influences by which its purely democratic character is modi- fied and corrupted. The popular branch of the legislature being then supreme, it necessarily follows that the powers and privileges which the constitu- tion assigns to the other great estates of the realm can practically exist only so far as they are com- patible with the sovereign authority of the third estate. Thus it is that the veto has become a dead letter; and the legislative power of the crown is IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE. ^ 1 9 roduced to a mere formality. Nor is its executive Ch. 13. power much more substantial. The King can, in- 7" deed, declare war ; but he can do no more, while the Commons retain the exclusive control of the means by which war is carried on. He can create peers and turn the scale of the House of Lords ; but this dangerous prerogative has been exercised but once since the Revolution ; and was almost forgotten, when the people, enraged at the contumacy of the peers in 1832, called for its revival. He may still dissolve the Parliament at his pleasure, but only for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the nation ; any attempt to use this prerogative vexatiously would be attended with serious consequences. The nomination of the great ministers of state rests with the Crown, but is practically subject to the approval of the House of Commons; and the ap- pointment to minor offices rests with those minis- ters. The King, however, is irresponsible ; ac- cording to the decent maxim of the constitution, he can do no wrong : but he purchases this im- munity by the sacrifice almost of the power to offi^nd. A peer of the realm is, in fact, more removed from responsibility than the sovereign. He can speak and vote in Parliament without any fear for his peerage ; and his conduct as a public man is regulated only by his own sense of what is right, and his regard for public opinion. Yet what a single peer is comparatively free to do, the body of the peerage dare not attempt. If they were really ^20 PRESENT AND FORMER Ch. 13. irresponsible and independent^ all the other orders 1760"- 70 ^^^^ b^ dependent on them, and the government would thus become an aristocracy. But the fact again is, in opposition to the theory, that the House of Lords is a far less independent body than that great co-ordinate legislature which owes an imme- diate responsibility to its constituents. Some por- tion of the veto which the crown has lost has de- volved upon the second estate; thus the province of the Lords is rather to revise the legislation of the Commons than itself to initiate laws. And, in so doing, they fulfil not the least important and honourable office in the constitution. In their judicial capacity, they command the confidence of the people, because their decisions are pro- nounced exclusively by the sages of the law, of whom the most eminent are usually raised to the peerage. faaTr^of the ^* must not be supposed, however, that this is a Commons. corrcct skctch of the constitution eighty years ago; and if the capacity of George the Third had been equal to his resolution, such might not be the state of the constitution now. We have seen a House of Commons nominated partly by the aristocracy, partly composed of the proprietors of close bo- roughs, or the representatives of these proprietors ; but comprising very few members elected by inde- pendent suffrage. We have consequently seen the nation and the Parliament opposed to each other; the people regarding with hatred and contempt a body which usurped their name and betrayed their CHARACTER OF PARLIAMENT. 521 1760-70 interests ; the House of Commons seeking the favour ch. 13. of the crown, the minister, or a patron, and reci- procating the scorn of the people. We have seen the crown, after long subservience, struggling for mastery with the great nobles, and obtaining an advantage. We have seen and shall see that proud nobility, in its turn, subservient to the crown. But it will hardly fall ^vithin the compass of this narrative to describe that happy development of the constitution, in which Queen, Lords and Commons can each find an honourable place, and, by their harmonious union, so administer the government of this country, that the wisdom and patriotism of future generations will be tasked only to maintain it unimpaired. The Settlement which circumscribed the power Parliamentary prepoi)(lcr;iiic-e of the Crown, extended that of the Parliament in of the landed the same proportion ; what was taken from the one was transferred to the other. The Parliament, again, was for a long period almost entirely in the hands of the great landowners ; of whom the Whig families, which supported the Protestant succession, obtained the predominance ; and the government, for more than seventy years, was, in substance, an aristocracy. The tendency of modern times has been to trans- Formerioyaity fer the balance of power to the third estate. But ° ° ''^''^' ^' for a long period after the Revolution, the people had very little influence in the government, and took only an occasional interest in public affairs. Loyalty much more than Liberty was for many cen- 522 ATTACHMENT OF THE NATION 1760-70 Ch. 13. turies the ruling principle of the English people. The man who cried 'God save the Queen!' imme- diately after he had undergone the cruel punishment of mutilation for presuming to censure the proposed marriage of Elizabeth with a popish prince, was hardly an uncommon instance of the devotion and obedience of the commons. Nor could the misrule or personal worthlessness of the sovereign do more than suspend this feeling. Charles the First en- deavoured to subvert the ancient institutions of the country, to govern without law, and to take the money of his subjects without their consent. The people rose against the man, for there was nothing of oriental servility in the generous sentiment which they professed ; but they never for a moment trans- ferred their allegiance either to that Imperial Par- liament which had effected their deliverance, or to the great Dictator who for a time ruled over them with so much wisdom and moderation. No event in the history of the English nation ever gave rise to such wide spread and heartfelt joy as the return of their fugitive prince to the throne of his ancestors. Nor could the unparalleled scandal of his govern- ment, the shame which it brouo;ht upon the En2:lish name, nor the personal delinquencies of Charles himself prevail so far as to alienate the affections of the people from their rightful princes. The first of this race had been a driveller; the second a false and lawless tyrant; the third a mean and selfish profligate who had sold his country for the sake of harlots and buffoons. His successor had once been TO THE CROWN. 