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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

From the Library of
GERTRUDE STEIN
The Gift of
ALICE B. TOKLAS
and
ALLAN D. STEIN

MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN
OF
KING GEORGE THE THIRD
IN FOUR VOLUMES
VOL. I.

Seven Hundred and Forty Copies printed for England
Two Hundred and Sixty for America
No.. 5„3.C--

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L/e^crrOye ill.

•WcOirimiutMTI.ar.

HORACE WALPOLE * 1 *
MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE THE THIRD
FIRST PUBLISHED BY SIR
DENIS LE MARCHANT BART.
AND NOW RE-EDITED BY
G. F. RUSSELL BARKER
WITH SIXTEEN PORTRAITS
VOLUME I

LONDON
LAWRENCE AND BULLEN
16 HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN
1894

NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
27 W. TWENTY-THIRD ST.
1894

Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE
The portraits of George iii., Augusta Princess of
Wales, and the Marquis of Rockingham, have been
reproduced, by gracious permission of Her Majesty
the Queen, from the originals preserved at Bucking
ham Palace. For permission to reproduce other
portraits, the publishers desire to thank his Grace
the Duke of Rutland, K.G., the Marquis of Hert
ford, the Earl of Wharncliffe, and Viscount Dillon.
To the Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, K.C.B.
and to Mr. George Scharf, C.B., Director of the
National Portrait Gallery, the publishers are greatly
indebted for valuable advice.

LIST OF PORTRAITS

VOLUME I.
George hi.,  Frontispiece
From a Picture by John Zoffany, R.A., in Buckingham Palace,
by permission of Her Majesty the Queen. Toyacepage
The Lady Sarah Lennox,  49
From a Mezzotint by Fisher, after a Picture by Sir' Joshua
Reynolds, P.R. A.
Queen Charlotte,  150
From a Picture by Allan Ramsay in the National Portrait Gallery.
Sir Francis Dashwood,  204
From a Portrait at Ditchley, by permission of The Right Hon.
Viscount Dillon, V.P.S.A.

VOLUME II.
The Earl of Bute, KG., . . . . Frontispiece
From a Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., at Wortley Hall,
by permission of The Right Hon. the Earl of Wharncliffe. Tofacepage
Field-Marshal Conway,  .152
From a Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P. R. A. , at Ragley Hall,
permission of The Most Noble the Marquis of Hertford.
The Marquis of Rockingham, K.G., . . .219
From a Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A.,in Buckingham
Palace, by permission of Her Majesty the Queen.
The Marquis of Granby,  300
From a Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A., at Belvoir Castle,
by permission of His Grace the Duke of Rutland, K.G.

viii LIST OF PORTRAITS
VOLUME III.
The Right Hon. Edmund Burke, . . . Frontispiece
From a Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P. R.A, in the National
Portrait Gallery. To face page
Colonel Barr^, . .  172
From a Mezzotint by Houston, after a Portrait by Hamilton.
John Wilkes, .  220
From a Mezzotint by James Watson, after a Picture by R. E.
Pine.
The Earl of Chatham,  253
From a Portrait by Richard Brompton in the National Portrait
Gallery.

VOLUME IV.
Horace Walpole,  Frontispiece
From a Portrait by Nathaniel Hone, R.A. , in the National Por
trait Gallery. To face page
Lord North, K.G.,  51
From a Mezzotint by Burke, after a Portrait by Nathaniel
Dance, R.A.
The Right Hon. Charles James Fox, . . . .192
From a, Picture by Karl Anton Hickel in the National Portrait
Gallery.
Augusta, Princess of Wales,  241
From a Portrait in a Family Group, painted by Jean Baptiste
Vanloo, in Buckingham Palace, by permission of Her Majesty
the Queen.

PREFACE
Horace ^ Walpole, the author of these Memoirs,
was the third son of the famous Minister, Sir Robert
Walpole, afterwards created Earl of Orford, by his
first wife, Catherine, eldest daughter of John Shorter
of Bybrook, near Ashford, in Kent, a Norway timber
merchant. The statement that he was generally
supposed to be the son of Carr, Lord Hervey, rests
mainly on the authority of Lady Louisa Stuart.^
Though there would seem to be a certain amount of
evidence in support of this scandal, it is perfectly
clear that no suspicion of his parentage ever crossed
the mind of Horace Walpole, and it is equally clear
that no further evidence on this delicate question
can be looked for.
Horace was born in Arlington Street, Piccadilly,*
^ He was christened ' Horatio^ but always called himself ' Horace.' ' The
name Horatio I dislike. It is theatrical ; and not English. I have, ever
since I was a youth, written and subscribed Horace as an English name for an
English man. In all books (and perhaps you will think of the numerosus
Horatius) I so spell my name. ' — Pinkerton's Walpoliana, vol. i. p. 62.
' See Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1837), vol. i.
pp. 33-5. It is also ' to be found asserted as a current story in the Note Books
(unpubUshed) of the Duchess of Portland.' See Mr. Austin Dobson'&
Horace Walpole (1890), p. 14, note.
' Sir Robert Walpole became a resident in Arlington Street in 1716. His-
house was on the west side of the street, next door to the Earl of Bath's.
VOL. I. b

X PREFACE
on 24th September 171 7 (o.s.), and on 26th April
1727 was sent to Eton, where he remained for more
than seven years. While at school he was entered
at Lincoln's Inn {27th May 1731), but though his
father intended him for the law he 'never went
thither, not caring for the profession.'^ On nth
March 1735 he was admitted to King's College,
Cambridge, where he resided at intervals until the
end of 1738, but did not graduate. In 1737 he
was appointed by his father to the sinecure post of
Inspector of the Imports and Exports at the Custom
House, a post which he resigned on being made
Chief Usher ofthe Exchequer on 29th January 1 738.
As soon as he came of age Walpole tells us that he
' took possession of two other little patent places in
the Exchequer, called Comptroller of the Pipe, and
Clerk of the Estreats.'^ In March 1739 he set out
for a Continental tour with his friend Gray, whose
acquaintance he had made at Eton, and renewed at
Cambridge. Walpole remained abroad until Sep
tember 1 74 1. During his absence from England
he was returned to the House of Commons for the
borough of Callington in Cornwall, which he con
tinued to represent until the dissolution of Parliament
in April 1 754. He spoke in the House for the first
Here Horace Walpole was bom. On leaving Downing Street, Sir Robert
removed to No. S (on the east side of) Arlington Street, where he died.
After his father's death. No. S became Horace Walpole's London residence
until his removal to Berkeley Square in 1779. It is now distinguished by one
of the familiar tablets of the Society of Arts.
' 'Short Notes of my Life.' See Walpole's Letters (1857), vol. i. p. Ixii
» lUd.

PREFACE xi
time on 23rd March 1742, when he opposed the
motion for a Secret Committee on his father.^ In
spite of his partiality for politics, Walpole was
unsuited for parliamentary life, jmd but rarely took
any part in the debates. He was elected a Fellow
of the Royal Society in 1 746, and a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries in 1753. In the latter year
he was appointed a trustee of the Sloane (afterwards
British) Museum. Walpole represented Castle
Rising in the House of Commons from April
1754 to February 1757, when he vacated his seat in
order to succeed his cousin in the representation of
King's Lynn, the corporation of which reverenced
' his father's memory so much that they will not
bear distant relations while he has sons living.- He
was again returned for King's Lynn without opposi
tion at the General Election in March 1 76 1 . Having
become somewhat tired of parliamentary life, and
being threatened with a contested election, Walpole
retired from the House of Commons at the disso
lution in March 1768. In 1765 he made the first
of several visits to Paris, where he became well
acquainted with the secret history of the Court of
France. On the death of his nephew, George,
third Earl of Orford, in December 1791, Walpole
succeeded to the peerage, but he nevertook his seat
in the House of Lords. He died in London, at
No. 1 1 Berkeley Square on 2nd March 1797, aged 79,
' A copy of his maiden speech is preserved in his letter to Sir Horace Mann,
dated 24th March 1742. See WalpoU's Letters, vol. i. pp. 147-8.
* Ibid. vol. iii. p. 62.

xii PREFACE
and was buried at Houghton in Norfolk. With him
the male line of Sir Robert Walpole terminated, and
the barony of Houghton, the Viscounty of Walpole
and the Earldom of Orford became extinct. He
was succeeded in the Barony of Walpole of Walpole
by his first cousin Horatio, second Baron Walpole of
Wolterton, while the Houghton Estate descended to
George, fourth Marquis of Cholmondeley, the grand
son of his sister Mary. Walpole left some ;^9i,ooo
in the three per cents. He bequeathed a legacy
of ;^ 1 0,000 to his niece the Duchess of Gloucester,
and legacies of ;^40oo each to his friends Mary
and Agnes Berry, to whom also he left for their
lives ' Little Strawberry Hill,' formerly the abode
of Kitty Clive.
Strawberry Hill, Walpole's famous residence at
Twickenham, was originally a cottage belonging to
Mrs. Chenerix 'the noted toy-woman,'^ from whom
he purchased the remainder of the lease in May
1 747. Ini 749 he bought the freehold by Act of Par
liament, and by slow degrees transformed the cottage
into a ' Gothic Castle ' of fantastic shape, where he
gradually amassed a huge collection of curiosities of
every description. Here also in 1 757 he established
a private printing press, whence were issued some
thirty-nine books and pamphlets, all of which have
become scarce, and fetch high prices. ^ Walpole left
1 Walpole's Collected Works (1798), vol. ii. p. 399.
' The first work printed was ' Odes by Mr. Gray' (1757, 4to). For a list
of books printed at the Strawberry HiU press see the Appendix to Mr. Austin
Dobson's Horace Walpole.

PREFACE xiii
Strawberry Hill and its contents to the Hon.
Mrs. Anne Damer, the only daughter of his friend
Conway, for life, together with a sum of money to
keep it in repair. She resigned it in 1811 to the
Countess Dowager Waldegrave, in whom the re
mainder was vested. It subsequently passed into
the possession of George, seventh Earl Walde
grave, who sold the contents by public auction in
1842, The sale lasted thirty-two days and realised
;^33,453.^ On the death of Lord Waldegrave in
September 1846, Strawberry Hill became the
property of his widow Frances, Countess Wal
degrave, who married in 1863 Mr. Chichester
Fortescue, the present Lord Carlingford. After
her death, in July 1879, the house and grounds were
offered for sale,'^ and in August 1883 Strawberry
Hill was purchased by the late Baron Stern, in the
possession of whose family it still remains.
Walpole was a fastidious and capricious man, full
of whims and fancies, with affected manners, a lively
wit, and an almost feminine fondness for mischief
and gossip, He was a charming correspondent,
but a touchy companion. Though too much of a
trifler, both by nature and education, for real work
either in politics or literature, his political sagacity
was considerable, and his powers of observation
were keen. In his earlier days he was a staunch
1 See GentlemaH's Magazine, 1842, part ii. pp. 16-24, 147-156, 257-265,
377-381. 474-480, 599-610.
' A sale of the pictures, china, etc., including many of the items not dis
posed of in the previous sale of 1842 took place in Julv 188'f .

xiv PREFACE
Whig, but ' in his old and enfeebled age the horrors
of the first French Revolution made him a Tory.' ^
Walpole was tall and slender in figure, with a
high and pale forehead and bright and penetrating
eyes. ' His entrance into a room was in that style
of affected delicacy, which fashion had made almost
natural, chapeau bras between his hands as if he
wished to compress it, or under his arm; knees
bent, and feet on tiptoe, as if afraid of a wet floor.
His summer dress of ceremony was usually a
lavender suit, the waistcoat embroidered with a
little silver, or of white silk worked in the tambour,
partridge silk stockings, gold buckles, ruffles, and
lace frill. In winter he wore powder. He disliked
hats, and in his grounds at Strawberry would even
in winter walk without one. The same antipathy.
Cole tells us, extended to a greatcoat. His
appearance at the breakfast table was proclaimed,
and attended, by a fat and favourite little dog, the
legacy of Madame du Deffand; the dog and a
favourite squirrel partook of his breakfast. He
dined generally at four. ... His dinner when at
home was a chicken, pheasant, or any light food, of
which he eat sparingly. Pastry he disliked, as
difficult of digestion, though he would taste a
morsel of venison pie. Iced water, then a London
dislike, was his favourite drink. The scent of the
dinner was removed by a censer or pot of frank-
^ Miss Mary Berry's Advertisement to the Lettets addressed to the Misses
Berry. See Walpole's ^Letters, vol. i. p. li.

PREFACE XV
incense. The wine that was drunk was drunk
during dinner. After his coffee he would take a
pinch of snuff, and nothing more that night.' ^
Though Walpole disavowed the character of an
author, and frequently declared, with doubtful
sincerity, that he had no ambition for literary fame,
his pen was seldom idle. His principal works
published in his lifetime were : — i. A Catalogue of
the Royal and Noble Authors of England, with a
List of their Works (1758); 2. Anecdotes of
Painting in England, with some account of the
principal Artists, etc. (1762-71) ; 3. A Catalogue of
Engravers who have been born or resided in
England, etc. ( 1 763) ; and 4. Historic Doubts on
the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third
(1768). His one romance. The Castle of Otranto,
was published on 24th December 1764. It pur
ported to be 'a story translated by William
Marshal, Gent., from the original Italian of
Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St.
Nicholas at Otranto,' and was written by Walpole
in less than two months. It met with a brilliant
success, but is now only remembered as the pro
genitor of Mrs. Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho,
and other thrilling works. His Mysterious Mother,
which was pronounced by Lord Byron to be 'a
tragedy of the highest order,' was printed at
1 Mr. Peter Cunningham in his Preface to the Letters of Horace Walpole,
vol. ix. p. xxii. For this description of Horace Walpole Mr. Cunningham is
mainly indebted to the Anecdotes, Biographical Sketches a-nd Memoirs of
Miss E. M. Hawkins (1822), vol. i. pp. 105-6, and Pinkerton's Walpoliana,
vol. i. pp. xl-xlv.

xvi PREFACE
Strawberry Hill in 1768. Though Walpole wished
to see it acted, it was too horrible for representa
tion, and it has never been put on the stage.
Walpole perfected a collective edition of his works
in 1 768. The first volume, and part of the second,
were printed at the Strawberry Hill Press, but he
proceeded no further with his task, leaving the
completion of it to his friend Mr. Berry, to be
given to the world after his death. This edition,
which appeared in 1798 in five quarto volumes,
contained several productions new to the public,
including the admirable Reminiscences of the Courts
of George the First and Second, and the first
instalment of his incomparable Correspondence. A
sixth quarto volume, containing Walpole's Letters
to George Montagu, was published in 1818. Other
collections of his Letters followed, all of which were
superseded by Mr. Peter Cunningham's edition, in
nine octavo volumes (1857-9), of what was then
supposed to be the entire correspondence of
Walpole, arranged in chronological order.
Walpole's most important historical works, viz. :
The Memoirs of the Reign of King George IL, The
Memoirs of the Reign of King George IIL, and the
fournal of the Reign of King George LII., from
1 77 1 to 1783, were not given to the world until
many years after his death.
Among his papers at Strawberry Hill the fol
lowing memorandum in an envelope, on which was
written, 'Not to be opened until after my will,'

PREFACE xvii
was found, ' In my Library at Strawberry Hill are
two wainscot chests or boxes, the larger marked
with an A, the lesser with a B. I desire, that as
soon as I am dead, my Executor and Executrix
will cord up strongly and seal the larger box,
marked A, and deliver it to the Honourable Hugh
Qonway Seymour, to be kept by him unopened and
unsealed till the eldest son of Lady Waldegrave, or
whichever of her sons, being Earl of Waldegrave,
shall attain the age of twenty-five years, when the
said chest, with whatever it contains, shall be
delivered to him for his own. And I beg that the
[honourable Hugh Conway Seymour, when he
shall receive the said chest, will give a promise in
•\yriting, signed by him, to Lady Waldegrave, that
he or his representatives will deliver the said chest
unopened and unsealed by my Executor and
Executrix, to the first son of Lady Waldegrave
who shall attain the age of twenty-five years. The
key of the said chest is in one of the cupboards of
the green closet, within the blue breakfast-room at
Strawberry Hill, and that key, I desire, may be
delivered to Laura, Lady Waldegrave, to be kept
by her till her son shall receive the chest.
March 2ist^ 1790.
(Signed) 'Hor. Walpole, Earl of Orford.
August 19th, 1796.'
In accordance with these directions 'the Igirger
box marked A ' was corded up and sealed with the

PREFACE

seals of Lord Frederick Campbell and the Hon.
Mrs. Anne Damer, the executor and executrix of
Horace Walpole's will, and delivered by them to
Lord Hugh Seymour, by whose representatives it
was handed over 'unopened and unsealed' to John,
sixth Earl of Waldegrave, in 1 8 1 8, on his attaining
the age of twenty-five. Upon examination, the box
was found to contain several bundles of letters,
arranged for publication, and a number of ms.
volumes entitled Memoires. These Memoirs were
placed by Lord Waldegrave in the hands of Henry,
third Lord Holland, who published the Memoires
of the last ten years of the Reign of King George
the Second in 1822. After his death in 1840 it was
discovered that Lord Holland had never com
menced the task of editing the Memoirs of the
Reign of King George the Third. Whereupon the
Duke of Grafton (then Earl of Eu.ston), as Lord
Waldegrave's surviving executor, intrusted the
editorship of these Memoirs to Sir Denis Le
Marchant, by whom they were at length published
in 1845 (London, Svo, 4 vols.). The Journal of
the Reign of King George the Third from the year
1771 to 1783, the last of Horace Walpole's works
to appear, was edited by Dr. Doran in 1859.
In spite of Walpole's many prejudices and
partialities, which he took little pains to disguise,
the value of these posthumous Memoirs to the
historical student can hardly be overrated. It
should always be borne in mind when criticising their

PREFACE xix
obvious defects that Walpole neither claimed the
title of historian, nor made any pretence to
infallibility. In the very first chapter of this
volume he is careful to remind his readers that
' these are memoirs, not history,' and goes on to
add that ' the inequality, and perhaps even the
contradictory opinions which may appear in them,
from being written at dififerent periods, forbid this
work to aim at the regular march of history.'^
While in his Joumal of the Reign of King George
the Third, after remarking that authentic papers
would 'corroborate the authenticity of these
memoirs,' he adds ' though in some things I may
have been misinformed, and in others, from my own
passions, I may have exaggerated faults.' " Not
withstanding Mr. Croker's solemn protests in the
Quarterly Review^ it may be safely said that no
contemporary writer, has thrown a stronger light
upon the inner workings of the political world of his
day. The brilliant and vivacious accounts which
he gives of the parliamentary debates alone are a
valuable addition to the history of the time, while
the details of the endless negotiations between the
various political factions, and the masterly descrip
tions of the men and manners of the last century
add still further to the value of his Memoirs. More
over, they have the additional merit of rarely ever
being dull.
1 See inf^a, p. 2. " See vol. i. p. 27S.
» Vol. xxvii. pp. 178-215 and vol. IxxviL pp. 253-298.