523 declared by a vote of tlic House of Commons unfit Ch. 13. to reign because of his adhesion to the hated super- i-,^._o stition of Rome. But the people, anxious to find some justification of the loyalty to which they clung, discovered in him a virtue hitherto unknown to the house of Stuart. The Duke of York, it seemed, was a man of his word ; and the accession of James the Second was greeted with approbation less pas- sionate, indeed, but more deliberate than that which had hailed the restoration of his line. It has been asserted by high authority, that the Acceptability , , . . of William the dynasty of 1688 was acceptable to tlie great majority Third. of the nation. I believe, that the majority of the nation acquiesced in the new settlement rather than surrender their religion and laws; but I look in vain among the scanty records of the public opinion of those times for any evidence of that great event having been sanctioned by a decided manifestation of public approval; or for the least degree of that enthusiastic assent which attended the Restoration. Certainly not a particle of that loyal attachment which had hitherto constituted the main support of the monarchy was transferred to the able and politic prince who had been elected to the vacant throne. Such was the insecurity of his reign that wary and self-seeking politicians thought it prudent to keep a communication open with the exiled court at St. Germains. This correspondence was increased during the reim of Anne, at whose decease the re- turn of the heir of James was thought highly prob- able, if not desirable. The adventures of 17 1 5 and I688-I760 by party. ^24 THE DIVINE RIGHT. Ch. 13. 1745 were regarded with indifference, if not with sympathy. Nor was it until the accession of George the Third, that the old English loyalty, after a suppression of more than seventy years, was par- tially revived. Government During this interval, the government of the country was the government of party through the medium of the Parliament. The people seldom in- terposed, and when they did so, it was for the most part to shew their ignorance and folly. The Whigs in the reign of Anne thouo;ht it desirable that a solemn exposition of the doctrine of the Revolution should be put forth ; and they made an opportunity by prosecuting a parson who preached a sermon in- culcating the old church tenets of divine right and obedience. The first manifestation of public feeling which had taken place for many years, was exhibited on this occasion. The accused clergyman (who afterwards proved to be an agent of the Pretender) was immediately elevated to the height of popularity. The statesmen and lawyers who conducted the im- peachment, some of whom had taken a prominent part in the great business of 1688, were assailed with popular fury. A few years after, Walpole was forced by popular clamour to abandon a well con- sidered scheme of finance; and popular clamour afterwards compelled him into one of the most foolish and unjust of the many wars which this country has needlessly undertaken.*' '' I refer to the war with Spain in 1 739 ; which was termed the war of Jenkins's ears. SQUABBLES OF FACTION. 525 The people knew no better. Education, as yet, ch. 13. had hardly penetrated beyond the upper layer of J u J V V J 1700-70 society. There was little communication between the capital and the provinces. The few newspapers that existed, seldom contained either political infor- mation or discussion. The proceedings in Parlia- ment were kept a profound secret. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that public cre- dulity was easily imposed upon by the grossest fic- tions, and that public opinion was for the most part a mass of stupid and absurd prejudices. It was the aim of faction during the half century party after the regeneration of the monarchy, to turn this ^^"^ ignorance and credulity to account. The coalition of disappointed Whig place-seekers, of Tories, Jacobites, and Prince's-men, which banded together for the purpose of overwhelming the administration of Walpole, unable to agree on any point of practical policy, betook themselves to vague declamation on liberty and loose invective against corruption and arrogance of power. This style, wrought up to a pitch resembling the cold enthusiasm of the French devotees of speculative tyrannicide and classic pa- triotism in that age of corruption which preceded the downfall of the French monarchy, produced a great effect on the unsophisticated people. They believed in the high-sounding professions of the orators. They believed in the Roman virtue of Pulteney and Wyndham ; they believed that Wal- pole had planned and was effecting his nefarious designs for the ruin of the common Avealth. 526 CORRUPr CONDITION Ch. 13. The people had but little voice in the constitution ~ of the House of Commons. The electors for 1760-70 The people un- counties WCFC aluiost entirely under the control of leprcbente . ^^^ landowners. A large proportion of the close boroughs belonged likewise to the aristocracy. Many seats might almost be considered hereditary, having been occupied for successive generations by members of the same family. In other places, the interest was divided among two or more proprietors who, if they could not concur in the nomination of a member, contested the place often at a ruinous expense. Frequently the owner of a borough let the seat either by the Parliament or the session at an exorbitant rent. This kind of property could always be realised in the public market ; and was worth from twenty to twenty-five years' purchase. It was made the subject of wills and family settle- ments. Many independent corporations also, having the exclusive right of the elective franchise for the towns which they governed, invariably let the seats to hire, and passed the receipts to the corporate fund. The general election in 176 1 was remarked for the appearance of a new class of candidates for Parliament.*^ West Indians, nabobs, commissaries, stock-jobbers, Scotch and Irish adventurers, suc- cessful gamblers are mentioned as infesting every ' They were, however, not altogether new. Davenant, so early as 1700, mentions stock-jobbers and East India proi:)rietors as going about corrupting boroughs. A similar complaint is made in the Gentleman's Magazine and other contemporary publica- tions of the general election in 1741. OF THE ELECTIVE SYSTEM. 