XX PREFACE
'Walpole's writings,' says Mr. Leslie Stephen,
' belong to the good old-fashioned type of history,
which aspires to be nothing more than the quint
essence of contemporary gossip. If the opinion be
pardonable in these days, history of that kind has
not only its charm, but its serious value. If not
very profound or comprehensive, it impresses upon
us the fact — so often forgotten — that our grand
fathers were human beings. The ordinary historian
reduces them to mere mechanical mummies ; in
Walpole's pages they are still living flesh and blood.
Turn over any of the proper decorous history books,
mark every passage, where for a moment we seem
to be transported to the past — to the thunders of
Chatham, the drivellings of Newcastle, or the
prosings of George Grenville, as they sounded in
contemporary ears — and it will be safe to say that,
on counting them up, a good half will turn out to
be reflections from the illuminating flashes of
Walpole. Excise all that comes from him, and the
history sinks towards the level of the solid Arch
deacon Coxe ; add his keen touches, and as in The
Castle of Otranto, the portraits of our respectable
old ancestors, which have been hanging in gloomy
repose upon the wall, suddenly step from their
frames, and for some brief space assume a spectral
vitality.' ^
Walpole commenced the task of writing The
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third
^ See Hours in a Library (1876), 2d ser., pp. 155-6.

PREFACE xxi
(from 1760 to 1772) on i8th August 1766, and
finished them in 1772, 'intending forthe future only
to carry on a Journal.' ^ These Memoirs cover a
period of the greatest political importance in our
national history. During the reigns of George the
First and George the Second, the Crown had leant
upon the support of the Whig party. In 1760 the
Whigs had been just forty-five years in office.
George the Third had been trained to regard them
as usurpers of the royal authority, and upon his
accession to the throne he determined to break
down the power of the great Whig families and
to regain for the Crown the power which it had
lost since the Revolution. By sowing dissensions
among the Whigs, he broke up the strong Whig
Ministry of Newcastle and Pitt, which had raised
England from the depths of degradation to a com
manding position in Europe. Bute, who was
appointed First Lord of the Treasury in May 1 762,
succeeded in obtaining the peace for which he and
his master were so eager, and on loth February
1763 the Treaty of Paris was signed. Meanwhile,
several of the Whig peers, who had disapproved
of the preliminaries of peace, were deprived of
their lord-lieutenancies. Whig placemen were dis
missed for their votes in Parliament, and even
inferior officials, who had owed their advance
ment to Whig patronage, were removed from their
offices.
1 Short Notes of my Life. See Walpole's Letters, vol. i. p. 76.

xxii PREFACE
Bute, frightened by his unpopularity, suddenly
resigned in April 1763, and was succeeded by
George Grenville, whom the King regarded as one
of Bute's followers. In this George soon found
himself mistaken, for while Bute's object had been
the furtherance of the King's authority, Grenville's
aim was the absolutism of Parliament. The trial of
John Wilkes, and the passing of the Stamp Act
were the two most memorable events of Grenville's
Ministry, which had been strengthened on Lord
Egremont's death by the accession of the Duke of
Bedford. Annoyed by the omission of his mother's
name from the Regency Bill, and irritated beyond
endurance by Grenville's lengthy lectures in the
royal closet, George finally turned Grenville out of
office in July 1765. The negotiations with Pitt
having failed, the Marquis of Rockingham, a man
of unblemished character, but of no great ability,
was placed at the head of the Treasury. During
Rockingham's shortlived Administration, which was
distrusted by the King as being distinctly a Whig
one, the American Stamp Act was repealed, and
General Warrants were condemned as illegal by a
resolution of the House of Commons. In July
1766, Rockingham was dismissed, and for the third
time the King had recourse to Pitt, who at length
consented to form a Government. The Duke of
Grafton was appointed First Lord of the Treasury,
Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Conway and Shelburne were the Secretaries of

PREFACE xxiii
State, while Pitt accepted a peerage with the title
of the Earl of Chatham, and took the insignificant
office of Lord Privy Seal.
In January 1767, Chatham's health gave way,
and the Ministry, without its natural leader, fell
into a state of weakness and division. During his
absence, Townshend's reckless scheme for taxing
American imports received the royal assent. Be
fore the close of 1768 Chatham recovered his
health, and formally resigned office. In 1769,
Wilkes, who had been elected four times for Middle
sex, was declared incapable of being returned, and
Colonel Luttrell, the Ministerial nominee, was seat
ed in his place. Grafton, whose unconstitutional
actions had brought discontent to the verge of
open outbreak, resigned in January 1770. He was
succeeded by Lord North, who fully acquiesced in
the King's policy, and was content to become a
mere instrument of the King's will. At first
North's tenure of office was exceedingly precarious,
but the death of George Grenville in November
1770 relieved him of an able opponent, and the
ranks of the Opposition became still more broken
up. In 1 771 the attempt of the House of Com
mons to prevent the publication of their debates,
was foiled by the action of Wilkes and the city
magistrates. In spite of this popular victory, how
ever. North's Ministry continued to gain in strength,
and George, at last, after a long and bitter struggle,
achieved the object on which he had set his

xxiv PREFACE
heart. With the death of the Princess Dowager of
Wales in February 1772, whose favourite exhorta
tion, ' George, be a King,' had made such a deep
impression on her son, Walpole fitly brings his
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third
to a close.
The text of the present edition has been printed
from Sir Denis le Marchant's edition of 1845, in
the preface to which it is stated that the Memoirs
were ' printed exactly as the author left them,
except that it has been thought right to suppress
a few passages of indecent tendency, and following
the example of Lord Holland, "two or three
passages, affecting the private characters of private
persons, and nowise connected with any political
event, or illustrative of any great public character.
have been omitted." ' ^ Walpole's own annotations
are throughout retained, and are given without any
distinguishing mark. Many of Le Marchant's notes
have bp :;i dispensed with. Those which remain
are denoted by the initials L. M. Some of these I
have silently corrected, where the alteration in the
wording has been slight, or where, as very fre
quently happened, the quotations were faulty. In
those cases where the ms. to which Le Marchant
referred has since been printed, a reference to the
printed copy has been given. The references to
the old editions of Walpole's Memoires ofthe Reign
1 The passage quoted by Sir Denis Le Marchant occurs in Lord Holland's
Preface to the Memoires of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of King George
the Second (li22), vol. i. p. xxxii.

PREFACE xxv
of King George the Second, and of Walpole's Letters
have been altered in every instance, and references
to the second edition of the Memoirs (1847), and
to Mr. Peter Cunningham's edition of the Letters
(1857-9) have been substituted. It only remains
for me to add that my own notes are distinguished
from those of Walpole and Le Marchant by the
letter E. G. F. Russell Barker.

20 Old Buildings,
Lincoln's Inn.

vol. I.

CONTENTS OF
THE FIRST VOLUME
CHAPTER I
PAGE
A.D. Career of George the Second  3
1 760. Auspicious circumstances under which George the Third ascended
the Throne .  ih.
Firmness of the Administration  4
Our Glory and Fortune in War  ib.
Precipitate Peace  e
Communication to the Prince of Wales of the death of George
the Second  a.
His conduct to the Duke of Cumberland . . . 6
The first Council ... . . . . ib.
George the Second's Will . ... ib.
The King's Speech to his Council . . .7

CHAPTER n
1760. Plan to carry the prerogative to an unusual height
Unpopularity and seclusion of the Princess of Wales
Intended duel between the Earl of Albemarle and General
Townshend 
Nov. l8th, Meeting of Parliament ...
The King's Speech 
Increase of the Court Establishment ....
Interview between Lord Bute and the Duke of Richmond
Irish Disputes ........
The King of Prussia's Victory over Marshal Daun .
Mauduit's Pamphlet on the German War
Ways and Means for the ensuing Year ....

14 ib.
17
18 ib.
ib.
20
23
25 ib.
26

CONTENTS

CHAPTER III
PAGE
1761. New Promotions  27
Lord Bute  28
Secrf t Article in the Treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse . 30
New tenure of the Judges  31
Lord Bute appears more ostensibly in the character of Minister ib.
Ministerial changes  ib.
Overtures by France for Peace . . . . 38

CHAPTER IV
1 76 1. March 1 8th, Thanks ofthe House of Commons to Mr. Onslow,
their Speaker  39
Lord Bath's Pamphlet .... 41
Solicitations by France for Peace ... . 42
Mr. Pitt disinclined to negotiate . . . . ib.
Expedition against Belleisle . . . . . ib.
Negotiation for Peace ... .44

CHAPTER V
1761. July Sth, Announcement of the King's intended Marriage 48
The Princess Dowager's aversion to her Son's Marriage . ib.
Schemes of Mr. Fox  ^9
Colonel Graeme despatched to Germany to select a Queen 50
Serious crisis in the Cabinet  .52
Lofty conduct of Mr. Pitt .  H,,
His draught for a Treaty with France . 5-5
Sept. 7th, Arrival of the new Queen c^
Her mental and personal characteristics . . cc
Disposal of the vacant Bishoprics . . cy
Lord Talbot and the Barons of the Cinque Ports 58

CHAPTER VI
1 76 1. Interposition of Spain in behalf of France .... 60
Oct. 5th and 9th, Resignation of Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple 62
Effect on the Nation of Mr. Pitt's secession from the Cabinet 63
His acceptance of a Peerage for his wife, and of a Pension . 64
His injudicious conduct  gg
Address to him from the Common Council of London, and
from Provincial Towns  -i
Nov. 3rd, Meeting of Parliament " g_'

CONTENTS

PAGE

1761. Choice of a Speaker  67
Nov. 6th, The King's Speech  69
The Address  {i,,
Nov. 9th, The King and Royal Family dine in the City with
the Lord Mayor  ib.
Mr. Pitt's reception in Guildhall  70
Riots  ib.

CHAPTER VII
1761. Nov. 13th, Mr. Wilkes's censures on the ICing's Speech . 71
The Debate on continuing the War  72
The Queen's Dowry voted  77
Ministerial manoeuvres on the secession of Mr. Pitt . ib.
Nov. 25th, Meeting at the St. Alban's Tavern 78
Policy of the Court  79
Debate on the War in Germany .... .80
George Grenville's desertion of Pitt ... .81

CHAPTER VIII
1761. Debates in Parliament on the German War .... 85
Dec. I Ith, Discussion on our Affairs with Spain . . 88
Colonel Barry's insulting conduct to Mr. Pitt . 94
Family Compact between France and Spain . ¦ • 97
Portugal invaded by Charles the Third of Spain . . 98

CHAPTER IX
1762. Ja.n. 1st, Fuentes, the Spanish Ambassador, quits England . 100
J.in 4th, War declared against Spain .... 102
Divisions in the Council respecting the War with Spain . 103
Expedition to the Havannah  ib.
Jan. 19th, Meeting of Parliament  ib.
Court intrigues in France against Marshal Broglio and his brother 109
Preponderating influence and haughtiness of Lord Bute . . no
The Duke of York's contempt of Lord Bute and the Scotch ib.
Proceedings in the Parliament of Ireland . in
March 19th, Bill for continuing the Militia . . .112

CHAPTER X
176a. March a2nd. News of the Conquest of Martinico .113
War in Portugal  . ib.
Pacific disposition of the new Cznr . . . . ii8

CONTENTS

1762. His Popular measures 
Meditated War with Denmark by the Czar and the King of Prussia
Insurrection in Ireland, quelled by the Earl of Hertford .
The Portuguese War, and the War in Germany
Private negotiation with the Court of Vienna ....
April 28th, Creation of new Peers ....
Buckingham House purchased by the Queen .
Seclusion of the King and Queen 

PAGE 119119
121 122
124 ib.
125 ib.

CHAPTER XI
1762. May 12th, Debate in the House of Commons on a Vote of
Credit and the Support of Portugal . . . . 127
May 26th, The Duke of Newcastle's resignation . 133
Lord Bute is declared First Lord of the Treasury 135
Sir Francis Dashwood, Chancellor of the Exchequer ib.

CHAPTER XII
1762. Honours heaped on Lord Bute . . I39
Lord Halifax appointed to the Admiralty . . ib.
First appearance of The North Briton . . 140
Its excessive audacity ... . ib.
Sketch of its Author, John Wilkes ¦ . . 141
Churchill, Wilkes's Associate . . . 142
Capture and re-capture of Newfoundland . . 144
The French camp surprised by Prince Ferdinand . . ib.
Propensity of the Court for Peace . . . 145
The Empress Catherine .... 146
Horrible Conspiracy against Peter the Third . . ib.
Catherine raised to the Throne .... 147
Murder of Peter ....... ib.
Effect of the Russian revolution on the King of Prussia 148

CHAPTER XIII
1762. August I2th, Birth ofthe Prince of Wales
Treasure of the Hermione
Conquest of the Havannah
Indifference of the Court on that event
Negotiations for Peace ....
Reception in France of the Duke of Bedford
Beckford elected Lord Mayor
Duel between Lord Talbot and Wilkes
Disgust at the Union of Bute and Fox .
Purchase of a majority to approve the Peace

»5" ib.

J

ib.

!

151

i

ib.

ib.
153 ib.

i

156

IS7

1
i

CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV
1762. Nov. Sth, Preliminaries of Peace with France and Spain
Embassy to the Court of Spain offered to Lord Sandwich
Insult lo the Duke of Cumberland ....
Resignation of Lords Ashburnham and Kinnoul
Lord Lincoln's ingratitude lo the Duke of Newcastle
The Duke of York obliged to go to Italy
Attempt to propitiate Walpole

PACE 162 ib.
163 ib.
164165 16S

CHAPTER XV
1762. Conference between the Duke of Cumberland and Mr. Pitt . 173
Nov. 25th, Meeting of Parliament  174
Anxiety of the Ministers  175
Dec. gth, Debates in both Houses on the Preliminaries of Peace ib.
The Minority on the Division  184
Exultation of the Princess of Wales on the Preliminaries being carried ib.
Severe political persecution  ib.
Numerous dismissals ftom place  ib.

CHAPTER XVI
1763. Jan. 2nd, Death of John, Earl Granville . 186
Attack on Patent places ... . 187
Triumph of the Court .... 190
Favour shown to the friends of the Stuarts . . ib.
Observance of the Jacobite fast . . ib.
Committee to inspect madhouses . . • . 192
Accounts of the Navy ... ... ib.
The Standing Army .... ¦193

CHAPTER XVII
1763. Address to the King .... . 196
Sir Francis Dashwood's Budget . . ... 197
Tax on Cider .... .... 198
Discussion on Ways and Means  ib.
Ardent opposition to the Cider Tax  198
Petition from Newfoundland  199
March 28th, Debate in the Plouse of Lords on the Cider Bill . ib.
March 30th, Passing of the Bill  200
April Sth, George Grenville First Lord of the Treasury and
Chancellor of the Exchequer  204
Removal of Sir Francis Dashwood  ib.
Ministerial changes and promotions  »*•

xxxii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVIII
PAGE
1763. The Bedford Faction  2C36
Ambition of the Duchess of Bedford .... ib.
Reversions granted by Lord Bute before his resignation . . 210
Walpole's feelings towards that Minister . . . ib.
Bute's political acts ... . . 211
April Sth, Death of Lord Waldegrave  212
CHAPTER XIX
1763. April 19th, Lord Bute's pretended abdication of business . 214
The ' Triumvirate ' which succeeded him . . . ib.
Grenville's ingratitude to Lord Bute  215
April 23rd, The memorable Forty-fifth Number of the North
Briton  217
April 30th, Wilkes apprehended on a General Warrant . . 219
Committed close prisoner to the Tower  ib.
May 3rd, He is taken by Habeas Corpus to the Court of
Common Pleas  220
He is discharged from confinement . ib.
Triumph of Wilkes  221
His endeavour to obtain Warrants against the Secretaries of State ib.
Discontent in the Cider counties  222
Mortifications of the Court . . . . . . ib.
Wilkes challenged by Forbes .... . 223
Aug. 2ist, Sudden death of Lord Egremont . . . 224
CHAPTER XX
1763. Perplexity of the 'Triumvirate' . . . 225
Lord Bute's unsuccessfiil manoeuvres . ... ib.
Aug. 25th, Lord Halifax and Mr. Grenville remonstrate with
the King  226
Schemes of the Bedford Faction . 227
Aug. 28th, Mr. Pitt sent for by the King . . 228
Negotiation with the former . . H,
The Treaty broken off . . . 229
Causes of the rupture . .... ib.
The King's account of his Interviews with Pitt 230
Ministerial arrangements . . . 233
CHAPTER XXI
1763. Secret power of Lord Bute .... . , 236
His rupture with Pitt  237
Unanimous attempt to destroy Wilkes . . 239

CONTENTS xxxiii PAGE
1763. Death of Augustus the Third of Saxony  242
The Pope invites the Duke of York to Rome . . . 243
Humiliation of the helpless Line of Stnait . . . . ib.
Nov. 3rd, Charles Yorke resigns the Attorney-Generalship . ib.
Unfavourable commencement of the new Lord lientenant's
power in Ireland .  244

CHAPTER XXII
1763. Nov. 15111, Opening of Parliament . . 245
Wilkes's Essay on Woman laid before the House of Lords . ib.
Persecution of Wilkes, ... .... 248
He complains in the House of Commons of a Breach of Privilege 249
Warm Debate on the Question . . . ib.
Wilkes wotinded in a duel by Martin  252
Nov. i6th. The King's Speech read to the Commons 253
Postponement of the further hearing on Wilkes . . 254
Bestowal of the Bishopric of Osnabrugh . . . ib.