527 1761 borough, and invading old family interests. The Ch. 13. number of new members who took their seats in this Parliament more than doubled the usual return; and the expenditure at this election was beyond all former precedent. These new men, unconnected with either of the great parties in the state, independent also of the crown, constituted a new element in the composition of the House of Commons. And they may be said to have repre- sented the principle of electoral venality, which their ambition had organised into a regular system. The political opinions of this class of members were vague and undetermined. Having no party attach- ments, no connection with each other, and owing nothing beyond a pecuniary responsibility to their constituents, they were free to vote as they pleased. But their objects were almost uniformly of a per- sonal character. One was content to have pur- chased the social position of a member of Parlia- , ment. Another, perhaps, Avanted to be made a \ baronet, or an Irish j^eer. A third would look to a more substantial return for the capital which he had invested in bribery. The natural tendency of this class, therefore, was to support administration. Nothing could more happily coincide with the Members by . -^ , purchase. views of the court at the accession 01 (jeorge the Third than the sudden rise of this new order of men. Each could give exactly what the other wanted. The King, though steadily supported by that party whose leading tenet was loyal submission to the will of the sovereign, could hardly have prevailed without further aid against factions, ^28 THE KING'S VIGILANCE. Ch. 13. which, however jealous of each other, were always ~7 united on the one point of resisting his attempt to govern independently of their dictation and control. He found the aid which he required in the class of adventurers who had lately obtained a footing in the House of Commons. These men, untrammelled by engagements, and indifferent to creeds, were generally ready to vote as the private agents of the court directed. This system, of course, re- quired time to bring to maturity. It was first brought into operation against the Rockingham ministry ; and became fully efficient when the King found in Lord North a minister both able and willing to serve his purpose. Jealousy of the The couutry gentlemen and the old historical country par y. pg^j.^^gg j.gg^j.(jg(j thesc upstarts with cxtremcjealousy and disgust. The possibility of expelling the in- truders seems at one time to have been in contem- plation. After the general election of 1768 a great number of petitions complaining of undue elections on the ground of bribery were presented; and several strong opinions were expressed against the propriety of admitting adventurers who went about canvassing from borough to borough with no other recommendation than pockets full of money. But though it was agreed that there might be good reason for opposing the admission of such persons, yet if bribery could not be proved against them, it would be difficult to question their right to be the sitting members.*^ ^ Cavendish Debates. POWER OF THE LANDED INTEREST. r2q The King Iiimself was active and vigilant as a Ch. 13, party leader; surpassino^ even the Duke of New- ~ castle in attention to the minute details of party management. He daily scrutinised the votes of the House of Commons, rewarding and punishing -~ the members according to their deserts. The patronage of the government was dispensed under his immediate direction ; and he frequently inter- fered in the disposal of the inferior offices. The pension list became a potent engine of corruption ; and by an ingenious evasion of the law which disqualifies pensioners from sitting in the House of Commons, members were bribed by offices tenable with their seats, but having a salary or gratuity annexed to them, revocable at pleasure. *= In this manner every member of Parliament who wanted a place or a pension was taught to understand that his success depended not so much on the favour of the minister as on that of the King. Such, then, was the condition of Parliament and Power of the of parties when George the Third began his reign ^"^ ^^^^^y- and at the close of its first decennial period. The territorial aristocracy possessed almost the whole of the county representation as they always had done, and as they do at the present day. They had also a considerable number of boroughs in which the form of an election alone remained. Some of these belonged to the King ; and some to *= This was so stated by Mr. Cornwall, without contradiction, in the Debate on Mr. Dowdeswell's Bill for disfranchising revenue ofiBcers. — Cavendish Debates. VOL.1. MM 1760-70 .^Q PARLIAMENTARY INTRIGUES. Ch. 13. the government.'^ A few of them had been secured by the new party of political adventurers, though these latter sprung mostly from the corruption of the open constituencies. ' Thus,' said the son of Chatham a few years later, ' this House is not the representative of the people of Great Britain. It is the representative of nominal boroughs ; of ruined and exterminated towns; of noble families; of wealthy individuals, of foreign potentates.' ^ Party poHcy. Each petty chief of party had his staff of spies, agents and go-betweens. The business of the court was principally managed by Jenkinson and Dyson. The former had been employed by Lord Bute at the commencement of the reign ; the latter was a political adventurer of the lowest grade.^ Whately and Lloyd, the one Secretary to the Treasury, and the other a clerk in that department, when Grenville was at its head, were ever after- wards his faithful adherents. Lloyd, under Gren- ville's direction, drew up a pamphlet on the state of the nation, intended to justify his administration, and which drew forth Burke's more celebrated reply. Whately was indefatigable in collecting political intelligence for his patron, and his letters to Grenville throw great light on the movements and intrigues of parties. The Duke of Bedford's ^ Bubb Dodington's Diary, Feb. 2, 1761. * In allusion to the Indian princes, the Rajah of Tanjore and the Nabob of Arcot. The latter potentate had at one time eight nominees in the House of Commons, — Speech on Reform of Parliament, 1783. f See an account of him in Lord Albemarle's Memoirs of Rockingham. DEBASEMENT OF POLITICAL LITERATURE. ^^i man was the notorious Rigby, a model of the Ch. 13. hardened partisan and Parliamentary bully of that ~ . . 