CHAPTER XXIII
1763. Nov. 23rd, Important question as to the Privilege of Parliament 255
257 ib.
2Jaz ib.
ib.
264 265 ib.
z66

Abandonment of General Warrants
Debate on the proceedings against Wilkes
The Moderator, a new scnrrilons paper .
Dec 3rd, Riot on the attempt to bum the North Briton
Dec 6th, Debate on this subject in the House of Lords
Triumph of Wilkes . . ...
Attempt to assassinate Wilkes
The East India Company and Lord Give
Outlawry against Wilkes
CHAPTER XXIV
1763. Lord Sandwich offers himself for the High Stewardship of
Cambridge
His ' Flying Pension ' . . - •
Di^racefiil grant to Count Virri
Dismissal of General A'Conrt .
Negotiation between Grenville, Conway, and Walpole

267 ib.
268 ib.
269

CHAPTER XXV
1764. Jan. l6th. Marriage of the Princess Augusta wilh the Hereditary
Duke of Brunswick  275
His marked opposition to the wishes of the King . - . 277
VOL. L ^

CONTENTS

PAGE

1764. Jan. 19th, Debates on Wilkes's complaint of Breach of Privilege 278
Jan. 20th, Sir William Meredith and Sir George Saville . ib.
The Essay on Woman . . . ... 282
Feb. 9th, The Marriage Bill . . . .285
Feb. 13th, Debate on Breach of Privilege . . . 286
Cases of Carteret Webbe, and Wood . . . , 288

CHAPTER XXVI
1764. Feb. 17th, Debates on the legality of General Warrants, and the
conduct of Wilkes, continued ... . . 293
Feb. 2 1st, Treatise entitled Droit le Roi condemned by the Lords 304

CHAPTER XXVII
1764. The Earl of Egmont .... 308
March gth. The Budget . ... 309
Taxation of the American Colonies . . . ib.
March 23rd, Appearance of the Lettres, Memoires, et Nigocia-
tions du Chevalier D' Eon, etc. . . ... 312
Contest at Cambridge . ...... 314
April I2th, Lord Clive appointed Governor-General of India . 315

CHAPTER XXVIII
1764. April 19th, Prorogation of the Parliament . . 319
Walpole's conduct on the dismissal of General Conway . . 320
May gth, Mr. Conway's regiment given to the Earl of Pembroke 330
May 22nd, Trial of Carteret Webbe for Perjury . . . 332
The Earl of Northumberland Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland . ib.

MEMOIRS

MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE THE THIRD

CHAPTER I
Motive* for writing thene Memoirs, — Their assistance to History. — Causes of
contradictory Opinions in the Writer, — Charter of Ocorge the Second. —
Anspiciotis circumstances under which Georgt the 'JTiird ascended the
Throne.— lirmneiis of the Aflmiriistration. — Our Glory and Fortune in
War, — Precipitate Peace,— Communication to the Prince of Wales of the
death of George the Second.— Mr, i'iitandthe lYinc-ss Amalic— Anec
dotes of the Accession of the new King, — His conduct to the Duke of
Cumberland, — The first Council. — Oeorf.;': the Second's Will,— Anecdotes,
—The King's Speech to his Council, — Mr. I'ilt and Lord Bute, — Duke of
Newcastle, — Duke of Devonshire. — The King's Mother. — Earl of Bute, —
Views of other Ministcrs,^ — Union of I'ilt and Newcastle, — City Politics.
— Inscription on Blackfriars' Bridge — Jacobites at St, James's,
Whoever has taken the trouble of reading my Me
moirs, which relate the transactions during the last ten
years of King George the Second, will have seen that I
had taken a resolution of interfering no more in public
affairs. It was no ambition, or .spirit of faction, that en
gaged me in them again. Inconstancy, or weariness of
retirement, were as little the motives of my return to
action. I am going to set forth the true causes ; and if I
am obliged to make more frequent mention of myself than
I should wish to do, it will be from the necessity I am under
of unfolding the secret springs of many events in which I
was unwillingly a considerable actor. It is to gratify no
VOL, ;. A

2 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
vanity that I relate them : my portion was not brilliant.
And though my counsels might have been more service
able to my country and to my friends if they had been
more followed, they were calculated to produce neither
glory nor profit to myself, and were much oftener neglected
than listened to. Nor should they be remembered here,
if many miscarriages had not accrued from the neglect of
them, as was felt and confessed by those to whom they
had been suggested.
How far I have been in the right or in the wrong, I
leave to the judgment of posterity, who shall be impartially
informed ; and who may draw some benefit from the know
ledge of what I have seen ; though few persons, I believe,
profit much from history. Times seldom resemble one
another enough to be very applicable ; and if they do, the
characters of the actors are very different. They, too, who
read history most, are seldom performers in the political
drama. Yet they who have performed any part in it, are
at least able to give the best account of it, though still
an imperfect one. No man is acquainted with the whole
plot ; as no man knows all the secret springs of the actions
of others. His passions and prejudices warp his judgment,
and cast a mist before the most penetrating sagacity.
Yet, partial as the narratives of the actors must be, they
will certainly approach nearer to truth than those of spec
tators, who, beholding nothing but events, pretend to ac
count for them from causes which they can but suppose,
and which frequently never existed. It is this assistance
to history which I now offer, and by which I may explain
some passages, which might otherwise never be cleared up.
I have a new reason for repeating here what I have said
in former pages, that these are memoirs, not history. The
inequality, and perhaps even the contradictory opinions
which may appear in them from being written at different
periods, forbid this work to aim at the regular march of
history. As I knew men more, I may have altered my
sentiments of them— they themselves may have changed.
If I had any personal causes for changing my opinion, I

KING GEORGE III. 3
have told them fairly that the fault may be imputed to my
passions, rather than to those I speak of. The actions of
the persons must determine whether they altered, or I was
prejudiced. But, though this dissonance may cast un
equal colours on my work, I choose to leave it as I wrote
it, having at each period spoken truth as it appeared to
me. I might have made it more uniform by correction ;
but the natural colouring would have been lost ; and I
should rather have composed than written a history. As
it stands an original sketch, it is at least a picture of my
own mind and opinions. That sketch may be valuable to
a few who study human nature even in a single character.
But I will make no further apology for a work which I
am sensible has many faults ; which I again declare I do
not give as a history ; and to which, if it has not merits
sufficient to atone for its blemishes, I desire no quarter
may be given. Remember, reader, I offer you no more
than the memoirs of men who had many faults, written by
a man who had many himself ; and who writes to inform
you, not to engross your admiration. Had he given you a
perfect history, and a flattering picture of himself, his work
would have been a romance, and he an impostor. He
lived with a contempt of hypocrisy ; and writes as he lived.
George the Second, contradicting the silly presages
drawn from parallels, which had furnished opposition with
names of unfortunate Princes, who were the second of
their name, as Edward, Richard, Charles, and James, ter
minated his career with glory both to himself and his
people. He died, crowned with years and honours, and
respected from success ; which with the multitude is the
same as being beloved. He left a successor in the vigour
of youth, ready to take the reins, and a ministry universally
applauded, united, and unembarrassed by opponents.
No British monarch has ascended the tiirone with so
many advantages as George the Third. Being the first of
his line bora in England,^ the prejudice against his family as
^ Bom in Norfolk House, St. James's Square, London, on 24th May
1738.— E.

4 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
foreigners ceased in his person — Hanover was no longer
the native soil of our Princes ; consequently, attachment
to the Electorate was not likely to govern our councils, as
it had done in the last two reigns. This circumstance,
too, of his birth, shifted the unpopularity of foreign extrac
tion from the House of Brunswick to the Stuarts. In the
flower and bloom of youth, George had a handsome, open,
and honest countenance ; and with the favour that attends
the outward accomplishments of his age, he had none of
the vices that fall under the censure of those who are past
enjoying them themselves.
The moment of his accession was fortunate beyond ex
ample. The extinction of parties had not waited for, but
preceded, the dawn of his reign. Thus it was not a race of
factions running to offer themselves, as is common, to a
new Prince, bidding for his favour, and ready each to be
disgusted if their antagonists were received with more
grace ; but a natural devolution of duty from all men to the
uncontroverted heir of the Crown, who had no occasion to
court the love of his subjects, nor could fear interrupting
established harmony but by making any change in a sys
tem so well compacted. The administration was firm, in
good harmony with one another, and headed by the most
successful genius that ever presided over our councils.
Conquests had crowned our arms with wonderful circum
stances of glory and fortune ; and the young King seemed
to have the option of extending our victories and acquisi
tions, or of giving peace to the world, by finding himself
in a situation so favourable, that neither his ambition nor
moderation could have been equitably reprehended. The
designs and offences of France would have justified
a fuller measure of revenge ; moderation could want no
excuse. A passionate, domineering woman, and a Favourite,
without talents, soon drew a cloud over this shining
prospect. Without anticipating events too hastily, let it suffice to
say that the measure of war was pushed, without even a

KING GEORGE III. 5
desire that it should be successful ; and that, although
successful, it was unnaturally checked by a peace, too
precipitate, too indigested, and too shameful, to merit the
coldest eulogy of moderation.
The first moment of the new reign afforded a symptom
of the Prince's character ; of that cool dissimulation in
which he had been so well initiated by his mother, and
which comprehended almost the whole of what she had
taught him. Princess Amalie, as soon as she was certain
of her father's death, sent an account of it to the Prince of
Wales ; but he had already been apprised of it. He was
riding, and received a note from a German valet-de-
chambre, attendant on the late King, with a private mark
agreed upon between them, which certified him of the
event. Without surprise or emotion, without dropping a
word that indicated what had happened, he said his horse
was lame, and turned back to Kew. At dismounting he
said to the groom, ' I have said this horse is lame ; I forbid
you to say the contrary.'
Mr. Pitt was the first who arrived at Kensington, and
went to Princess Amalie for her orders. She told him
nobody could give him better counsel than his own. He
asked if he ought not to go to the Prince ? She replied
she could not advise ; but thought it would be right. He
went. I mention these little circumstances because they
show, from Mr. Pitt's uncertainty, that he was possessed
with none of the confidence and ardour of a man who
thinks himself a favourite.
From Kew the new King went directly to Carleton
House,^ which belonged to the Princess Dowager ; order
ing his servants and the Privy Council to wait for him at
Saville House, then his own residence ; and adjoining to
1 This house was built by Henry Boyle, Baron Carlton, on a piece of
ground, 'parcel of the Royal Garden near St. James's Palace,' leased to him
by Queen Anne in 1709. Frederick, Prince of Wales, purchased it from the
Dowager-Countess of Burlington in 1732. It subsequently became the
residence of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George iv., and was pulled
down in 1827, the columns of the portico being transferred to the National
Gallery.— E.

6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Leicester House,^ where the Princess usually lived. The
Duke of Cumberland went to Leicester House, and waited
two hours ; but was sent for, as soon as the King knew it,
to Carleton House, where he determined to stay, and
avoid the parade and acclamation of passing through the
streets : at the same time dismissing the guards, and
ordering them to attend the body of his grandfather.
To the Duke of Cumberland he marked great kindness,
and told him it had not been common in their family to
live well together; but he was determined to live well
with all his family. And he carried this attention so far
as to take notice to the Duke after council that his friend
Mr. Fox looked in great health. And again, when the Privy
Council had made their address to his Majesty by the
mouth of the Archbishop, it not being thought decent that
the compliment on the death of his father should be
uttered by the Duke, the King remarked it, and expressed
an apprehension that they had put a slight upon his
uncle. Nor would he suffer the name of his brother, the
Duke of York, to be mentioned in the public prayers,
because it must have taken place of that of the Duke of
Cumberland. At that first council the King spoke to nobody in
particular but his former governor. Lord Waldegrave.
His speech to them he made with dignity and propriety.
In whatever related to his predecessor he behaved with
singular attention and decency, refusing at first to give the
word to the guard ; and then only renewing what the
late King had given. He sent to Princess Amalie to
know where her father's will was deposited. She said
one copy had been entrusted to her eight or nine years
before ; but thinking the King had forgotten it, she had
lately put him in mind of it. He had replied, ' Did not
she know, that when a new will was made, it cancelled all
preceding?' No curiosity, no eagerness, no haste was
1 Leicester House, built by Robert Sydney, second Eari of Leicester,
formeriy stood at the north-east corner of Leicester Square. Adjoining it on
the west stood Saville House. — E.

A7A'(.' (//'.'('/('(TA' III. 7
o\|)ir,isod -by tlic iirw Klii|-;'oii tiial lirad ; nor tlio smallest
iniprdiiuriit thrown in the way of hin iMandfatlita's
hitriilioiiM. A tiriillfiiiaii' of tlu- HcticliuMihcr vva.s
iiuiiindiiitrly tli.HniiHiird, vvho rcl'imt'il lo .sit up with the
lioil), as i.M U.nud. Wihunt and Raiiliy," the late Kiiit;'s
plij'.'iiciaii .ind ,siM|;eoii, ai-iiiialiilcd th(> Kinf; with two
ivtinrMt.s oi' their iiiaHter, which were piuutiiallv' eoiuplied
with. They were, Ihal hi.s liody nii|',lit heeiuhahiied assiion
{\<A po.sMllUe, and ii doiilile (iiianlily <'l' pt>rrimie.s iist-d ; and
that tlu> .side ol' the lale Oneen'.s eolVui, left loose on
piirpo.se, ininiit he taken away aiul his bodj' iaiil close to
her.s. Ill Ills Iirst eoiiiieil the ls.iii|; naiiu-d liis lirotiier the- Duke
(if York, and Lord nute,* ol tiie Caiiinet. As no iioliee
was taken oI'Loiil liuntinj;doii, it iiulieat(>d an uneeilaiiity
wliether lie, who had iieen Master of tlie llor,st> to the
Kin^;- wluMi I'linee, or Lord (Sower, who had held that
olViee under the lale Kiiij;, shoulil fill the post. To the
.Speaker of the 1 louse ol I'oiiiiuons, the Kiiij; said it
should nol be his laiilt il' that asst-iuhl)' ilid not !;<> iiptin
biisiiie.ss (Mi'liei- in Ihe day than Ihey had done ol' late : a
llalleriii}; speech lo an old man attached lo old I'oiins.
The Kinji's .speech to his council alVoixU-d matter of
remark, and ;;ave eaily speiimcii ol' who was to he the
' Jolm rinvt'iluf;, ti u'lullvi" ol Sir Thomiis I'Uwriiii^;, llni(., ol .Axwoll
rmk. I'o. Hiiihiuw, llt> iHal ow J,(ul MiW ijfu. 1''.
' I'Mwiinl Wiliuol, M,l>,, ^l\v^l^'llm tuMiriiil lo lin- T'oiivs ; w«» ricjilrd
i\ lli\io\>ol oil ii,ll\ l''(>l\uu\iv ly.S'l- "'' iiiiUili'il Si\iiil\ Miu.sh, .l«ii[>t\lpi of
Kli'Imivl Mi'i\il. ri\v.li"liu\ ill Onliiiiuv lo iii'oi>;>- n., «ml iliod on Jisl
N\n(Mv\ln'i' r;Sri, nm'il nlwclv ilwi-r. 1''.
* jolin Kiiuliy. l''.U,r.S, mill l''.K,.'^., .^-ii'i).;*'!!!!! ,Si\ij;con lo the Kiuj.;; ilicil
on sSlli .Xn^iuil 177,1, tmd hmloil al riiolsrii llovpllsil. Ur i\tlt'i\il;-a ilooi^t- ii.
nt tli^, Hill 111' ol Uolllnnfn, Si'(> WiilpoloV I files |iSs7V vol. 1. |>. JJ5.
If.
* John .S|vii\il, \\m\\ V-m\ ol UuU-. 'I'hU no\\>in:ilioi\ \vi\v .M-wu-ly I'liliii.vpil
in |vuliUv\illoi\» ol llu- iliiY. ll I* lifiili'vl l>v M>. .Xilolpluis us » siniivli-
inMiilnidion lo iho Tilw I'ouiU'it, iiml i.s ilolcnilisl :is smli, oi\ iho uiwinul IhAt
Iho i;iv\om ol Iho Slolo hml hfoii iil«;\v. >\>i\>lilHli\t i\ Piivv ('ovinoiUoi.
Tht» I* i« luiM'onv'i'plioii, I'lir ri\\|>lY Ivonom ol ilu- I'oimvil >s>«UI U' f;nul(;cd
Iiy 110 >.mo lo i( ^\x-.\\ ollivci ol iho Kov;il lIvmsi'lioKI. Tho ix-;vl niioviuuv was
111* iivliukHion tnto Iho t"ivUtiu>l. L, M.

8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
confidential minister, and what measures were to be
pursued : for it was drawn by Lord Bute, and commu
nicated to none of the King's servants. It talked of a
bloody aTid expensive war, and of obtaining an honourable
and lasting peace. Thus was it delivered ; but Mr. Pitt
went to Lord Bute that evening, and, after an altercation
of three hours, prevailed that in the printed copy the words
should be changed to an expensive but just and tiecessary
war ; and that after the words honourable peace should be
inserted, in concert with our cdlies. Lord Mansfield and
others counselled these palliatives too; but it was two
o'clock of the following aftemoon before the King would
yield to the alteration. Whether, that the private Junto
could not digest the correction, or whether to give an idea
of his Majesty's firmness, I know not : but great pains
were taken to imprint an idea of the latter, as character
istic of the new reign ; and it was sedulously whispered
by the creatures of the Favourite and the mother, that it
was the plan to retain all the late King's ministers, but
that his Majesty would not be govemed by them, as his
grandfather had been. In confirmation of part of this
advertisement, the King told the Duke of Newcastle and
Mr. Pitt that he knew their attachment to the Crown, and
should expect theirs, and the assistance of aU honest men.
Mr. Pitt was too quick-sighted not to perceive what
would be the complexion of the new reign. His favourite
war was already strack at He himself had for some time
been on the coldest terms with Lord Bute ; for possession of
power, and reversion of power could not fail to make two
natures so haughty, incompatible. It was said, and I
believe with trath, that an outset so unpromising to his
darling measures made Mr. Pitt propose to the Duke of
Newcastle a firm union against the Favourite; but the
Duke loved intrigues and new allies too well to embrace it
And from that reftisal has been dated Mr. Pitt's animosity
to Newcastle ; though the part the latter took more openly
and more hostilely against him afterwards was suflScient
cause for that resentment Whether these two men, so

KING GEORGE III. 9
powerful in Parliament and in the nation, could have
balanced the headlong affection that attends every new
young Prince, is uncertain, — I tliink they could. A war
so triumphant had captivated the whole country. The
Favourite was unknown, ungracious, and a Scot : his
connexion with the Princess, an object of scandal. He had
no declared party ; and what he had was insignificant.
Nor would he probably have dared to stem such a body
of force as would have appeared against him. At least
the union of Pitt and Newcastle would have checked the
torment, which soon carried everything in favour of Pre
rogative. Newcastle's time-serving undermined Mr. Pitt,
was destructive to himself, threw away all the advantages
of the war, and brought the country to the brink of ruin.
Yet this veteran, so busy, so selfish, and still so fond of
power, for a few days acted the part he ought to have
adopted in earnest. He waited on the King, pleaded his
age, and begged to be excused from entering on a new
reign. The King told him he could not part with him.
Fortified with this gracious and comfortable command,
he next consulted his friends. It was not their interest
to point out to him the ridicule of thinking to rule
in the Cabinet of a third George, almost a boy. Four
days more determined the Duke to take a new court-lease
of folly.i
The Duke of Devonshire,'^ though greatly younger,
might not have been without difficulties too, if he had
pleased to remember them. He had been ill-treated in the
late reign by the Prince and Princess Dowager, hated the
Favourite, and had declared he would quit whenever the
new reign should commence ; but he thought better of it.
1 The Duke very soon discovered his power to be gone. Lord Bute's
predilection fbr the Tories was undisguised, and it soon became evident that
the Court had determined to break up the Whig party, the effect of which
would be to reduce the Duke to insignificance. See an interesting letter from
Mr. Rigby to the Duke of Bedford (19th December 1760), giving an account of
an interview ofthe former with the Duke of Newcastle. Bedford Correspond
ence (1842-46), vol. ii. p. 423. — L. M.
" William Cavendish, fourth Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Chamberlain.

IO MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The Princess, whose ambition yielded to none, was desir
ous to figure in the new era, and demanded to be declared
Princess-Mother. Precedents were searched for in vain ; and
she missed even this shadow of compensation for the loss of
the appellation of Queen — a loss which she showed a little
afterwards she could not digest
The Earl of Bute seemed to act with more moderation.
His credit was manifest ; but he allotted himself no
ministerial office, contenting himself for the present with the
post of Groom of the Stole, which he had filled under the
Prince, and for which room was prepared by removing
the Earl of Rochford ^ with a large pension. Lord Bute's
agents gave out that he would upon no account interfere or
break with Mr. Pitt. The latter, however, did not trast to
these vague assurances, but endeavoured to maintain the
preceding system : talked to the King of the Duke of
Newcastle as first minister, and as wishing him to continue
so ; and said he had never chosen any other channel for
his addresses or demands to the late King — an intimation
that he would make none through Lord Bute. For himself,
he had meddled with nothing but the war, and he wished
his Majesty to give some mark that he approved the
measures of the late reign.
The other ministers were not less attentive to their
own views. The Duke of Bedford ^ insisted on retuming
to the Govemment of Ireland, and that Lord Gower'
should remain Master of the Horse ; but the latter point
I WiUiam Henry Nassau Zulestein, fourth Earl of Rochford. He was
descended from General Zulestein, a natural uncle of William in. ; and
his grandfather, the first Earl, had been one of the favourite generals of
that Monarch. Lord Rochford had been minister at Turin ftom 1749 to
175s, when he was appointed Groom of the Stole, to the great disappoint
ment of Eari Poulett, the first Lord of the Bedchamber, who, in consequence,
resigned his employment Walpole's Memoirs of George II. (1847), voL ii.
p. 18.— L. M.
» The Duke of Bedford was no favourite of Walpole, owing to a private
quarreL There is no reason for suspecting that it could have been intended
to remove his Grace from the Govemment of Ireland, a post which he had
occupied with great reluctance (Walpole's Memoirs of George II. (1847),
voL ii. p. 271), and was glad to vacate shortly afterwards. — L. M.
' Granville Leveson, Earl Gower, brother ofthe Duchess of Bedford.

KING GEORGE III. ii
was accommodated by the removal of Sir Thomas Robin
son (with a pension) from the Great Wardrobe, which was
bestowed on Lord Gower ; and Lord Huntingdon con
tinued in the post he had enjoyed under the Prince. Mr.
Mackenzie, the Favourite's brother, was destined to be
Master of the Robes, but was forced to give way to the
Duke of Newcastle, who obtained it for Mr. Brudenel ; ^
for, though bent on making his court, his Grace as often
marred his own policy as promoted it.
Yet this seeming union of Pitt and Newcastle, on which
the influence of the former in some measure depended,
disgusted the city. They said that Mr. Pitt had tem
porised with Newcastle before from necessity, but now
it was matter of election. Yet by the intervention of
Mr. Pitt's agents, the City of London recommended to
the King to be advised by his grandfather's ministers ;
and they even hinted at the loss the King of Prussia would
suffer by the death of his uncle. Their attachment to
their idol did not stop there. The first stone of the new
bridge at Blackfriars was laid by the Lord Mayor a few
days after the King's accession, and on it was engraved
so bombast an inscription in honour of Mr. Pitt, and drawn
up in such bad Latin, that it furnished ample matter of
ridicule to his enemies.^
The Favourite, though traversed in his views by the
power of these two predominant men, had not patience
to be wholly a cypher, but gave many lesser and in
direct marks of his designs. A separate standard was
to be erected. Lord George Sackville had leave to pay
his duty to the King, and was well received ; * which gave
such offence to Mr. Pitt, that Lord George was privately
^ James Brudenel, brother of the Earl of Cardigan, to which title he
afterwards succeeded. He died without issue in i8i I, aged eighty-six. — L. M.
^ This bridge was built by Robert Mylne. When first opened it was called,
by order of the Common Council, ' Pitt Bridge.' It was demolished; in 1864
to make way for the present structure. For a copy of the inscription, see
Almon's Anecdotes of William Pitt, Lord Chatham (1793), vol. iii. p. 381. — E.
^ He had been dismissed the army in April 1760 for disobedience to orders
at the battle of Minden. — E.

12 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
instracted to discontinue his attendance. Lady Mary
Stuart,^ daughter ofthe Favourite, and Lady Susan Stuart,^
daughter of the Earl of Galloway, a notorious and in
temperate Jacobite, were named of the Bedchamber to
the Lady Augusta, the King's eldest sister ; and Sir Henry
Erskine^ was restored to his rank, and gratified with an
old regiment The Earl of Litchfield, Sir Walter Bagot,
and the principal Jacobites, went to Court, which George
Selwyn, a celebrated wit, accounted for from the number
of Stuarts that were now at St James's.
^ Eldest daughter of John, Earl of Bute; afterwards married to Sir James
Lowther. ^ Afterwards third wife of Granville Leveson, Earl Gower.
' He had been dismissed for joining Mr. Pitt, and the Prince had at the
time promised to restore him upon coming to the throne. See the Duke of
Richmond's letter of 2ist June 1783, in the Appendix to Dodington's Diary.
— L. M.

KING GEORGE III 13

CHAPTER II
Countenance shown to Tories. — Effect of Tory Politics on the Nation. — Plan
to carry the Prerogative to an unusual height. — Unpopularity and Se
clusion of the Princess of Wales. — Difficulty of access to the King. —
Manoeuvres of his Mother. — Character of Lord Bute, and his Schemes to
conciliate the King. — Archbishop Seeker. — Character of George the Third.
— Intended Duel between the Earl of Albemarle and General Townshend.
— Cause of the Quarrel. — The King's Speech. — Pitt and Beckford. —
Increase of the Court Establishment. — The Dukes of Richmond and
Grafton. — Interview between Lord Bute and the Duke of Richmond. —
Advice to the latter by the Duke of Cumberland. — The King's Revenue.
— The Princess Dowager's Passion for Money. ^ — The Earl of Lichfield. —
Viscount Middleton. — Partiality to the Tories. — Inconsistency of the Duke
of Newcastle. — Irish Disputes. — The King of Prussia's Victory over Mar
shal Daun. — Mauduit's Pamphlet on the German War. — Ways and Means
for the ensuing Year.
The countenance shown to the Tories, and to their
citadel, the University of Oxford, was at first supposed
by those who stood at a distance from the penetralia, the
measure of Mr. Pitt, as consonant to his known desire of
uniting — that was breaking — all parties. But the Tories,
who were qualified for nothing above a secret, could not
keep even that They came to Court, it is true ; but they
came with all their old prejudices. They abjured their
ancient master, but retained their principles ; and seemed
to have exchanged nothing but their badge, the White
Rose for the White Horse. Prerogative became a fashion
able word ; and the language of the times was altered
before the Favourite dared to make any variation in the
Ministry. These steps did not pass unnoticed : nor was the nation
without jealousy, even in the first dawn of the reign.
Papers were stuck up at the Royal Exchange and in
Westminster Hall, with these words. No Petticoat Govern-

14 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
ment; no Scotch Favourite. An intemperance which pro
ceeded so far afterwards, that, as the King passed in his
chair to visit his mother in an evening, the mob asked
him if he was going to suck .' The Princess herself was
obliged to discontinue frequenting the theatres, so gross
and insulting were the apostrophes with which she ¦wzs
saluted from the galleries.
The views of the Court were so fully manifested after
wards, that no doubt can be entertained but a plan had
been early formed of carrying the prerogative to very
unusual heights. The Princess was ardently fond of
power, and all its appanages of observance, rank, and
wealth. The deepest secrecy and dissimulation guarded
every avenue of her passions ; and close retirement w&s
adapted to these purposes. She could not appear in
public (after the arrival of the Queen) as the first woman
of the kingdom : her unpopularity made her pride tremble ;
and privacy shrouded such hours as were not calculated
to draw esteem ; and it contracted her expenses. After
the King's marriage she appeared seldom or never at St.
James's, nor deigned to accompany the ceremony of the
coronation. The attendance of her ladies was dispensed
with except on drawing-room days ; and by degrees even
her maids of honour and women of the bedchamber were
removed from her palace, where she lived in a solitude
that would have passed for the perfection of Christian
humility in the ages of monkish ignorance. Jealousy of
her credit over her son made her impose almost as strict
laws of retirement on him. He was accessible to none
of his Court but at the stated hours of business and cere
mony : nor was any man but the Favourite, and the crea
tures with whom he had garrisoned the palace, allowed to
converse with the King. Affection had no share in this
management. The Princess, who was never supposed to disclose her
mind with freedom,^ but on the single topic of her own
1 Richard Temple, Lord Cobham, who had been much engaged with
Frederick, Prince of Wales, being asked by Henrietta, Lady Suffolk, what

KING GEORGE III. i;
children, had often mentioned her eldest son with con
tempt ; and during the life of her husband had given into
all his partiality for the Duke of York. When her views
of governing by her husband were cut off, she applied to
the untutored inexperience of his heir : and the first step
towards the influence she meditated was by filling his
mind with suspicions and ill impressions of all mankind.
His uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, was made another
instrument The young Prince had a great appetite : he
was asked if he wished to be as gross as his uncle ? Every
vice, every condescension was imputed to the Duke, that
the Prince might be stimulated to avoid them.
The Favourite, who had notions of honour, and was
ostentatious, endeavoured to give a loftier cast to the
disposition of his pupil, though not to the disparagement
of the vassalage in which he was to be kept. Lord Bute
had a little reading,^ and affected learning. Men of genius,
the arts and artists were to be countenanced. The arts
might amuse the young King's solitary hours : authors
might defend the measures of Government, and were sure
to pay for their pensions with incense, both to their passive
and active protectors. The pedantry and artifice of these
shallow views served but to produce ridicule. Augustus
fell asleep over drawings and medals, which were pushed
before him every evening ; and Maecenas had so little
knowledge, and so little taste, that his own letters grew
a proverb for want of orthography ; and the scribblers he
was the real character of the Princess, replied, ' She was the only woman he
could never find out : all he had discovered was, that she hated those most
to whom she paid most court.'
^ This criticism of Lord Bute is not borne out by facts. The fine collection
of pictures made by his lordship at Luton prove the munificence and discern
ment with which he patronised painting. Luton itself, the building, or rather
the enlargement of which he is known to have personally superintended, with
many faults had likewise many beauties, and was surpassed in taste by few
of the mansions of that date, and certainly not by Strawberry Hill. He had,
in fact, a genuine love both of painting and architecture, and his efforts to
infuse the same into the mind of his royal pupil did not entirely fail, for
George lll.'s example was unquestionably a great improvement iu this respect
on his immediate predecessors, — L. M,

i6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
countenanced were too destitute of talents to raise his
character or their own. The coins of the King were the
worst that had appeared for above a century; and the
revenues of the Crown were so soon squandered in pur-
chcising dependants, that architecture, the darling art of
Lord Bute, was contracted from the erection of a new
palace to altering a single door-case in the drawing-room
at St James's. Yet his emissaries, the Scotch, were inde
fatigable in coining popular sayings and sentences for the
King. It was given out that he would suffer no money
to be spent on elections. Circumstances that recoiled
with force, when every one of those aphorisms were contra
dicted by practice.
But the chief engine to conciliate favour was the King's
piety. The Princess, no doubt, intended it should be real,
for she lived in dread of a mistress. But mankind was
not inclined to think that her morals could have imprinted
much devotion on the mind of her son : nor was any man
the dupe of those professions but Seeker, the Archbishop,
who, for the first days of the reign, flattered himself with
the idea of becoming first minister in a Court that hoisted
the standard of religion. He was unwearied in attendance
at St. James's,^ and in presenting bodies of clergy ; and his
assiduity was so bustling and assuming that, having pushed
aside the Duke of Cumberland to get at the King, his
Royal Highness reprimanded him with a bitter taunt
The prelate soon discovered his mistake. Xor were the
Princess or the Favourite inclined to trast the King in the
hands of a Churchman, whom they knew so well, and
whose sanctity was as equivocal as their own.
As far as could be discerned of the King's natural
disposition it was humane and benevolent If flowing
courtesy to all men was the habit of his dissimulation,
^ Archbishop Seeker has been in more than one instance misrepresented by
Walpole. It is most improbable that he should have entertained the views
here ascribed to him. As the head of the Church, it necessarily became his
duty to attend frequently at Court on the commencement of a new reign, as
has since happened to his successors without their incurring any such imputa
tion. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 17
at least it was so suited to his temper that no gust of
passion, no words of bitterness, were ever known to break
from him. He accepted services with grace and appear
ance of feeling : and if he forgot them with an unrestrained
facility, yet he never marked his displeasure with harsh
ness. Silence served him to bear with unwelcome ministers,
or to part with them. His childhood was tinctured with
obstinacy : it was adopted at the beginning of his reign,
and called firmness, but did not prove to be his complexion.
In truth, it would be difficult to draw his character in
positive colours. He had neither passions nor activity.
He resigned himself obsequiously to the govemment of
his mother and Lord Bute : learned, and even entered with
art into the lessons they inspired, but added nothing of
his own. When the task was done, he relapsed into
indifference and indolence till roused to the next day's
part^ The first gust of faction that threatened the new era
was an intended duel between the Earl of Albemarle ^ and
General George Townshend.* A pamphlet was published
against the latter,* reflecting bitterly on the vanity with
which he had assumed a principal share in the conquest of
Quebec, though the honour of signing the capitulation had
only fallen to him by the death of Wolfe and the wounds
1 When Prince of Wales, Scott, his sub-preceptor, reproached him with
inattention to his studies. The Prince pleaded idleness. ' Idle ! sir,' said
Scott; 'your brother Edward is idle; but do you call being asleep being
idle?' ^ George Keppel, third Earl of Albemarle, a favourite of the Duke of
Cumberland, and afterwards conqueror of the Havannah.
* George, eldest son of Charles, Lord Viscount Townshend (afterwards
Marquis of Townshend). His name often appears in these Memoirs. [Town
shend had served at Dettingen, Fonfenoy, and Culloden. He rose to the
rank of a General in the army on 20th November 1782, and became a Field-
Marshal on 30th July 1796. He held the post of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
from 1767 to 1772, and on 31st October 1787 was created Marquis Townshend.
He died on 14th September 1807, aged eighty-three. — E.]
* A Letter to the Honourable Brigadier-General, Commander-in-Chief of
His Majestys Forces in Canada (London, 1760, 8vo). A pamphlet, entitled A
Refutation of the Letter, etc. (London, 1760, Svo), was published by 'an
Officer ' in reply. — E.
VOL. I. B

i8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
of Monckton ; an honour so little merited that he had
done his utmost to traverse Wolfe's plans. The pamphlet,
too, set forth the justice of taking such freedom with a
man whose ill-nature had seized every opportunity of
ridiculing those he disliked by exhibiting their personal
defects in caricatures, which he had been the first to apply
to politics. His uncle the Duke of Newcastle, the Duke
of Cumberland, and Mr. Fox, had been the chief objects
of those buffoon satires. The pamphlet was certainly
written under the direction of the last, and could not fail
to be agreeable to the partisans of the second. It wounded
so deeply that Townshend, in the first blindness of his
rage, concluded it came from the person he hated most
and had most offended — that was the Duke of Cumber
land ; and as Lord Albemarle was the first favourite of
his Royal Highness, thither Townshend addressed his
resentment, though no man was less an author than the
Earl. A challenge passed, was accepted, and prevented
in time by Townshend's want of caution.
On the eighteenth of November the Parliament met
Many Tories, though they had received no formal invitation,
appeared at the Cockpit ^ to hear the King's speech read.
It was composed, as usual, by Lord Hardwicke, was long
and dull, and had received additions from Pitt On the
Address Beckford proposed to push the war with more
vigour, the end of the last campaign having, he said, been
languid. Pitt fired at this reproach from his friend, though
certainly not levelled at him, and asked Beckford what
new species of extravagance he wished for ? The Address
from Oxford had other objects in view. They boasted
openly of their attachment to Monarchy. As all places
were already filled with Whigs, the Court was forced to
increase the establishment in order to admit their devotees.
The King's Bedchamber received six or eight additional
1 The Cockpit, erected at Whitehall by Henry vm., was altered into the
Privy Council Office at the end of the seventeenth century. Though used as
Govemment offices, it long retained the name of the Cockpit See Memoirs
and Correspondence of Francis Homer (1843), vol. i. pp. 182-3, and The
Greville Memoirs, 1st series (1874), vol. ii. p. 70.  E.