1760-70 generation. The Marquis of Rockingham had a more distinguished, but not less devoted follower in Edmund Burke. Lord Chatham, in his earlier days, despised and neglected the arts of political management and intrigue ; but he always made use of the services of Beckford to keep up his interest in the city; and latterly, Calcraft, a rich contractor and borough proprietor, acted as his political agent. These men, by their flattery and tale-bearing, con- tributed much to maintain the jealousies and divisions between their respective patrons and parties which ultimately secured the triumphs of the court. The Bedford party, indeed, was broken up some time before the death of their chief. The Duke, though he renounced office for himself, insisted on being amply represented in any admin- istration to which he gave his support; and though he desired to withdraw his nominees when the Duke of Grafton resigned, the Gowers, the Wey- mouths, the Sandwiches, and the Rigbys preferred their places to the obligations of party allegiance. Besides the more important manifestoes occa- Employment sionally put forth under the immediate directions panL^r of the leaders of parties, a regular staff of hackney writers was kept in pay both by the Court and the Opposition. At the commencement of the century, the political press was illustrated by writers who will ever be the purest inodels of the English lan- guage. But after Swift, Addison, and Bolingbroke, party literature degenerated, all at once, from the M M 2 .^2 MERCENARY WRITERS. Ch. 13. classic standard, and fell into the vilest hands. 7~ Walpole, himself no scholar, and almost devoid of 1760-70 r ' ' • r elegance and taste, cared little about the quality of the pamphlets and essays which were written in support of the Protestant succession ; trusting more perhaps to those grosser means from which he was accustomed to see an immediate and practical result. From that time to a period far within living memory, party writing had been the meanest walk of letters ; and its adepts had ranked, for the most part, among the most degraded of mankind. It is only within later years that political literature has been restored to eminence by a periodical press, the creation of public patronage, and the faithful exponent of public opinion. Hired writers. The hired political writings of these times were much on a level with similar performances both before and since. What they wanted in argument and wit, they made up in scurrility. Dull abuse of the Opposition was encountered by dull abuse of the Court. Bute was designated as Sejanus; and a dreary parallel was drawn out between persons and circumstances so unlike, as the C^sar, accom- plished in policy as well as in vice, and a parasite of congenial qualities, with a respectable English king and his shallow Scotch governor. On the other side, the servility of Pitt in fomenting German wars, merely to gratify the prejudices and predi- lections of a weak Sovereign, and the waste of British blood and treasure on such unworthy objects, were held up to public execration and contempt. Such was the burden respectively of THE 'MONITOR' AND 'THE NORTH BRITON.' ^^3 two periodical papers, 'The Monitor' and 'The Ch. 13. Briton,' the one written in the interest of liberty, jl^^ the other in the interest of the Court. There were other papers written in a similar style, and which appeared daily, or at more distant intervals, during the early years of this reign. The best of them, indeed the only one which had any merit, was ' The North Briton,' the celebrated sheet set up and written by Wilkes, in conjunction with Churchill. ' The North Briton' has shared the fate of far greater literary compositions, the Whig ' Examiner,' ' The Craftsman,' and others, and is perhaps hardly known at all in the present generation, except to those who have been engaged in literary or his- torical research. ' The North Briton,' however, is a very clever series of libels on the Court and the Scotch nation, written in a style far superior to the ' Britons,' the ' Auditors' and ' Patriots' of the day. The author plainly took Swift for his model, and imitated the manner of that great master and inventor of irony with considerable success. Number 2, for example, is a remarkably happy specimen of the illiberal satire on the Scotch nation which was then so mucli in vogue. The 13th number, on the other hand, is an invective against the Scotch, which, for degrading images and filthy abuse, may be compared with the foulest and most ferocious ribaldry of Swift. In another number, a parallel is drawn between Bute and Mortimer, for the purpose of conveying the grossest insinuations against the Princess Dowager. This paper was written with the view to prosecution, 534 POLITICAL PERIODICALS. Ch. 13. 1762 and so to political martyrdom, one of the last resources of a desperate adventurer. Wilkes was, however, disappointed ; no more notice being taken of this than of the many other libels of the same kind, which had been published since the commence- ment of the reign. Determined not to be baffled, Wilkes at length proceeded, in the celebrated forty- fifth number, to attack the King himself; and this paper, though as inferior in audacity and virulence as in literary merit to the equally celebrated letter of Junius, was completely successful. The for- tunate author was prosecuted, imprisoned, shot,^ expelled from Parliament, banished, prosecuted, I imprisoned, and expelled again ; the upshot being, Hhat his debts were paid, and that a handsome provision was made for the remainder of his life. The principal writer in the pay of the Court was Dr. Shebbeare, whom Bute took out of Newgate for the purpose of employing his pen. This man had been in prison for libelling the late King and his predecessors, but would more justly have been there for certain fraudulent practices in which he had been engaged at Oxford. Shebbeare wrote one the Court papers, called ' The Monitor,' under the immediate direction of the Solicitor to the Trea- sury,^ and applied himself for some time to the de- famation of Lord Camden, then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who had given great offence by the energy with which he had reprobated the illegal s In a duel by Martin, Secretary to the Treasury. ^ Walpole's History of Geo. III. AND THEIR CONDUCTORS. ^25 resort to General Warrants. Shebbeare was re- Ch. 13. warded for his services with a pension of £200 a ~^^ year. Another periodical organ of the Government, called ' The Auditor,' was written by Murphy, a man of considerable literary talent, although it does not appear in his paper. He was a writer for the theatres; two of his plays, ' The Way to Keep Him,' and ' All in the W^rong,' have survived to the present time, and are still performed with approbation. The ' Briton,' which probably sug- gested the title of Wilkes's famous publication, was established also under the auspices of Bute, and conducted by Smollett. But no trace of the genius which dictated ' Roderick Randon,' and ' Humphrey Clinker,' is to be found in this production. Like his continuation of the History of England, a vapid chronicle, put together by contract with the book- sellers, these