KING GEORGE IIL 19
Grooms and seven Gentlemen. Most of the late King's
were continued ; the King's own were joined with them ;
the rest were taken from the Tories.
The Duke of Richmond,^ haughty and young, was
offended that his cousin. Colonel Keppel,^ was removed
from Gentleman of the Horse, which the King destined
for one of his own servants. The Duke asked an audience ;
but began it with objecting to the distinction paid to Sir
Henry Erskine.* This so much disgusted, that the King
would not hear the Duke on the subject of Keppel. On
cooler thoughts. Lord Bute was sent to the Duke to offer
him to be of the King's Bedchamber. He accepted it on
condition that Keppel should remain Gentleman of the
Horse, which was likewise granted. But this pacification
lasted few days. Lord Fitzmaurice,* a favourite of Lord
Bute, was made Equerry to the King ; though inferior in
military rank to Lord George Lenox * and Charles Fitz
roy,® brothers of the Dukes of Richmond and Grafton.
The latter^ had been of the Bedchamber to the King, when
Prince, but had quitted it from dislike of court attendance,
* Charles Lennox, third Duke of Richmond.
' William Keppel, a younger gon of William, second Earl of Albemarle, by
Lady Anne Lennox, daughter of Charles, first Duke of Richmond. He
served nnder his brother in the expedition to the Havannah. He became a
Lieutenant-General 26th May 1772, was appointed Commander-in-Chief in
Ireland in December 1773, and died on Ist March 1782. — E.
' There is a slight inaccuracy in this statement . Tbe Duke's resentment was
not so generous. The object of his interview with the King was to promote
Ids own interest, not tbat of Colonel KeppeL See tbe Duke of Richmond's
letter of 21st June 1783, in the Appendix to Dodington's Diary. — L. M.
* William Petty, Lord Fitzmaurice, eldest son of the Earl of Shelburne,
whom he succeeded in that title May 17, 1761 ; and by wbich title he will be
freqnently mentioned in tbe following Memoirs.
' Lord George Henry Lennox was the fourth son of Charles, second Duke
of Richmond. He becamea General in the army 25th October 1793, and died
on 22nd March 1805.— E.
• Charles Fitzroy, second son of Lord Aogustus Fitzroy, second son of
Charles, second Duke of Grafton, and only brother of Augustus Henry, third
Dnke of Grafton. He distinguished himself at tbe battle of Minden, where be
served on the staff of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. He was created l.ord
Sonthampton in 1780, and died on the 21st March 1797, aged sixty. — L.M.
' Angosttis Henry, Duke of Grafton, afterwards First Lord of tbe Treasury.

20 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
and disgusted with the haughty stateliness affected by Lord
Bute. Richmond and Grafton were much of an age ; each
regarded himself as Prince ofthe Blood ; and emulation soon
created a sort of rivalship between them. The Duke of
Richmond's figure was noble, and his countenance singularly
handsome. The Duke of Grafton was low, but manly, and
with much grace in his address. The passions of both were
strong, but ofthe first, ardent ; ofthe latter, slow and inflex
ible. His temper was not happy ; but the Duke of Rich
mond's, which was thought worse, because more impetuous,
was pliant, and uncommonly easy and accommodating
in his family and society. Both were thought avaricious ;
but the latter very unjustly, generally approaching nearer
to the opposite extreme of profusion. His parts, too,
were quicker and more subtle than Grafton's, and more
capable of application, though his elocution was much
inferior. The Duke of Grafton had a grace and dignity
in his utterance that commanded attention, and dazzled in
lieu of matter ; and his temper being shy and reserved, he
was supposed to be endued with more steadiness than his
subsequent conduct displayed. Neither of them wanted
obstinacy ; but their obstinacy not flowing from system,
it was in both a torrent more impetuous in its course than
in its duration.
The Duke of Grafton made a decent representation to
the King, on the wrong done to his brother, and demanded
rank for him. The other Duke carried a violent memorial,
and commented on it in a manner which, some years after
wards, he found had never been forgotten or forgiven.
The next day he resigned the Bedchamber, but not his
regiment In a few days he repented this step, and went
to Lord Bute to explain away his resignation, which, he
said, might not be known. Lord Bute replied all the
world knew it. The Duke, thinking this coldness pro
ceeded from a suspicion that he was influenced by Fox,'
' Henry Fox had married Lady Caroline Lenox, eldest daughter of Charles,
late Duke of Richmond, without the consent of her father and mother, who
were some years unreconciled to her.

KING GEORGE III. 21
his brother-in-law, disclaimed all connexion with him, and
said he had never approved his sister's marriage. Lord
Bute, who even then probably had views of Fox's support
as a counterbalance to Pitt, replied that Mr. Fox's alliance
could be a disgrace to no man ; as he must always be of
great use and weight in this country. Yet the Duke's
youth and frankness made him avow what he had said to
Fox himself, in the presence of Lord Albemarle, who,
though not much older, had far more worldly cunning, and
no doubt reported the conversation to his master, the
Duke of Cumberland ; for Richmond and Albemarle,
though first cousins, were no friends ; and the latter pos
sessed all the arts of a court. The Duke, rebuffed by the
favourite, next consulted the Duke of Cumberland, who
told him prudently that he was sorry the Duke of Rich
mond, at twenty-three, had quarrelled with the King at
twenty-two ; and advised him to retire into the country,
which he did. The effects of these squabbles will appear
hereafter, which made it proper to state them here.
The King's revenue was settled and fixed to eight hun
dred thousand pounds a year, certain. In the late reign
any overplus was to accrue to the Crown, but had ever
produced so trifling an augmentation, that the present
boasted restriction, which was often quoted as one great
merit of the new Government, was not worth mentioning.
It is true this revenue was by no means ample, consider
ing the large incumbrances with which it was loaded.
The Duke of Cumberland's annuity (exclusive of the
Parliamentary grant of twenty-five thousand pounds
a year) was fifteen thousand pounds ; Princess Amalie's
twelve thousand. The King's brothers were to be pro
vided for out of it ; so was a future Queen ; and the
Princess Dowager's jointure was of fifty thousand pounds
a year from the same fund. Yet, though her dower was
so great — though she reduced her family, and lived in a
privacy that exceeded economy, and though she had a
third of the Duchy of Cornwall, which produced four
thousand pounds a year more, her passion for money was

22 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
so great that she obtained an additional annuity of ten
thousand pounds a year from her son.' The Electorate
suffered for these exigencies of the Crown. Whatever
money could be drawn from thence was sunk in the privy
purse, which was entirely under the direction of Lord Bute.
The Earl of Litchfield,^ a leader of the Tories, was
added to the King's Bedchamber, as the Earl of Oxford,^
and Lord Bruce * had been before, with the Scotch
1 It was given under pretence of paying the late Prince her husband's debts.
Whether she did discharge any of them I neither know nor deny ; some, I
have heard, remained unpaid, not only at her death, but in the year 1788.
" George Henry Lee, Earl of Lichfield, High Steward, and afterwards
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, had been a zealous partisan of the
House of Stuart, of which he was an illegitimate branch, his grandfather,
Edward, the first Earl, having married a daughter of Charles II. by the
Duchess of Cleveland. Lord Lichfield was too much a man of pleasure
to shine in politics, or he might at this crisis have taken a leading part in
public affairs, for his abilities were considerable. The following ironical
character of him is almost the only instance in which Wilkes has described an
opponent with candour and truth : ' The Captain (Giddy) was a sprightly
fellow in his youth, and is remembered about twenty years ago to have made
a very good speech or two at some of your public meetings in London. From
this time, however, the figure he hath made in the world hath not been much
to his credit. The chief of his company, till within these two years, have
been parsons and country squires. They used to lead him about to races,
cock-matches, and country clubs, where he was apt sometimes to drink a Uttle
too freely. A course of life of this sort brought on a swimming in his head,
so that he hath frequently been supposed not to be sensible where he was, or
what he was about. Hence he hath been known in the late times of party
violence, in the same sort of company, and within a few days of each other,
to drink Exclusion to the House of Hanover, and confusion to all Jacobites.'
— No-rth Briton, No. 29. Lord Lichfield died in 1772. The title did not go
beyond the third generation, though the first Earl had thirteen sons, of whom
six lived to manhood. — L. M.
2 Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, was grandson ofthe
Lord Treasurer's brother, on whom the title had been specially limited, on
failure of issue male in the direct line. He died in 1 790, aged sixty-four.  L. M.
4 Thomas Brudenell, Baron Bruce of Tottenham, fourth son of George, third
Earl of Cardigan, by Lady EUzabeth Brace, eldest daughter of Thomas, second
Eari of Ailesbury. Upon the death of his maternal uncle, Charles, third and
last Eari of Ailesbury (cr. 1664) in February 1747, he succeeded tothe barony
of Bruce (cr. 1746) and the bulk of the Ailesbury property. He assumed the
additional surname of Brace, which was confirmed to him by the King's sign-
manual, gth December 1767, was created Earl of Ailesbury Sth June 1776,
and died 19th April 1814, aged eighty-five. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 23
Earls of March' and Eglinton.^ The Lord Viscount
Middleton,^ an Irish Peer, was the first who, in the House
of Commons, here broached a hint of jealousy against the
channel in which Court favour seemed to flow. He was
ridiculed for it by Charles Townshend ; but the spirit of
dissatisfaction had been infused into the former by the
Duke of Newcastle, who openly censured the new par
tiality to the Tories. Partiality there was, but the griev
ance came with an ill grace from Newcastle. Stone,* sus
pected for more than a Tory, had been placed by him as
preceptor to the King ; Lord Mansfield had been his
bosom favourite ; and to gratify that favourite, the exten
sion of the Habeas Corpus had been prevented. To gain
the Tories had been a prudent measure, but their prin
ciples were still more welcome to the Court than their
votes. Having only votes to offer, and neithernumbers
nor abilities, they brought much discredit on their patron,
and little strength to his assistance.
In Ireland the prospect was not more promising. By
Poyning's law the Privy Council of Ireland are to transmit
hither all heads of bills, particularly of money-bills. This
latter was omitted by the intrigues of the Primate, courting
popularity. The bills were sent back with a severe repri-
^ William Douglas, third Eail of March. He succeeded his cousin Charles
as fourth Duke of Queensberry in August 17SS, and was subsequently known
as 'Old Q.' He died at his house iu Piccadilly (now No. 138) on 23rd
December iSio, in his eighty-sixth year. — E.
^ Alexander Montgomery, Earl of Eglinton, an intelligent, public-spirited
nobleman. Scotland is greatly indebted to him for the agricultural improve
ments he introduced upon his estates in Ayrshire, and still more for the benefit
of his example on other large landed proprietors. He was mortally wounded
in an accidental scuffle with an officer of Exci.se, whom he found poaching in
his park, and died on the 25th October 17^59. The murderer was convicted,
and only escaped execution by hanging himself in prison. Wood's Fci-mge
of Scotian,/, vol. i.— L. M.
^George Brodrick, third ^'iscount Middleton, M.P. for Ashburton from
1754 to 1761, New Shoreham from 1761 until his death, which occurred on
22nd September 1765, in his thirty-fifth year. He married, on 1st May 1752,
Albinia, eldest daughter of the Hon. Thomas Townshend, and great-niece of
the Duke of Newcastle. — E.
* Andrew Stone, of whom see raore in the preceding reign, and infra.

24 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
mand for the omission of a money-bill. Mr. Pitt alone
took up the defence of the Irish Commons, and would not
sign the message, which thirty-four others of the English
Privy Council who were present signed. The King
thanked the Duke of Bedford for supporting his preroga
tive, but the Privy Council of Ireland wrote angry letters
to the Duke and his minister Rigby, telling them that
they must not come into that kingdom again. The Duke,
a little before, had been challenged even in print by a mad
Lord Clanrickard,' whose letter being complained of by
his Grace, the Council here ordered the Attorney-General
to prosecute the Earl : Rigby,^ too, sent him a challenge,
which he did not accept The Lords Justices sent over a
strong remonstrance in vindication of their conduct, and
there the matter ended for the present ; but in the begin
ning of the next year the Lords Justices renewed the
attack on their Governor, and he and Rigby were burned
in effigy. Mr. Pitt interposed, and prevailed to have a
temperate memorial sent to the Justices, arguing the point
with them, and to that he offered to set his little name,
which was done. The Lords Justices submitted, but with
threats from the Primate of resigning his part of the
government Nor yet did they send a new bill, but a
plan for raising the money already voted. Lord Clan-
rickard, in answer to Rigby's challenge, which had been
printed and dispersed in Ireland, replied in print likewise,
excusing his not appearing at Holyhead, the appointed
rendezvous, on account of the prosecution directed against
him, though the prosecution in date was subsequent to
the challenge by two months. The Earl affirmed that he
had proposed to Mr. Rigby a new place of meeting ; but
a year or two afterwards, on an accidental journey of
Rigby to Ireland, the earl seemed very glad that an inter
position was made, and the quarrel accommodated. The
ill humour of the country, however, determined the Duke
^ Smith de Burgh, Earl of Clanrickard.
* Richard Rigby of Mistley, near Manningtree, in Essex, Secretary to the
Duke of Bedford.

KING GEORGE IH. 25
of Bedford to quit the Government, after having amply
gratified his family and dependants with pensions. The
Earl of Kildare, for taking no part in these divisions, was
rewarded with a marquisate.
Foreign affairs fluctuated with their old vicissitude.
The Russians and Austrians made themselves masters of
Beriin, and treated it with more lenity than could be
expected from such barbarians and incensed enemies.
But they relinquished it in a few days ; and before the
ilose of the year the King's fortune and arms recovered
their lustre by a signal victory, which he gained in person
near Torgau over his great competitor in glory, Marshal
Daun, who was wounded in the thigh, and carried from
the field ; a circumstance that did not impeach his fame,
as the loss of the day was attributed to his absence.
Yet this victory, shining as it was, could not counter
balance the new spirit that was gone forth in England to
the disparagement of the war. Lord Hardwicke had long
distasted it ; and under his countenance had been published
a Tract, setting forth the burthen and ill-policy of our
German measures. It was called Considerations on the
German War; was shrewdly and ably written, and had
more operation in working a change on the minds of men,
than perhaps ever fell to the lot of a pamphlet The
author was one Mauduit,' formerly a Dissenting teacher,
and at that time a factor at Blackwell Hall. How agree
able his politics were to tlie interior of the Court, soon
appeared by a place being bestowed on him by Lord
Bute. Still, however, the Favourite left the contest to be
managed by other hands ; and he had acted wisely to have
adhered to that plan. A new and formidable expedition
had been preparing. Newcastle and Hardwicke had
quitted the Council because they could not prevail to
have it laid aside. Yet it was postponed for some time.
' Israel Mauduit, on leaving the ministry, became a London merchant and
agent for the province of Massachusetts. He ^vas the author of several
anonymous pamphlets, and died on 14th June 1787, aged seventy-nine. See
Nichols's Lit. Atuc. (1814), vol. viii. pp. 465-466.— E.

26 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Pitt, in the House of Commons, taking notice of the pacific
spirit that he saw arising, said, 'Some are for keeping
Canada ; some, Guadaloupe ; who will tell me which I
shall be hanged for not keeping?'
On opening the ways and means for the ensuing year,
George Grenville opposed the intended tax on ale and
beer ; the first overt act of his disagreement with Mr. Pitt

KING GEORGE III. 27

CHAPTER III
New Promotions.— Pitt and Grenville.— Aggrandisement of Lord Bute.— His
haughtiness.— Sir Henry Erskine, Home, and Worseley. — Debt to the
Chancery of Hanover.— Secret Article in the Treaty with the Landgrave
of Hesse.— Extravagance of the War.— New Tenure of the Judges.—
Approaching general Election.— Flagrant Corruption.— Lord Bute appears
more ostensibly in the character of Minister.— Mr. Pitt and Lord Holder
ness.— Injudicious Conduct of Lord Bute  Ministerial Changes. —A
strange Exaltation. — The Duke of Rutland.— Mr. Legge and the ICing.—
General Conway. — Overtures by France for Peace.
The new year opened with promotions. The Lord
Keeper Henley was made Lord Chancellor. Lord Den
bigh,' a creature of the Favourite, Master of the Harriers ;
and George Grenville ^ was called to the Cabinet Council.
Pitt had ever treated him with contempt, and little
expected to find him vain or daring enough to enter the
lists against him. Grenville's conceit of himself was by
no means measured by the standard of modesty. His
ambition was equal to Pitt's ; and his plodding, methodic
genius made him take the spirit of detail for ability.
Avarice, which he possessed in no less proportion than
his other passions, concurred to lead him from a master
^ Basil Fielding, Earl of Denbigh, Lord of the Bedchamber.
- Second son of Richard Grenville of Wotton Underwood, Bucks, by
Hester, second daughter of Sir Richard Temple, Bart, of Stowe, created
Countess Temple in 1749. His eldest brother, Richard, Earl Temple, was a
man of unbounded ambition and a great talent for intrigue. His sister Hester
married William Pitt, on 6th November 1754, and was created Baroness
Chatham, Sth October 1761.
He held the post of First Lord of the Treasury from April 1763 to July 1765.
He was an obstinate and unpopular minister, and his administration was one
series of blunders. So obnoxious did he make himself to the King, that George
is said to have declared to Colonel Fitzroy, ' I would rather see the devil in
my closet than Mr. Grenville ' (Lord Albemarle's Mevioirs of the Marquis of
Rockingham, vol. ii. Jo). — E.

28 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
who browbeat and treated him superciliously to worship
the rising sun. Lord Bute was in want of tools ; and it
was a double prize to acquire them from his rival's
shop. But Fortune, had he known how to use her gifts, was
kinder to the Favourite than his own politics. His wife's
father, old Wortley Montagu, died at tbis time, and left
to her and her second son a fortune that, at four per cent,
was estimated at one million three hundred and fort>'
thousand pounds. This was the third death within twelve
months that happened to aggrandise Lord Bute. The
decease of his uncle, the Duke of Argyle,' left Scotland
open to his power ; and that of the late King put the
Crown itself into his hands. The estate of his father-in-law
was all he was qualified to enjoy. What could be expected
from a boy ^ locked up from the converse of mankind,
governed by a mother still more retired, who was under
the influence of a man that had passed his life in solitude,
and was too haughty to admit to his familiarity but half a
dozen silly authors and flatterers ? Sir Henry Erskine,^
1 Archibald Campbell, Duke of Argyle, died suddenly, March 15, 1761.
[Walpole is not quite accurate : the Duke died a month later, i. e. on the
15th of April 1791- ' He was abroad in the moming, was seized with a
palpitation after dinner, and was dead before the surgeon could arrive.
There's the crown of Scotland, too, fallen on my Lord Bute's head'
(Walpole's Letters (1857), iii. 396). — E.]
2 The King.
^ Sir Henry Erskine, though a moderate poet, was not meanly accomplished.
He cultivated hterature, and was a very lively companion. He spoke
frequently in the House of Commons, and always fluently and with spirit,
but in a style better suited to the hustings than to a deliberative assembly.
His career was singular. He was the second son of Sir John Erskine, Bart,
of Alva, and succeeded to his title on the death of his brother. Major Sir
Charles Erskine, at Hoist, just before the battle of Lafeldt He accompanied
the expedition to L'Orient, as Deputy Quartermaster-General of the Forces,
under his uncle General St. Clair. Devoting himself afterwards to poUtics,
he shared the proscription which fell on the adherents of Leicester JHouse,
and was dismissed the service. The new reign amply restored his fortunes.
With his commission he soon received the command of the Royal Scots ; and
in four years he had already attained the rank of Lieutenant-General, when
he died, in 1765, in middle Ufe. His marriage with Miss Wedderburn,
little as it promised at the time of worldly advantage, brought wealth and

KING GEORGE III. 29
a military poet. Home,' a tragedy-writing parson, and
Worseley,2 a rider of the great horse and architect, were
his principal confidants. The nation was soon governed
accordingly. And yet it was not the nation's fault if it
did not receive the yoke even from this Junto !
No trouble was given to the Government by the old
Parliament, which still subsisted, and continued to lend
all facilities to the progress of the war. An estimate of
three hundred thousand pounds, due to the Chancery of
Hanover for forage for the use of Hanoverians, Prussians,
and Hessians, was voted to be paid, without a division,
though not without some comments. Sir Francis Dash
wood, Cooke,3 Coventry,* and Beckford^ opposed it
Coventry said with a sneer he was glad so just a debt
was demanded before the nation was bankrupt, and
unable to discharge it. Beckford imputed the extravag
ance of the war (which indeed was notorious) to the
Duke of Newcastle, who, he supposed, intended to over
turn Mr. Pitt's system, and prevent the continuation of
rank into his family ; the earldom and property of her brother. Lord
Chancellor Rosslyn, having devolved subsequently on their eldest son, owing
to the death of that nobleman and his brother. General Wedderburn, without
issue. — L. M.
^ John Home, the author of Douglas, succeeded Robert Blair, the author of
The Grave, as minister of Athelstaneford, in East Lothian. He subsequently
became private secretary to Lord Bute, and tutor of the Prince of Wales,
who, on his accession to the throne as George in., gave him a pension of
;^300 a year. He died at Merchiston, near Edinburgh, on 5th September
1808, in his eighty-sixth year. Mackenzie's edition of The Works of John
Home, Edinburgh, 1824, Svo, was reviewed by Sir Walter Scott in the
Quarterly for June 1827, pp. 167-216. — E.
^ Thomas Worseley, Surveyor- General of the Board of Works, [of Hoving-
ham Hall, near Malton, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was M.P. for
Oxford 1761-8, for Callington 1768-74, and died 13th December 1778.— E.]
' George Cooke, prothonotary of the Common Pleas, and member for
Middlesex. Walpole calls him elsewhere a ' pompous Jacobite.' He
conducted the celebrated Westminster Petition against Lord Trentham in
1751 ; afterwards attaching himself to Mr. Pitt, he was appointed joint Pay
master-General in 1766, and died in 1768. — L. M.
* Thomas Coventry, member for Bridport. A barrister and director of
the South Sea Company. He was son of Thomas Coventry, who was
brother of William, fifth Eari of Coventry.— L. M.
" Alderman William Beckford of Jamaica, member for the City of London.

30 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
the war by the excess of the expense ; and he commended
the management of the Treasury during the short time in
which it had been in the Duke of Devonshire's hands.
Legge ' defended the measure, and both Newcastle's and
Devonshire's administrations. Pitt was confined with the
gout, and not present.
In the last treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse had
been stipulated a secret article of indemnification to that
country. Many sums had been allowed to them to avoid
the appearance in public of the article itself. Mr. Pitt
had at once granted them sixty thousand pounds on
that score. Yet now at last was Administration forced
to lay before Parliament a demand of four hundred
thousand pounds for indemnification to the Landgravate.
Legge, who knew himself fallen into disgrace with Lord
Bute, refused to make the motion, on which he received
intimation that he must resign. Lord Winchelsea ^ said
Legge had had more masters than any man in England,
and had never left one with a character. Lord Barring-
1 Henry Bilson Legge, the fourth son of William, first Earl of Dartmouth,
was at one time private secretary to Sir Robert Walpole. After holding
several minor offices he became Treasurer of the Navy in April 1749, and
was thrice Chancellor of the Exchequer, viz. from April 1754 to November
1755, November 1756 to April 1757, and July 1757 to March 1761. He
died on 23rd August 1764, aged fifty-six. Though a poor speaker he was an
able man of business. Pitt called him 'the favourite child of the Whigs,'
and Sir Robert Walpole had a high opinion of his shrewdness and common
sense. — E.
2 Daniel Finch, Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, Knight of the
Garter. Lord Winchelsea is one of the few statesmen of the reign of
George 11. whose character is worthy of a purer age. He was the son of
Lord Winchelsea, the great Tory leader, whose disgrace he shared when that
nobleman was dismissed for espousing the cause of the Jacobite peers involved
in the rebellion of 1715. He subsequently became reconciled to Sir Robert
Walpole, and in 1742 [after Walpole's downfall] was appointed First Lord
of the Admiralty. Lord Waldegrave says of his conduct at that period,
' that it was so unexceptionable that faction itself was obliged to be silent '
(Memoirs, p. 139). Horace Walpole is equally warm in his praise. This is
the testimony of political friends, but it stands uncontradicted. Indeed, Lord
Winchelsea appears to have enjoyed the respect of aU parties. His public
career, to use the words of Lord Mahon, ' without being illustrious, was long,
useful, and honourable.' He died in 1769, aged eighty-one.  L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 31
ton,' therefore, made the demand. Beckford again de
claimed on the extravagance of the war. Sir Francis
Dashwood said he had always disapproved the continental
war, but would agree to vote the money (which was a
sum of two hundred and sixty thousand pounds for three
years), as we were bound by treaty to pay it ; and he
found fault with more authorities not being laid before
Parliament. This money too was granted on March 6th.
Three days before, the King had gone to Parliament
to desire that the places of the judges, which were held
during the life of the Prince on the throne, might be fixed
to them for their own lives. This was one of Lord Bute's
strokes of pedantry. The tenure of the judges had
formerly been a popular topic ; and had been secured as far
as was necessary. He thought this trifling addition would
be popular now, when nobody thought or cared about it.
When, not long afterwards, the advocates for the Court
were puzzled to produce instances of favour to the
constitution or to the cause of liberty, this boon to
the judges was sounded high, and repeated in every
panegyric. Nothing more of note occurred in this session. All
attention was engrossed by the approaching general
election of a new Parliament. It had been propagated
that the King had forbidden any money to be issued
from the Treasury. Nothing was less true, in fact, or
proved less true in effect. Both the Court and particulars
went greater length than in any preceding times. In
truth, the corruption of electors met, if not exceeded, that
of candidates. The borough of Sudbury was so shame
less as to advertise itself to the highest bidder.
But, preparatory to a new Parliament, and as an intima
tion to men under whom they should list, the Favourite
determined to appear more ostensibly in the character of
Minister. Accordingly, on the 12th of March, orders were
suddenly sent to Lord Holderness to give up the seals of
1 William Wildman Shute Barrington, Viscount Barrington, Treasurer of
the Navy.

32 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Secretary of State : the King adding, in discourse, that he
had two secretaries, one (Mr. Pitt) who would do nothing,
and the other (Lord Holderness) who could do nothing ; '
he would have one who both could and would. This was
Lord Bute, to whom the Seals were immediately delivered.
Subduing Europe was reckoned nothing, as the service
was ungracious : and however low the talents of Lord
Holderness deserved to be estimated, they did not suffer
by comparison with those of his successor. Mr. Pitt
resented the fall of his creature, but was sweetened by the
offer of cofferer to James Grenville.^ Newcastle rejoiced
having been deserted by Holderness ; but affected to be
concerned : yet was not struck with the waming that this
measure ought to have been to himself Mr. Pitt felt it
more sensibly, and would not part with Lord Temple, who
might have been Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but was
necessary to him in the House of Lords, where his
measures had no other champion. Lord Halifax was
named to that great office ; the Duke of Bedford refused
^ Robert Darcy, Earl of Holderness. This is an exaggeration of Lord
Holdemess's incapacity ; for it appears by the Mitchell papers that he had
attended closely to the business of his office, and performed it respectably.
His talents, however, were not above mediocrity. His foreign connections
had recommended him to George ii., whom he attended as Lord of the
Bedchamber at the battle of Dettingen, and he was afterwards minister at
Turin and at The Hague. The Duke of Newcastle succeeded in making him
Secretary of State, against the opinion of Mr. Pelham, when scarcely thirty
years of age. His qualifications for that high office are thus summed up by
the Dvike in a letter urging the appointment : ' He is indeed, or was thought,
trifling in his manner and carriage ; but beUeve me, he has a soUd understand
ing, and will come out as prudent a young man as any in the kingdom. He
is good-natured, so that you may tell him his faults, and he wiU mend them.
He is very tacitum, dexterous enough, and most punctual in the execution of
his orders. He is got into the routine of business, and knows well the
present state of it' (Letter from Duke of Newcastle to Mr. Pelham, in
Cox's Life of Pelham, vol. ii. p. 387). A portrait not less characteristic of
the Duke than of Lord Holdemess. His lordship married a lady of the
Fagel family, and his mother was daughter of the last Duke of Schomberg.
He died in 1778, without issue male, and his earldom became extinct See
more of him in Walpole's Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. i. p. 198 ; and
'LoiA Waldegrave's Memoirs, p. 121. — L. M.
' A younger brother of Richard, Earl Temple, and a brother-in-law of
PiU.— E.

KING GEORGE III 33
to accept any post ; but it was supposed had his eye on
the Seals, which everybody expected disgust would soon
oblige Mr. Pitt to resign.
Nothing could be more injudicious than this step taken
by the Favourite. The conduct he ought to have pursued
was obvious ; which was, lying quiet, till some or all of a
few events, most probable to happen, should have paved
the way to his taking the reins. Newcastle was old, Mr.
Pitt very infirm. Their deaths, or at least a rupture
between them, would have delivered him from them ; at
least have constituted him umpire between them. Any
sinister event of the war might have demolished Mr. Pitt's
popularity. Prudence, at least, should have dictated to
Lord Bute to await the conclusion of the peace, which,
however good, would have given a shock to Mr. Pitt's
credit, from the impossibility of contenting all mankind.
But the Favourite was as impatient to have the honour of
making that peace, as if he had intended to make it an
honourable one. His thrusting himself into administration
at the moment he did, was so preposterous, that most men
thought him betrayed into it by malicious advice. The
Duke of Bedford, to pay his court, and from desire of peace,
certainly counselled it, but Newcastle, and Hardwicke too,
were generallj- believed to have infused the same advice,
with a view to his destruction ; for while only Groom of
the Stole, Lord Bute stood in no responsible place. This
was the more likely, as what emoluments they obtained
for their friends in the new shuffling of the cards by
no means compensated for tlie credit they lost by the
appearance of this new star in the horizon of power.
The Duke of Rutland' was named Groom ofthe Stole ;
Lord Sandys,* First Lord of Trade, but upon the ancient
footing ; the West Indies, to please Mr. Pitt, being again
' John Manners, Duke of Rutland, Knight of the Garter, died in 1779, at
the age of eighty-two, ha\-ing survived his gallant and amiable son, the
Marquis of Granby. — L. M.
* Samuel, Lord Sandys, formerly the indefatigable opponent of Sir Robert
Walpole; but his importance had greatly diminished since that minister's
down^l. He died in 1770. — L. M.
VOL. I. C

34 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
put under the province of the Secretary of State. The
Duke of Leeds' was turned back to his old place of
Justice in Eyre, in the room of Lord Sandys, but with an
additional salary of a thousand pounds a year. Legge,
who refused to resign, was dismissed ; and Lord
Barrington made Chancellor of the Exchequer; being
succeeded by Charles Townshend^ as Secretary at War.
Sir Francis Dashwood was made Treasurer of the
Chambers. Elliot,^ another of Lord Bute's court,
succeeded James Grenville at the Board of Treasury.
Lord "Villiers* and Thomas Pelham^ were placed in the
Admiralty, as John Yorke, Lord Hardwicke's fourth son.
Rice,® son-in-law of Lord Talbot, and Sir Edmund Thomas^
were at the Board of Trade. Mr. Spencer^ and Sir Richard
^ ThomasOsborne, fourth Duke of Leeds, K.G. Hemarried, 6th June 1740,
Lady Mary Godolphin, the youngest daughter, and eventually sole heiress,
of Francis, second Earl of Godolphin, and died 23rd March 1789, aged
seventy-five. — E.
' Charles Townshend, second son of Charles, Viscount Townshend.
* Gilbert EUiot, afterwards Sir Gilbert. [ElUot had been a Lord of the
Admiralty from 1756 to 1761. He became Treasurer of the Chamber in 1762,
Treasurer of the Navy in 1770, and died at Marseilles on nth January 1777.
He was father of Gilbert, first Earl Minto, Governor-General of India. — E.]
* George Bussy Villiers, Viscount Villiers, only son of the Earl of Jersey,
whom he afterwards succeeded. He held the post of Vice-Chamberlain from
1765 to 1769, and subsequently filled other high offices in the royal household.
He died in August 1805, aged seventy. — L. M.
" T. Pelham of Stanmer, afterwards Lord Pelham.
' George Rice, M.P. for Carmarthenshire, 1754-79. He married, i6th
August 1756, Lady Cecil Talbot, only daughter of William, Earl Talbot,
afterwards Baroness Dynevor. He was appointed Treasurer in 1770, and
died 3rd August 1779. — E.
' Sir Edmund Thomas of Wenvoe Castle, Wilts, third Baronet, died nth
October 1767. He was M.P. for Chippenham, 1741-54 ; for Glamorganshire,
1761-7 ; and in 1763 was appointed Surveyor- General of Woods north and
south ofthe Trent.— E.
* John Spencer, only son of John Spencer, brother of Charles, Duke of
Marlborough. He was a person of very resolute, independent spirit, and
warmly attached to the Whig interest, as he too well proved at the celebrated
Northampton election, which seriously impaired even his immense fortune,
while it made Lord Northampton an exile for the remainder of his life, and
obliged Lord Halifax to sell Horton and his principal estates. With the
exception of a very brief interval. Lord Spencer remained all his life in
Opposition. He died greatly respected in 1783, aged forty-nine. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III 3S
Grosvenor (at the recommendation of Mr. Pitt) were
created Viscounts ; Sir Thomas Robinson,' Sir Nathaniel
Curzon.s a rich Tory, Sir William Irby,^ chamberlain to tht:
Princess, were made barons, along with Dodington,* whose
ambition still hovered about the Court, in whicli he was at
last likely to have some lead by his connection with the
Favourite. Nor did Lord Bath* himself quit sight of tlie
back-stairs by which he obtained leave to hobble up to
the King whenever he pleased.
But a phenomenon tliat for some time occasioned more
speculation than e\en the credit of the Favourite, was the
staff of Lord Steward being put into the hands of Lord
Talbot,® with the addition of an earldom. As neither
^ Sir Thomas Robinson, created Lord Grantham, had been minister at
Vienna, and Secretar)' of State. He was the fourth son of Sir WilUam
Robinson, Baronet. His fortunate connection with Horace, Lord WsUpole,
to whom he had been Secretary in 1723, quickly raised him to eminence.
He was an excellent man of business, and highly esteemed as a diplomatist.
His despatches are written with great spirit and clearness. In the House of
Commons he failed, as might have been expected from his previous pursuits, .and
his talents have in consequence been much underrated. He died in 1770. — L.M.
' Sir Nathaniel Curton, Bart. , of Kedleston Hall, near Derby, created Baron
Scarsdale in the County of Derby. He represented CUtheroe from February
1748 to April 1754, and Derbyshire from April 1754 to M.irch 1761. He died
on Sth December 1804, aged seventy -seven. — E.
' Sir WiUiam Irby, created Lord Boston. He had been Page to George i.
and George 11. , and Equerry to the Prince on the arrival of the latter in
England. He married a niece of Mr. Selwyn, and died in 1773, aged
sixty-six. — L. M.
* George Bubb Dodington, created Lord Melcomb.
" WilUam Pulteney, Earl of Bath.
' Son of the Lord Chancellor. He had in his youth been one of Sir
Robert Walpole's most violent opponents. The Count de Fuentes, in a
letter to Mr. Wall, of 27th March, says that this appointment was ascribed
to the Princess of Wales : of whom, he adds, ' they speak with too much Uberty- '
(CMatkam Corrtspottdena, vol. ii. p. 160), The adherence of Lord Talbot
to the Leicester House party certainly entitled him to consideration, but he
was now much overpaid ; and this >vas felt even by his patron Lord Bute,
who wanted firmness to resist pretensions which were urged with impetuosity.
amounting also to passion.^Dodington's Diary, cited in note to the letter
.<npra.) Lord Talbot had talents, «-as resolute and ready ; and his speeches
had an air of independence and a plausibility that made him rather a favourite
with the public, notwithstanding his vices, until his duel with Wilkes brought
ridicule upon his name not to be effaced. — L. M.