political essays, written for the wages of a minister, were among the dullest productions of their kind. Some of the pamphlets Avritten in behalf of the court were, however, of a high order of merit. ' The Consideration of the German War,' was a very able depreciation of the war policy of Pitt. I have nowhere else seen the argument against that policy stated with so much breadth and plausibility. The author was Israel Mauduit, a Jew, and a colo- nial agent ; he received a pension for this service. During; Bute's administration and for some time afterwards, the exaltation of the royal prerogative was a prominent topic in most of these pieces. One 53^ DB. SAMUEL JOHNSON Ch. 13. of them is worthy of notice; it is entitled, 'Prero- ~Z gative Droit de Roy ; or a Digest of the Rights and Prerogatives of the Imperial Crown of Great Britain.' It is, in fact, an elaborate vindication of the prerogative as it existed in the times of the Tudors. The single authority of the crown is distinctly asserted •, and the modern idea of a mixed monarchy is refuted with an abundance of obsolete learning. The legislative authority of the Houses of Parliament is shewn to be an usurpation of the crown ; their proper province being the ' rogation,' not the enactment of laws ; they are merely ' con- sultative and preparative; but the making of laws being part of the sovereign power, necessarily belongs to the crown, the privilege of which is peculiar and incommunicable.' The writer then proceeds to enumerate the constituent parts of the prerogative in thirty-four divisions, the sum of Avhich leaves little or no power to the other members of the constitution. This tract would have been very appropriate in 1686 when the last of the Stuarts was seeking to set up the dispensing power ; but in the seventy-fourth year of the constitutional era, it was a curiosity, revealing the visionary speculations which had been indulged in the seques- tered recesses of Leicester-house. Dr. Johnson But the most powerful of the pensioned writers for the court was Samuel Johnson. The dogmatic assertion, the strong sense and impressive style of this great English classic, were all brought to bear upon a subject, respecting which he entertained AS A POLITICAL WRITER. 537 decided opinions, as, indeed, he did upon every ch. 13. subject to which his vifjorous intellect addressed T~ J o 1762-70 itself. The ' False Alarm ' is, perhaps, the most arrogant political pamphlet that ever was written, and probably did more harm than good to the cause which it sought to recommend. Nothing can exceed the dictatorial and offensive language directed against all who disapproved of the pro- ceedings in the Middlesex elections. The public discontent is compared to the Jacquerie. The opposition, which comprehended the most distin- guished members of the Whig party, and many persons of station and respectability who took no part in ordinary political conflict, was stigmatisedinthe mass as ' a despicable faction, distinguished by plebeian grossness and savage indecency.' It is not sur- prising that the son of a huckster should rail at ' low-born railers,' and compare the popular leaders to Tiler and Ket. The man who could find nothing in the character of William the Third but ' gloomy sullenness ' was likely to eulogise George the Third 'as the only King who for almost a century [a whole century would have included his favourite King Charles the Second] has much appeared to desire, or much endeavoured to deserve the affections of the people.' But he proceeds farther, and in a passage as false as it is illiberal, he seeks to avenge the injuries which political as well as religious despotism had received by the hands of the great Puritan party. ' None,' he says, 'can wonder that these disturbances have been 1762-70 ^j8 POLITICAL USE OF THE STAGE. Ch. 13. fomented by the sectaries^ the natural fomenters of sedition and confederates of the rabble, of whose religion little now remains but hatred of establish- raents.' And this, with much more in the same strain, was written by a man of genius, a scholar, and a moralist, who was the contemporary of Wesley and Whitfield.* The stage a The stagc cvcn was made instrumental to the political XT 1 1 • instrument. poUcy of the court. Not Only was the censorship vigilantly exercised in the suppression of every passage the recital of which might bear an applica- tion to popular topics, but plays were written and licensed for the purpose of holding up the new system of government to public admiration and applause. For instance, the tragedy ' Electra,' by W. Shirley, founded on the fable of Sophocles, was stopped in rehearsal; while, at the same time, a wretched piece called ' Elvira,' a translation from an old French drama, which had for its theme the exaltation of sovereign authority and the panegyric of a minister who had been the preceptor of his royal master was allowed to be performed. This trash was written — probably, to order — by Mallet, a well-known hackney author of that day.' The satiric muse was engaged w^ith much more ' Review of Lord Bute's administration, J Mallet edited a posthumous work of Bolingbroke's, of an infidel character. The reader will recollect Johnson's witty re- mark on this subject, ' a coward who loaded a pistol against Christianity, and left half a crown to a beggarly Scotchman to pull the trigger after his death.' — Boswell's Life of Johnson, PARLIAMENTARY ELOQUENCE. ^^9 effect on the popular side. Churchill — on whom Ch. 13. a perverse fate had imposed the orders of the jl^^ priesthood — the able coadjutor of Wilkes in libel- Satirists ling the court, the brilliant companion of his con- ^*' ' vivial hours, produced a satire called the ' Prophecy of Famine.' He had already achieved a great reputation in this thorny walk of literature, by ' The Rosciad,' which so incensed the players that they threatened personal vengeance on the author, who, however, laughed at their professional denun- ciations. The ' Prophecy of Famine ' was a still more successful effort. Professing to be a political satire, it was a coarse but powerful invective against the poverty of the Scottish people — almost the only form, at that time, in which English wit and humour were developed and appreciated. This lampoon was eagerly bought up, became the talk of every coffee-house, and was supposed to have hastened Bute's retreat from power. An intelligent and well informed contemporary. Parliamentary who has himself preserved some lively sketches of "i^'-"'-^' the parliamentary eloquence and manners with which he was conversant, describes the administra- tion of Lord North as an era in the history of Bri- tish eloquence; and writing half a century after that period, applies to it the observation of Velleius - Paterculus with reference to Cicero, that 'no mem- ber of either House of the British Parliament will be ranked among the orators of this country whom Lord Korth did not see, or who did not see Lord North.''' ^ Butler's Reminiscences, vol. i. p. 139. ^40 COMPARISON OF MODERN Ch. 13. A contemporary of Lord North's might perhaps ~ have said the same of Sir Robert Walpole. Such 1762 ^ Present a man, if he had listened to Wyndham, or Yonge, PaSmS''^ or Pulteney, or Pitt, or Walpole himself, or Carteret, or Chesterfield, even if he had not been so fortunate as to hear a speech of St. John's,^ could not have failed to vindicate the claims of those famous orators to rank second only, if not equal to the Burkes, the Foxes and the Pitts of George the Third. Even |,in these days, it is believed that Parliament has de- ) generated not in eloquence alone, but in capacity, V in learning, in good breeding and in taste. If this were true, and especially if the deteriora- tion were correctly attributed to the changes which have lately been wrought in the constitution of the House of Commons, it would be a strong argument against that close correspondence which it has been the policy of modern times to establish between the constituent and the representative bodies. Decay of As to eloqucuce, we may perhaps yield the supe- riority to generations which have passed away; though perhaps much of the rhetoric which is taken into account by the eulogist of a former age is such as would be rejected by the fuller information and more practical intelligence of the present time. Splendid declamations about liberty, terrible in- vectives against corrupt and too powerful minis- ters, would be merely ridiculous in an age when ' ]\Tr. Pitt used to say that he would rather recover a speech of Bolingbroke's than any of the lost works of antiquity. AND FORMER PARLIAMENTS. 541 liberty is perfectly secure, and when ministers have Ch. 13. long ceased to be formidable or depraved. But 1760-70 though the study of eloquence may be carried too far, when the qualities of a statesman are measured chiefly by oratorical power, it is certain that a so- vereign legislature is strengthened as well as adorned by a due cultivation of that noble art. The eloquence indeed, peculiarly adapted to the parliament of a free and prosperous people, is of the very highest order. It is that which draws its inspiration from reason, and is only illustrated by fancy. It is the eloquence in which the Grecian orator excelled, which it behoves the orator of the House of Commons ex- clusively to regard. 'Could it be copied,' says a critic of the most penetrating genius, 'its success would be infallible over a modern assembly. It is rapid harmony, exactly adjusted to the sense. It is vehement reasoning without any appearance of art. It is disdain, anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a continued stream of argument.'^ It is curious to observe, that in the very essay from which the above extract is taken, Hume remarks upon and endeavours to account for, the dearth of eloquence in the British Parliament. He says, there were about half a dozen speakers in both Houses who had attained nearly the same pitch of eloquence, and that neither of them was entitled to any preference above the rest; 'a sure proof,' he adds, 'that none "" Hume. — Essay on Eloquence. 542 HUME'S OPINION OF ORARTOY. •Ch. 13. 1742 Ehetoric distinguished from eloquence. had readied beyond mediocrity in their art, and that their aim was such as could be reached by ordinary talents and slight application.' Yet at the period when he thus wrote, the administration of Walpole was sinking fast under the attacks of the patriots, whose incessant oratory had brought over not only the Parliament, but the nation which had little sympathy with the Parliament, to their side. The great historian could have given little attention to contemporary events, or must have fallen into the common error of a philosophic mind, that of refer- ring every thing to a general truth, when he inferred from the equal excellence of some half dozen speakers that none of them could have attained a high degree of art. I should draw a different conclusion from the statement of Hume. We know a good deal about Pulteney, Walpole and Pitt ; we have a tra- dition of Bolingbroke hardly equalled by the fame of any oratory which has come down to us. As- suredly, the speeches of these men were not the easy efforts of ordinary minds ; and if any other speakers could come up to them, the earlier Parlia- ments of George the Second were distinguished by eloquence of the highest order. The opinion of Hume, however, that the style of Demosthenes is the most fit for an English orator is confirmed by the most competent judges. Know- ledge, good sense and reasoning, are the leading principles of this school ; and, while the example of its founder proves that these simple elements may FLORID PARLIAMENTARY DECLAIMERS. 543 1760-70 be wrought to the highest perfection of art, they ch. 13. obtain credit and consideration, even when exhibited in their rudest form. Yet for one plain orator of this simple school, we have a dozen or more of fluent florid declaimers. And no wonder; for the imagi- nation is a much more precocious faculty than the understanding ; and whenever the one is unable to exercise its authority, the other, having no power of self-restraint, indulges in undue license. Rhe- toric, therefore, is common, and real eloquence is rare, because imagination is abundant, Avhile sense and the power of reasoning are perhaps the rarest gifts of Providence. Lord Chesterfield, a man of the most exquisite Chesterfield on T , I/*! 11* • r- , parliamentary discernment, and lar beyond his age in refinement eloquence. of taste, has described parliamentary eloquence, of which he was himself a master, in terms which are quite as accurate now as they were a century ago. ' The vulgar, who are always mistaken, look upon a speaker and a comet, with the same astonishment and admiration, taking them both for preternatural phenomena But let you and I analyse and simplify this good speaker; let us strip him of those adventitious plumes with which his own pride and the ignorance of others have decked him, and we shall find the true definition of him to be no more than this: — A man of good common sense who reasons justly, and expresses himself elegantly on that subject on which he speaks. A man of sense, without a superior and astonishing degree of parts, will not talk nonsense on any subject; nor will he, 544 FAILURE OF POPULAR SPEAKERS. Ch. 13. if he has the least taste or application, talk negli- ~ ffently The man who speaks in the House 1760-70 ^ J ^ of Commons, speaks in that House and to four hundred people, that opinion upon a given subject, which he would make no difficulty of speaking in any house in England round the fire or table to any fourteen people whatsoever; better judges, per- haps, and severer critics of what he says than any fourteen gentlemen of the House of Commons.'