36 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
gravity, rank, interest, abilities, nor morals could be
abduced to countenance this strange exaltation, no wonder
it caused very unfavourable comments. This Lord had
long affected a very free-spoken kind of patriotism on all
occasions. He had some wit, and a little tincture of a
disordered understanding ; but was better known as a
boxer and man of pleasure, than in the light of a states
man. The Duchess of  had been publicly divorced
from her lord on his account ; and was not the only
woman of fashion who had lived with him openly as his
mistress. He was strong, well made, and very comely ;
but with no air, nor with the manners of a man of quality.
No wonder the promotion of such a minister, in a reign
that advertised piety, strengthened the suspicions already
entertained of the sincerity of the Court It grew more
comic still, when the new statesman appeared to be a
reformer too. As the Court knew that the measures it
had in contemplation could only be carried by money,
every stratagem was invented to curtail the common
expenses of the Palace. As these fell under the province
of the Lord Steward, nothing was heard of but cooks
cashiered, and kitchens shut up. Even the Maids of Honour,
who did not expect rigours from a great officer of Lord
Talbot's complexion, were reduced to complain of the
abridgment of their allowance for breakfast. The public
joined in the cry, and the shops teemed with scandalous
prints against the reformer and his patroness.
The Duke of Rutland was not pleased with the office
of Groom of the Stole, which had fewer employments in
its disposal, and which was therefore given to Lord
Holderness ; but the very next day the Duke was
appointed Master of the Horse, from whence Lord
Huntingdon' was removed to be Groom of the Stole;
1 Son of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. He remained Groom of the Stole
till 1770. Akenside, who was one of the least adulatory of poets, addressed
to him, in 1747, a didactic ode on his setting out on his travels. He was
an amiable and accomplished nobleman, though it requires some partiality to
believe of his early youth that his ' breast the gifts of every Muse had known. '
Delicate health prevented his taking an active part in public business, and in

KING GEORGE IU. 37
and Lord Holderness was laid aside with a large pension,
and the reversion of the Cinque Ports after the Duke of
Dorset Lady Bute was created a baroness, that her son
might inherit an English peerage.
When Legge resigned his Seal, he lamented being
under his Majesty's displeasure, but said his future life
should testify his zeal. The King replied he was glad
to hear him say so ; nothing but his future life could
eradicate the ill impressions hc had received of him.
His disgrace was owing to his not having seconded the
h'avourite's views in the late reign, when Lord Bute had
been desirous of bringing a Jacobite friend into Parlia
ment for Hampshire, of which more will be said hereafter.'
General Conway^ was sent to command in Germany
under Lord Granby. The Bedford faction opposed it, in
favour of General Waldegrave," who had served there
during the whole war, upon the supposition that Lord
Granby would come to England, and that Waldegrave
might succeed him, Mostyn * not being equal to the charge.
1766 he decUned the embassy to Spain, which was pressed on him by Lord
Chatham. [He died suddenly on 2nd October 1789, aged sixty, when the
earldom became dormant, and the ancient baronies of Hastings, etc. , devolved
upon his elder sister EUzabeth, the third wife of John, first Earl of Moira.
In 1818 Hans Francis Hastings proved his right to the dormant earldom,
and on 14th January 1819 took his seat in the House of Lords as eleventh
Earl of Huntingdon.— E.]
1 See page 30, and infra.
° Henry Seymour Conway, only brother of Francis, Earl of Hertford.
' John Waldegrave, only brother of James, Earl Waldegrave, whom he
succeeded in the title, married Lady Elizabeth Leveson Gower, sister of
Gertrude; Duchess of Bedford. Ilis presence of mind and intrepidity at the
battle of Minden established his character as a soldier.— (Walpole's Memoirs of
George) IL (1847) vol. iii. p. 198). He was appropriately rewarded with the
regiment of dragoons, vacated by Lord George Sackville's dismissal. Sub
sequently hc obtained one of the regiments of foot-guards, and was made
Master of the Morse to the Queen. His love of state, not less than the hand
some monncr in which he lived, well adopted him to any great office at Court.
He (lied in 1784. 1 lis eldest son, a most respectable nobleman, and also an
officer, only survived him five years. — L. M.
? John Mostyn, brother of Sir Roger Mostyn, Dart, and Groom of the
Bedchamber to the King. He commanded the British cavalry with dis
tinction in Germany, and was mainly instrumental in gaining the battle of
Warburg, the credit of which Lord Granby ascribed entirely to him. He

38 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Conway obtained to be sent, but without a certain pro
mise of replacing Lord Granby,' though the King said
Conway was a man of abilities, character, sense, and
prudence, such as was greatly wanted there. France at
this time made earnest overtures for peace.
might have risen high in the army, had he not shrunk from the responsibility
of great commands. He refused the command of the expedition to the
Havannah, on the ground that he did not pretend to be more than a
cavalry officer. His good nature and conviviality, as well as his quiet
military deportment, made him popular at Court ; and George li. Uked
him so much that he generally formed one of the King's evening party.
It was beUeved he might have been a favourite if he pleased. — (Memoirs
of Sir James Campbell (i8$2), vol. i. p. 173.) — L. M. [He was appointed
Governor of Minorca on i6th February 1768, and became a full General on
26th May 1772. He died on 13th February 1779. — E.]
^ John Manners, Marquis of Granby, son of John, Duke of Rutland.

KING GEORGE IH. 39

CHAPTER IV
Thanks of the House of Commons to Mr. Onslow, their Speaker. — His
Qioracter. — Sir John Philipps. — Mr. Legge. — Mr. More of Shrewsbury.
— Mr. Onslow's Retirement. — His last Address to the House.— Lord
Bath's Pamphlet — Solicitations by Fiance for Peace. — Mr. Pitt dis
inclined to negotiate. — Expedition against Belleisle. — Mr. Pitt's Obstinacy.
— Lord Bute's Faction. — Mr. Pitt .and the Duke of Bedford. —Negotia
tion for IVaeo.— Monsieur de lUisssy. — Mr. Stanley. — Death of Archibald,
Duke of Ary;yle, and of Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester. — Character of
those Personages. — Their Successors.
The last day of the session, March i8th, was fixed for
returning the thanks of the House of Commons to Mr.
Onslow, their Speaker, who had filled the chair with
unblemished integrit>- during the whole long reign of
George the Second, and who had the prudence to quit the
scene before his >'oars and growing infirmities made him
a burthen to himself and the public' No man had ever
supported with more firmness the privileges of the House,
nor sustained the dignity of his ofiice with more authority.
His knowledge of the Constitution equalled his attachment
to it. To the Crown he behaved with all the decorum of
respect, without sacrificing his freedom of speech. Against
encroachments of the House of Peers he was an inflexible
champion. His disinterested virtue supported him through
all his pretensions ; and though to conciliate popular
favour he affected an impartialitj' that by turns led him to
the borders of insincerit>- and contradiction — and tliough he
was so minutely attached to forms that it often made him
troublesome in affairs of higher moment, it will be difficult
to find a subject whom gravity will so well become, whose
> Letter (of iist Marcli) to George Montagu, Walpole's Lrl.'^rs (1857),
vol. iii. p. jSS. — L. M.

40 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
knowledge will be so useful and so accurate, and whose
fidelity to his trust will prove so unshaken.
Sir John Philipps ' moved the address of thanks to him
for his great services, but so wretchedly, that the sensibility
the House showed on the occasion flowed only from their
hearts, not from any impression made on them by the
eloquence of their spokesman. Legge seconded the
motion with his usual propriety and brevity, and com-
m.ended retreat, God knows with what sincerity ! Others
threw in their word of panegyric ; and Mr. More of
Shrewsbury, an old and acute member, proposed to erect
a statue to the Speaker's memory, with great encomiums
on the authority with which he had formerly kept in order
such men as then filled the Treasury bench and composed
the Opposition, naming among the former Sir Robert
Walpole and Mr. Pelham, the latter of whom, he said, had
the honour of dying a Commoner. More was a Whig of
the primitive stamp, and, though attached to Sir Robert
Walpole, had withstood, and, by the force of his honest
abilities, had defeated the intended clemency of that
Minister to some attainted Jacobite families with respect
to their estates. He had long abstained from Parliament,
returned to it without his former success, and now appeared
there for the last time.
Henry Archer ^ proposed to address the Crown to bestow
a pecuniary reward on the Speaker's services. Sir John
Philipps replied he knew that was intended ; as it was ;
an annuity of two thousand pounds a year to him and his
son. Sir George Saville approved the reward, but desired
the Commons, not the Crown, might have the merit of
bestowing it Velters Cornwall made one of his absurd,
ill-natured speeches, which the House was always so kind
^ Sir John Philipps, Bart, of Picton Castle, in Pembrokeshire, an opulent
and influential Jacobite. He was the second son of Sir John Philipps, and
had succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his elder brother. He
died in 1764, leaving an only son. Sir Richard, who was afterwards created
an Irish Peer by the title of Lord Milford, and died without issue in 1823. —
L. M.
'^ Henry, brother of Thomas, Lord Arfcher.

KING GEORGE III. 41
as to take for humour, teazing the Speaker under pretence
of complimenting him ; while the good old man sat over
powered with gratitude, and weeping over the testimonies
borne to his virtue. He rose at last, and closed his public
life in the most becoming manner ; neither over-acting
modesty, nor checking the tender sensibility which he
necessarily felt at quitting the darling occupation of his
life. His thanks to the House for their patient sufferance
of his errors, and for their gracious acceptance of his
endeavours to serve them, were shortly, but cogently,
expressed ; and his voice, and the tears he could not
restrain, spoke still more forcibly how much his soul was
agitated by laudible emotions. He begged to have the
address spared, as he would accept nothing for himself,
though he would not prejudice his family. He was going,
he said, into the most close and obscure retreat, where he
should want little; and he concluded with a pathetic
prayer for the perpetuity of the Constitution. Sir John
Philipps desired that what he had uttered might be inserted
in the votes. The Speaker protested he could not remem
ber his own words, but the House insisted, as Cornwall
and Sir George Saville did on the address, to which the
Speaker at last acquiesced, and it was voted. He ended
with saying this was the greatest day and the greatest
honours ever known, for they could only be conferred by
a free nation.'
The next day the Parliament was prorogued, then
dissolved, and a new one chosen.
In this month was published a pamphlet called Season
able Hints from an Honest Man on the present Crisis.
The author, and some of the doctrines it broached — not
any merit in the composition — make it memorable. It
was written by Lord Bath,^ who, having surprised the
King into a promise of the Lord- Lieutenancy of Shrop
shire, was ojj^osed by the Duke of Newcastle, who
^ Mr. Onslow died in February 1768, aged seventy-six. A very pleasing
account of him is given in the Preface to the second volume of Hatselts
Precedents, p. vi. — L. M.
^ WilUam Pulteney, Eari of Bath.

42 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
supported Lord Powis.' The pamphlet, therefore, warmly
attacked his Grace, taxed him with his cabals and resigna
tion in the last rebellion, and it defended the measure of
admitting the Tories to a participation of power. In
general, the language of the pamphlet was that of the
Court, who conducted themselves by the advice bequeathed
by Lord Bolingbroke, who had, and with truth, assured
the late Prince of Wales that the Tories would be the
heartiest in the support of prerogative. The censure
passed on pensions was not equally flattering to the Court,
the new reign having already bestowed them profusely.
Yet much the book vaunted the King's declaration against
corruption in elections, which had gone no farther than to
undermine the Duke of Newcastle's influence. The pri
vate junto was impatient to conclude the peace, that they
might prosecute the intended war on the old ministry at
home, the established harmony being solely produced by
the war, as had often been the case at Rome. A few
pedantic examples were the sum of Lord Bute's know
ledge ; yet his partisans affected to celebrate the care he
had taken of the King's education. A well-founded pane
gyric on a man who was deficient in the orthography of
his own language ! The King had had able preceptors ;
the Bishop of Norwich^ was a scholar ; the Bishop of
Salisbury^ not deficient Stone and Scott had taste and
knowledge. Lord Waldegrave, for forming a King, was
not to be matched. It proved, indeed, that his Majesty
had learned nothing, but what a man, who knew nothing,
could teach him.
About the end of March, France renewed the most
1 Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis.
^ Dr. Hayter, afterwards Bishop of London. Vide infra.
' Dr. Thomas, afterwards Bishop of Winchester. [John Thomas was born
on 17th August 1696. He was a son of Colonel Thomas of the Guards, and
'by great exertion became a popular preacher.' He was consecrated Bishop
of Peterborough on 4th October 1747, and succeeded Hayter in 1753 as Pre
ceptor to the Prince of Wales. He was translated to SaUsbury in June 1757,
to Winchester in May 1761, and died ' at the Episcopal Palace at Chelsea ' on
1st May 1781. See Cassan's Lives of the Bishops of Winchester, 1827, vol.
ii. pp. 270-277. — E.]

KING GEORGE III. 43
pressing solicitations for peace. They frankly avowed
the distress of their affairs ; for they did not apprehend
hard-heartedness in the new Court Augsburgh they
proposed for the place of congress, or any other town the
King should name, professing they would treat vis-d-vts du
Roi de la Grande Bretagne ; for which purpose they offered
to send a minister hither, where, too, might be one from
the King of Prussia ; the ministers of their allies should
assemble at Paris. The two Empresses, they said, were
grown more moderate in their demands ; and for their
own part, they talked of yielding to us all Canada. So
much ear was given to these overtures, that the Earl of
Egremont' and Sir Joseph Yorke'' were named to go to
the Congress. But so little was this measure to the in
clination of Mr. Pitt, that he prosecuted with unusual
warmth an expedition he had meditated against Belleisle ;
a conquest of so little value, and so inadequate to the
expense with which it was attended, that the plan was
by many believed calculated solely to provoke the Court
of France, and break off the negotiation. France was
more surprised than concerned at this attack. Sir Edward
Hawke had lain before it for two years, when there were
not five hundred men on the island, without attempting it.
Now they had had time to fortify it, we persisted in the
conquest. Both Hawke and Boscawen ^ earnestly dissuaded
the enterprise. Yet Pitt was obdurate ; and the island
was taken at last by the beginning of June, after an
enormous waste of money, and the loss of some men.
I Charles Wyndham, Earl of Egremont, afterwards Secretary of State.
Vide infra.
'^ Sir Joseph Yorke, Ambassador in Holland, third son of Philip, Earl of
Hardwicke. He had been a Captain of the Guards, and aide-de-camp of the
Duke of Cumberland at the battle of Fontenoy. In 1751 he was appointed
Minister at The Hague, where he remained many years, and became almost
naturalised, having married a Dutch lady. His estimable conduct, and also
his splendid hospitality, gave him great consideration in Holland. In 1788
hc was created Lord Dover. He died in 1792 without issue, and the title
became extinct — L. M.
'' Admiral Edward Boscawen, brother of Lord Viscount Falmouth, a distin
guished naval commander. Me died this year, at the early age of fifty. — L.M.

44 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
There fell Sir William Williams, a gallant and ambitious
young man, who had devoted himself both to war and
politics. The island is a barren rock ; and it was only to
humour Mr. Pitt, that France, in the succeeding negotia
tions, condescended to treat it as an object of the smallest
importance. ¦Phe indecent and injudicious precipitation with which
the Favourite's faction hurried towards peace, justified any
steadiness Mr. Pitt could exert to keep the balance where
he had placed it, in our own hands. Newcastle and Hard
wicke, ^ther not perceiving the symptoms of their own
fall, or hoping to ward off the evil hour, truckled to the
Favourite's views. The Duke of Bedford (who in his heart
admired Pitt, but was made to hate him by Rigby, at the
instigation of Fox, and inflamed by the coldness with
which Pitt had listened to the representations made by
his Grace, on the opposition to him in Ireland) was,
avowedly, pacific ; and all of them seemed united against
the warlike minister. Lord Talbot went so far as to press
the dismission of him. But it was Lord Bute's nature to
provoke first, before he offended. Gallitzin, the Russian
minister, was reprimanded by him for carrying the pro
position of peace to Mr. Pitt, instead of to him ; though it
had been usual, while Lord Holderness held the Seals, for
the foreign ministers in his department to address them
selves to the effective minister. Mr. Pitt's temper, soured
by these associations and contradictions, broke out first
against the Duke of Newcastle. At a great council held
on the 23rd of April, Mr. Pitt, who had been wont to
affirm that too much could not be spent on the war in
Germany, made severe complaint of the extravagance in
the management of it ; and imputed it to the fault of our
commissaries that Prince Ferdinand had been disabled
from making greater progress there. Himself, he said,
within six months, would move for an inquiry into the
conduct of the war. The Duke of Bedford took up the
contrary side with warmth, and made a speech that was
much admired ; and so little attention was paid to the

KING GEORGE IH. 45
views of Mr. Pitt, that it was settled Mr. Stanley' and
Monsieur de Bussy should be exchanged to conduct the
negotiations. Bussy was an Abbd of parts, who had
formerly resided here as minister,^ and had given much
offence to the late King, whom he treated so impertinently,
that the King, asking him one day in the circle, ' Ce qu'il y
avoit de nouveau k Paris ? ' Bussy replied with con
temptuous familiarity, ' Sire, il y g^le.' He had again
been imposed on that Prince, when the French dictated to
him a neutrality for Hanover. Bussy was not likely to be
so presumptuous now. Yet France, trusting to our pusil
lanimous impatience for peace, had the confidence to
demand tliat the man-of-war that carried over Stanley
should bring back Bussy. But Mr. Pitt was yet minister :
tfie proposal was rejected ; and it was settled that Stanley
and Bussy should be at Dover and Calais on the 22nd.
Before the departure of Stanley, it was agitated in
Council whether he should be entrusted with full powers.
Mr. Pitt, who had named Stanley from opinion of his
abilities, though at that time disunited from him and gone
over to Newcastle, confided in this nomination, and thought
it would leave himself master of the negotiation, if Stan
ley, who by being at Paris was in his department, were
charged with conclusive powers ; for which, therefore, Pitt
and Lord Temple pleaded. But Bute, and the rest of the
Council, who chose not to let the negotiation pass out of
' Hans Stanley, one of the Lords of the Admirlaty, and afterwards Cof
ferer. [He was a grandson of Sir Hans Sloane, President of the Royal CoUege
of Physicians, and was appointed Cofferer of the Household in 1776. He
died on 12th January 1780, when his picturesque seat at Paultons, inthe New
Forest, passed to his eldest sister, the second wife of Welbore ElUs, afterwards
Baron Mendip. — E.]
' M. Bussy was one of the chief Commis of the Foreign Department at
Paris. He had great experience in business, and was eminently adroit and
persuasive ; qualities to which he owed his nomination to this difficult post.
Formerly he had been private secretary to the Due de Richelieu, through
whose interest he was employed on a mission to Geoi^ II. in Hanover
in 1754, — (Flassan, Hist, de la Diplomatic Francoise, vol. -vi. p. 388.) See
more respecting him in the Appendix to Almon's Anecdotes of William Pitt,
Lord Chatham (1793).— L. M.