^ Parliamentary The Athenian dcmocracy was not more severe of mT''' in its oratorical taste than the British House of Commons. Spurious eloquence, when subject to the test of that audience, is immediately detected, and perishes in a moment. The orator, flushed with the triumphs of the platform, enters the House of Commons with no credentials. He will have a fair hearing, but no favour ; and if he can- not vindicate his pretensions, it is probable that he will not be heard again. Thus, many a reputation, which might have flourished for ever in the hotbed of Exeter Hall, is killed at once by the atmosphere of the House of Commons. A man of any infor- mation or sense, however dull, prolix or ungainly, will be listened to with respect; a timid or unprac- tised speaker, if he has anything to say, or comes recommended by any substantial claims to attention, will be met not only with patience, but with gene- rous encouragement; while the mere rhetorician, or impudent pretender, will be encountered with " Chesterfield to his Son. FORMER PARLIAMENTARY LICENSE. 545 derision or silent contempt. The justice of the Ch. 13. House of Commons is indisputable ; its manly spirit 7~ is such as becomes the representatives of the people of the United Kingdom ; its fine taste pro- perly belongs to an assembly in which scholars and ^ gentlemen predominate. ^^ / c b> j But though the character of its eloquence, and improvement the other peculiar features of Parliament, remain tary' depart- mcnts the same as they were in the age of Chesterfield, its manners as well as those of the various classes of society from which it is selected, have been im- proved. A style of personal invective, frequently degenerating into rudeness, a disregard of order and of the authority of the Chair, which would not be tolerated in theae days, prevailed during the ■■ 9''^*^ reign of George the Second, and the earlier Parlia- ments, at least, of George the Third. The lan- guage which Pulteney and Walpole habitually used towards each other was of the most contumelious character. Carteret and Chesterfield, the most ac- complished scholars and the finest gentlemen of their day, indulged in similar license. Pitt himself not only used the most insulting and contemptuous terms towards his opponents, but frequently re- sorted to bye phrases and gestures still more offen- sive. In the debate on the war, for instance, in 176 1, he sneered at Rigby and Sir Francis Delaval, two members of some note, in this style, — * He would not disappoint the gentlemen so far as to take no notice of them; he confessed he did see the person of the latter standing up, and recol- VOL. I. N N 546 FORMER PARLIAMENTARY PERSONALITY Ch. 13. lected to have heard him — that was sufficient.'" ~ Once, when Grenville was defendins; the Cider Tax, 1760-70 ' . and asking, with some emphasis, where the govern- ment was to find a substitute, Pitt merely hummed the burden of a popular air, 'Gentle shepherd, tell me where.' This, we are told, was a great hit. The House was convulsed with laughter, and the minister was covered with confusion. There is certainly nothing very witty or refined in this repartee, which would seem adapted for an audi- ence veiy inferior to the House of Commons. Manner, indeed, can do wonders, and no orator, perhaps, ever had such a manner as Pitt. Never- theless, I doubt whether any member, however great his ascendancy in Parliament, will again venture to take such liberties with the House. Burke, on one occasion, alluded to Lord North in such terms as these, — ' The noble lord who spoke last, after ex- tending his right leg a full yard before his left, rolling his flaming eyes, and moving his ponderous frame, has at length opened his mouth.' Language like this is to be attributed chiefly to the want of taste and good breeding in the man who uses it; but such vulgar impertinence would not, I believe^ have been tolerated for a moment in any House of Commons which has sat during the present century. Transgressions, however, of this kind were very rare. Colonel Barre, when the Commons were turned out of the House of Lords in the session of 1770, gave a ludicrous description of two noble " MUbanke to Rockingham. — Correspondence. AND RUDENESS IN DEBATE. 547 lords who had made themselves conspicuous in Ch. 13. clearin": the House. But he was rebuked by Sir 7~ o -' 1760-70 Gilbert Elliot. ' Personal allusions,' said that polite courtier, * though occasionally met with in books, were not frequent in the debates of that House.' One of the most distinguished members of Lord North's administration gives rather too favourable an account of the parliamentary decorum of his day. ' What passed in the Roman senate for polished raillery,' said Wedderburn, ' would in this House be deemed a gross affront, and be perhaps attended with bloodshed. What Roman virtue called Attic eloquence, modern honour would construe rude Billingsgate. The most famous harangues of Cicero and Demosthenes would, with us, be termed infamous libels.' p A remarkable proof of the rude and disorderly Former cliaracter of the House of Commons, in the last Parliament, century, is the want of respect for the Chair. The records of the debates, scanty as they are, abound in passages of violence and tumult which the Speaker failed, or did not attempt, to repress. Sometimes he was personally attacked while presid- ing over the debates. In 1762, for instance, during the trial of an election petition, Rigby interrupted the counsel who was speaking at the bar, to address the Speaker in the following terms : — ' Sir, I am very sorry to address you in this manner, and put you in mind of your duty, which you should know P Speech on Sergeant Glynn's Motion for Enquiry into the Administration of Criminal Justice. — 16 Pari. Deb. 1287. 548 INSOLENCE TO THE CHAIR. Ch. 13. mucli better than I: give me leave to tell you that j„^-Q you are seated in that chair to enforce the orders and support the dignity of this House, and not to suffer our order to be transgressed by that long- winded pleader : permit me to say you are but young in that chair; I wish to see you many years in it, but I have been long enough in the House to know what is, and what is not, obedience to orders.' The Speaker, Sir John Cust, who had been elected in this Parliament, answered mildly, that he en- deavoured to do his duty, and that, if he failed, he hoped it would be imputed to the cause which the honourable gentleman had mentioned — his being young in the chair ; but, on this occasion, he main- tained that the learned counsel had not transgressed the order of the House. Present autiio- The narrator of this scene,'! himself a member of Speaken the House, dcscribcs it as nothing extraordinary, nor does the House appear to have felt itself called upon to interpose in such an altercation. Yet Rigby, in thus rebuking the Chair, was himself disorderly, indecent, and presumptuous in the highest degree. He takes upon himself to lecture the Speaker, and at the same time to insult the counsel who was at the bar in the discharge of his duty. If any member during the present genera- tion, could have so far forgotten himself as to commit such an outrage as this, the House would not have failed to vindicate its dignity, and protect the authority of the chair by the severest cen- ^ Sir James Caldwell. — Cavendish Debates. LENGTH OF MODERN DEBATES. r^Q sure, if not by committing him to the custody of Ch. 13. the Serjeant-at-Arms. During; the sessions of ~ ° 1760-70 1768-9-70 there were frequent wrangles between the Speaker and members of the House. Some- times the Speaker was called to order, and on one occasion his words were taken down. The chief complaint against modern Parliaments Length of mo- is the inordinate length of their debates. The '^'^ '^'^"'''• great publicity given to the proceedings of Parlia- ment by means of the daily press; the increased responsibility of the House of Commons to its constituents since the Reform Act, the accumu- lation of business, and the interest which all classes of the community take in the discussion of public affairs; — are causes which have concurred in pro- tracting the debates, or rather, in multiplying speeches in the Lower House. But the comparison, even in this respect, with former times, is not altogether so unfavourable to modern practice. Long before the reporters of the daily press were admitted to the galleries, it was not uncommon for the House to sit ten or twelve hours without inter- mission. The debate on the Convention with Spain in 1739, lasted from half- past eleven in the morn- ing until half-past twelve at night. The motion of Mr. Sandys for the removal of Sir Robert Walpole, in 1 74 1, was debated for thirteen hours. The debate on General Warrants^ in 1765, was con- tinued for seventeen hours. The House frequently sat during the whole night. It rarely happens in these days that the sitting of the House is pro- longed much beyond midnight merely for the S50 EFFECT OF PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES. Ch I 3. purpose of debate; but the evil of excessive dis- ~ cussion has been ao:gravated by the practice, which of late years has obtained, of delivering a series of * speeches on important or interesting questions (for these are not convertible terms) by means of adjournment from day to day. Necessity for Many persons, both in and out of Parliament, parliamentary i i • r • • discussion. disgustcd at this wastc of time m useless oratory, are inclined to regard debate altogether as an obstruction to public business. No man's vote, it is said, was ever affected by a speech, nor is the result of a division ever calculated upon the course of a debate. But even if both of these propositions are admitted, it does not follow that the practice of debating should be dispensed with in the British Parliament. The debates of both Houses are eagerly read throughout the country; and many a speech, which nobody listened to but a reporter, is perused by thousands out of doors. The speeches of those members who derive authority from office, or from their general reputation, are sure to be considered and canvassed by the public with the greatest attention and interest. From the con- sideration of the parliamentary debates by every class of the community, giving rise as they do to innumerable other debates in every haunt of business or pleasure — in every club, at every market-room, at the dinner-table, in the ball- room, in the beer shop, at the cover side, at the corners of the street, in every family circle — from this manifold discussion, public opinion is, to a great extent formed, and re-acts upon Parliament 1760-70 THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE VOTES. rri itself. It is not true, however, that debate does ch. 13. not immediately influence the vote. Even on occa- sions when the fate of a cabinet is to be decided, and each party musters all its strength, some stragglers there are who address themselves only to the merits of the particular question upon which the battle is fought, and reserve their decision until they have heard the arguments on either side. These uncertain votes frequently turn the scale. The general business of Parliament is materially affected by the course of debate, and frequently by particular speeches.'' This independent action of the House of Commons, which is of recent growth is to be attributed mainly to the increased freedom and purity of election. A member who is returned by the nomination of one or more great proprietors follows, as of course, his party or his patron. A man who has purchased his seat has commonly some personal object in view, and can be accounted for accordingly in an estimate of the effective strength of a Government or an Opposition. But the representative who has been chosen by fair and ■" Among numerous instances which have fallen under my own observation, during ray short experience of parliament, I may mention Lord Hotham's Bill for disqualifying persons holding certain judicial offices for seats in the House of Commons. The Bill was carried through its first stage by a considerable majority, notwithstanding the opposition of the government. But on the second reading the Bill was rejected by a majority as decisive. This result was entirely owing to a speech from Mr. Macaulay. No attempt was made by the supporters of the Bill to answer his argument ; and its effect was manifest in the division which almost immediately ensued. 55^ PRESENT IMPOSSIBILITY OF PARTY GOVERNMENT. 1770 Ch. 13. open election is seldom attached to either party; and except, perhaps, on some cardinal points, is free and willing to act as his own judgment, or any accidental influence, may direct him. This ten- dency of the House of Commons has, in latter years, no doubt increased the difliculty of admini- stration; it renders, perhaps, the formation of a strong and enduring government an impossibility; and thus imparts^ to a certain degree, a character of waywardness and indecision to Parliament itself. 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