46 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
their own hands, prevailed to have Stanley's instructions
limited. During these discussions died two considerable men,
Archibald, Duke of Argyle, and Hoadley, Bishop of Win
chester. The character of the former' has been sufficiently
set forth in my preceding Memoirs. The last will be
known by his writings, and as long as a Churchman, com
bating for the liberties of mankind, shall be an unusual
phenomenon.^ Argyle had the lowest opinion of his
nephew, Lord Bute, who, he had foretold, would rush into
power without having formed a plan. The nephew had
in truth too little capacity, and too much presumption, to
let himself be guided by so shrewd a relation, though the
uncle would not have been obdurate if proper deference
had been paid to his oracle. The last effort of this great
Lord's power in Scotland had miscarried. The city of
Edinburgh had recurred, as usual, to his nomination for
the election of their representative ; that is, of thirty-three
electors, twenty-two still acknowledged their ancient
^Walpole's Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. i. pp. 275-8. It is ably
drawn, and not unkindly, considering the belief long entertained by the
Whigs of the Duke having betrayed Sir Robert Walpole. The more favour
able portrait given by Archdeacon Coxe from materials supplied by his family,
is, like too many family portraits, feeble, flattering, and indistinct. His
Grace unquestionably possessed a powerful, active, and cultivated mind. He
had studied, and thoroughly understood the weaknesses of men, and was un
scrupulous in the practice of all the arts of intrigue. Success usually crowned
his efiforts, and notwithstanding the various changes of Government, he main
tained much of his power to the last. Disappointment attended only his
private Ufe, which was chilled by the aversion to his wife and the want of
children. II fut riche, ilfut titrl, mais il nefut point heureux — the just and
natural result of a line of conduct which, as Lord Mahon correctly observes,
was seldom on any occasion swayed either by virtue or generosity. — (Coxe's
Life of Sir R. Walpole, vol. i. pp. 235-6 ; Mahon's History, vol. iii. p. 237.)
— L. M.
^ This prediction has not been realised. The Bangorian controversy has
long lost its interest, and great as was their success in their day, and great
their reward — no less than the Bishopric of Winchester — the three massive
folios of Hoadley's works now slumber on the shelves of theological libraries.
His two sons, one of whom was chaplain, and the other physician to the King,
were men of talent, and are still recollected as the joint authors of that popular
comedy, 'The Suspicious Husband.' They were the last of their family. —
L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 47
dictator. He named Forester, an able Scottish counsellor,
but always resident in England. . Six days before the
election, such violent papers were dispersed against
Forester, as too much an Englishman, that the city did
not dare to put him in nomination, but were forced to
choose their own Provost How much did Scotland after
wards resent parallel nationalities, when exercised against
them !
The Marquis of Tweedale,' succeeded the Duke of
Argyle, as Chief Justiciary ; and Bishop Thomas of Salis
bury, the King's former preceptor, was made Bishop of
Winchester. Drummond,^ of St Asaph, whom Newcastle
had destined to Winchester, succeeded. Thomas, Earl
Powis, was made Comptroller of the Household on the
death of Lord Edgcumbe.*
' John Hay, Marquis of Tweedale, had been Secretary of State for Scot
land. Lord Tweedale had been one of the extraordinary Lords of Session in
Scotland, and also had held the post of Secretary of State for that country.
He was the last person that fiUed either of these offices. His connection with
Lord Granville, whose daughter he had married, brought him into public life
in opposition to Walpole, and he shared the spoils of that minister. Like
Lord Granville, he possessed considerable knowledge of law. He is said also
to have been a good debater in Parliament He died, without male issue, in
December 1762. — L. M.
^ Dr. Robert Hay Drummond, brother of the Earl of Kinnoul. See infra.
' Richard Edgcumbe, second Lord Edgcumbe, an intimate friend of the
author, who has given him a place in the Noble Authors, 1806, iv. p. 267,
He was a humourist, and had a turn for poetry and drawing, of which some
amusing specimens are noticed in the publications of his day. Walpole says,
' He never had a fault but to himself; he never had an enemy but himself.'
— L. M. [His brother George, who succeeded as the third Lord, was created
Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe on 31st August 1789. — E.]

48 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER V
Solemn and unusual Summons of the Council. — Announcement of the King's
intended Marriage with the Princess of Mecklenberg Strelitz. — The Princess
Dowager's aversion to her Son's Marriage. — The King's attachment to
Lady Sarah Lennox. — Schemes of Mr. Fox. — Remarkable Speech of the
King to Lady Susan Strangeways. — Frustration of Fox's Intrigues. —
Colonel Graeme despatched to Germany to select a Queen. — The King's
deference to his Mother, and acceptance of the Bride she had chosen. —
Lady Sarah Lennox. — Serious Crisis in the Cabinet. — Lofty Conduct of
Mr. Pitt. — His Draught for a Treaty with France. — Reception of this by
the other Ministers.— Arrival of the new Queen. — Her mental and per
sonal Characteristics. —Anecdotes. — Disposal ofthe vacant Bishopricks. —
Lord Talbot. — Coronation Squabbles. — Sir William Stanhope's bitter
Speech against the Scotch. — Lord Talbot and the Barons of the Cinque
Ports.
While the attention of mankind hung on the negotia
tion, the King's messengers were suddenly sent forth to all
Privy Councillors to meet at one o'clock, at St. James's,
July Sth, on urgent and important business. The busi
ness itself was an absolute secret Everybody concluded
that so solemn and unusual a summons of the Council was
to give fuller sanction to peace. How great was the
general surprise when they heard his Majesty had con
vened this assembly to notify his intended marriage with
the Princess of Mecklenberg Strelitz ! A resolution taken
and conducted with so much mystery, that till that hour
perhaps not six men in England knew such a Princess
existed. It has been mentioned with what aversion the Princess
Dowager had opposed a marriage projected by the late
King between his heir-apparent and a very accomplished
Princess of Brunswick. A wife for her son, not chosen
by herself nor obliged to her, by no means suited the
views of the Princess. Could she have chained up his

'rfashiia, Tl^fmjiiAs, piraz .

JfCJC^ 1/ CJarrr/t ,J c nno.x'

KING GEORGE III. 49
body, as she fettered his mind, it is probable she would
have preferred his remaining single. A mistress would
have been more tremendous than a wife. The next
brother, the Duke of York, was not equally tractable, had
expressed little reverence for his mother, and much anti
pathy to her favourite. If the King should die and leave
even an infant, a minority did not deprive the Princess of
all prospect of protracting her rule.
But there had happened circumstances still more press
ing, more alarming. The King was fallen in love with
Lady Sarah Lenox, sister of the Duke of Richmond ; a
very young lady of the most blooming beauty, and shining
with all the graces of unaffected, but animated nature.
What concurred to make her formidable to the mother
and favourite, was, her being under the tutorage of Mr.
Fox, her eldest sister's ' husband ; and in truth, she and
her family spared no assiduity to fix the young monarch's
heart. And though Fox would probably not have been
scrupulous or delicate on the terms of cementing that
union, the King's overtures were so encouraging, that
Fox's views extended even to placing the young lady on
the throne. Early in the winter, the King told Lady
Susan Strangways,^ Mr. Fox's niece, and the confidante
of Lady Sarah, that he hoped she (Lady Susan) would
not go out of town soon. She said, she should. 'But,'
replied the King, ' you will return in summer, for the
coronation ? ' Lady Susan answered, ' I do not know ;
I hope so.' ' But,' said the King again, ' they talk of a
wedding. There have been many proposals ; but I think
an English match would do better than a foreign one.
Pray, tell Lady Sarah Lenox I say so.' The next time
Lady Sarah went to Court (and her family took care that
should not be seldom) the King said, 'he hoped Lady
Susan had told her his last conversation.'
1 Lady Caroline Lenox, eldest daughter of Charles, second Duke of Rich
mond, married to Henry Fox, Paymaster of the Forces.
2 Eldest daughter of Stephen Fox, Earl of Ilchester, by the sole daughter
and heiress of Mr. Strangways Horner, whose name he assumed.
VOL. I. D

50 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The junto was not blind to these whispers and dialogues.
Lady Bute was instructed to endeavour to place herself in
the circle, and prevent them. And the Princess Augusta
marked her observation of what was going forward to
Lady Sarah herself, laughing in her face, and trying to
affront her. But Fox was not to be so rebuffed. Though
he went himself to bathe in the sea (possibly to disguise
his intrigues), he left Lady Sarah at Holland House,'
where she appeared every morning in a field close to the
great road (where the King passed on horseback) in a
fancied habit, making hay.
Such mutual propensity fixed the resolution of the
Princess. One, Colonel Graeme, was despatched in the
most private manner as a traveller, and vested with, no
character, to visit various little Protestant Courts, and
make report of the qualifications of the several unmarried
princesses. Beauty, and still less, talents, were not, it is
likely, the first object of his instructions. On the testi
mony of this man, the golden apple was given to the
Princess of Mecklenburg ; and the marriage precipitately
concluded. The ambassador was too remarkable not to
be farther mentioned. This Graeme, then, was a notorious
Jacobite, and had been engaged in the late rebellion. On
a visit he made to Scotland, his native country, after this
embassy, David Hume, the historian, said to him, ' Colonel
Graeme, I congratulate you on having exchanged the
dangerous employment of making Kings, for the more
lucrative province of making Queens.'
So complete was the King's deference to the will of his
mother, that he blindly accepted the bride she had chosen
for him ; though, to the very day of the council, he carried
on his courtship to Lady Sarah ; and she did not doubt
of receiving the crown from him, till she heard the public
declaration of its being designed for another. Yet, in
1 HoUand House, beyond Kensington, the seat of the Earls of Warwick
and Holland ; now of Henry Fox, Lord Holland. [On the death of Mary
Augusta, Lady Holland, widow of Henry, fourth Lord Holland, in September
1 889, Holland House became the property of the present Earl of Ilchester. ]  E.

KING GEORGE HI.

51

confirmation of the trust he had reposed in Lady Susan
Strangways, himself appointed Lady Sarah to be one of
the bridemaids to the Queen. Yet Lord Bute's friends
affected to give another tum to the story ; and insisted
that the King had never thought of Lady Sarah but for
his mistress. All, they affirmed, he had said to Lady
Susan was, to bid her ask Lady Sarah if she should like
a place in the family of the new Queen; that she had
accepted it ; and that the King had destined her to be
Mistress ofthe Robes. Her surprise and disappointment,
however, were too strongly marked to make this legend
credible. Lady Susan adhered to the truth of what she
had reported, in various examinations by her father and
uncle. And the resentment Lady Sarah expressed, and
which caused, as the court said, her not being placed about
the new Queen, was proof enough on which side the truth
lay. The junto persuaded the King she was a bad young
woman ; but if she was, what hindered her becoming
his mistress ? Wa.'^ it criminal to propose being his wife
rather than his mistress ? And what became of the King's
boasted piety, if he intended to place his mistress about
his wife? Some coquet attempts, which Lady Sarah
afterwards made to recover his notice, and her stooping
to bear the Queen's train as bridemaid, did her more pre
judice than all that was invented against her. Pique and
extreme youth miglit excuse both ; and her soon after
preferring a clergyman's son to several great matches,
gave evidence that ambition was not a rooted passion in
her. In my own opinion, the King had thoughts of her as
a wife ; but wanted resolution to oppose his mother and
Lord Bute. Fortunately, no doubt, in this instance ; for
the daughter of a subject, and the sister-in-law of so
ambitious and exceptionable a man as Fox, would pro
bably have been productive of most serious consequences.
To avoid returning to this topic, I will only remember
that, during tlie wedding-service, on mention of Abraham
and Sarah, the King could not conceal his confusion.

52 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
And the day following, when everybody was presented
to the Queen, Lord Westmoreland,' old and dimsighted,
seeing Lady Sarah in the rich habit of bridemaid, mistook
her for Queen, and was going to kneel and kiss her hand.
But while the arrival of the Queen was expected, and
the approaching ceremonies of the wedding and coronation
engrossed the attention of the public, affairs grew towards
a serious crisis in the Cabinet Prince Ferdinand had
opened the campaign with vivacity and advantage, driving
the French before him, and seizing, or reducing them to
destroy great part of their magazines ; a success that
enabled him to form the sieges of Ziegenhayn and Cassel.
Marshal Broglio was not disheartened or inactive ; but
re-assembling his dispersed troops, he attacked the Here
ditary Prince, and routed the body under his command ;
in consequence of which the sieges were raised, and Prince
Ferdinand retired, abandoning the whole country of Hesse
to the enemy. This advantage, it was apprehended, would
make France less eager for peace. Yet she continued the
negotiation with much appearance of warmth ; and though
she was far from bringing all the facilities our Court wished
for, the conclusion of the treaty seemed to be rather im
peded by the loftiness and firmness of Mr. Pitt, than by
the insincerity of France. Still, as it afterwards appeared,
she had secret resources in reserve ; nor could she fail to
hope but Mr. Pitt might be displaced, and her condition
^ John Fane, Earl of Westmoreland, Chancellor of Oxford, Lieutenant-
General in the Army, and formerly Captain of one of the troops of Horse
Guards. In early life, when a younger brother, and a Whig, he had served
under the Duke of Marlborough ; and afterwards commanded ' the very body
of troops which King George I. had been obliged to send to Oxford, to teach
the University the only kind of passive obedience which they did not approve.'
He subsequently joined the Jacobites in their opposition to Sir Robert Wal
pole, and became a high Tory ; as indeed may be inferred from Lord Arran
appointing him High Steward of the University in 1754, and from his suc
ceeding that nooleman as Chancellor in 1758. He was comely in his person,
and highly respected for his virtues in private life. Glover describes him eis
'a veteran patriot, slow, but soUd ; always meaning well, and therefore judg
ing right.' He died without issue in 1762, at a very advanced age. Walpole's
Memoirs of George IL, 1847, vol. ni. p. 167 ; Memoirs by a Celebrated Politi
cal and Literary Character, 1814, pp. 96-97. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 53
mended, when the administration should fall into the
hands of men whose honour was not so much concerned
in the event of the war, and who had national honour
much less at heart The transactions have been printed,
and will appear in every common history. My part is
to relate by what steps and intrigues the negotiation was
broken off.
In the end of August, the council had ordered their
ultimate concessions to be drawn and sent to France. Mr.
Pitt made the draught and carried it to Council. The
other ministers thought it spoke his sense, not theirs ; or
rather, contained more of an ultimatum than they were
disposed to adhere to. In defence of his own inflexi
bility, Mr. Pitt spoke largely on the haughtiness of
France. Lord Hardwicke' said he approved our not submitting
to their haughtiness, and congratulated his country in
not having been behind hand with them in that respect
Lord Granville^ took the draught, and applauded it ex
ceedingly ; said it deserved to be inserted in the Acta
Regia ; but for his part he did not love fine letters on
business. He thought even bad Latin preferable to good
in negotiations.
These speeches raised Pitt's choler ; and with reason.
He had vindicated the honour of his country ; and now
was supporting it with a dignity it had never known since
the days of Cromwell. He saw himself abandoned and
ridiculed by his master's ministers ; but he was not a man
to recoil before such adversaries. If he had assumed an
unwarrantable tone, his situation might well justify it
He broke out with great asperity, and told them dictatori-
ally, they should not alter an iota of the letter. Rhodo-
montade had been too favourite a figure with Lord
Granville to leave him the dupe of it in another man.
He himself had made glory but a step to ambition, instead
of making ambition a footstool to glory. He neither
• Sir PhiUp Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke, formerly Lord Chancellor.
» John Carteret, Earl Granville, sometime Prime Minister to George II.

54 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
admired Pitt's exalted diction, nor exalted views; and,
continuing to canvass the point with him, said he had
understood from Bussy — 'From Bussy,' interrupted Pitt,
' nor you, nor any of you shall treat with Bussy : nobody
shall but myself
The Duke of Bedford, whom the rest always summoned
when they wanted to combat Pitt and did not dare, said
'he did not know why he was called to council, if he
was not at liberty to debate ; and since he was told they
were not to be permitted to alter an iota, he would come
thither no more,' and retired. Some of the others were
less stout Lord Bute said little, but that he thought the
King's honour was concerned in sticking to our own
terms ; and therefore he should be for adhering to them.
This short turn in the Favourite produced a like sentiment
in some who waited on his nod. Besides Mr. Pitt and
Lord Temple, the Chancellor, Lord Halifax, and Lord
Ligonier assented to the Favourite's opinion ; Hardwicke,
Newcastle, Mansfield, and Granville adhered to the softer
method. The Duke of Devonshire remained, who had
uttered no opinion. At last he said, if they were not
permitted to alter the draught of the letter (which implied
his inclination to have it altered), he should give no
opinion. Mr. Pitt asked what he should report to the
King as his Grace's advice .' He replied as he had said
before, 'he would give no opinion.'
Newcastle was alarmed, and jealous of the sudden and
unexpected turn Lord Bute had taken, but was soon
satisfied by his Lordship that he was in no connection
with Mr. Pitt ; and, indeed, it is probable that he had only
been overawed, and had apprehended being taxed by Pitt
with any unpopular measure. On the 25th, another council
was held, to which, notwithstanding his declaration, the
Duke of Bedford returned. He and Devonshire seemed
to have no concern but lest any wayward humour of New
castle should be crossed. Pitt at this council was more
temperate, and submitted to some small concessions.
On the 7th of September, the new Queen landed at

KING GEORGE IH.

55

Harwich. Lord Harcourt,' whose peace had been made
by Lord Talbot, had been sent to fetch .her, with the
Duchesses of Ancaster ^ and Hamilton ;8 but as an earnest
of the prison prepared for her, and to keep her in that
state of ignorance which was essential to the views of
the Princess, they were forbidden to see her alone. Her
mother, who died during the treaty of marriage, ordered
her to put herself entirely into the hands of the Princess.
Mrs. Katherine Dashwood,* of a Jacobite family, and
intimate of Lady Bute, was destined to live in the palace.
No privy purse was allowed to the Queen, but Mr. Stone ^
received twenty thousand pounds a year to pay her
servants. She had been educated in that strict course of piety
which in Germany reaches to superstition ; a habit in
which she was encouraged to such a degree, that when
the King visited his mother, which he soon, at the desire
of the Princess, began to do, without the Queen, she was
afraid of staying alone, and retired to her two German
' Simon, Lord Harcourt, formerly Governor to the King. [See an account
of his resignation of that post in the preceding reign, Memoirs of George II.,
1847, vol. i. p. 289. — L. M.]
^ Mary Panton, second wife of Peregrine Bertie, Duke of Ancaster.
' Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess Dowager of Hamilton, married, secondly,
to John Campbell, Marquis of Lorn, eldest son of John, Duke of Argyle.
4 Mr. Hammond had been in love with her, and then forsaken her. The
poems which he wrote on her have been published. [James Hammond's Love
Elegies were published in 1743. They will be found in Chalmers's Collection
of English Poets.— 'E„'\
" Mr. Andrew Stone was appointed Treasurer to the Queen on her arrival.
He was the well-known confidant of the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pelham,
over both of whom he exercised great influence. He had been private, and after
wards under secretary to the former. Latterly he had been sub-governor to
the King when Prince of Wales. He was a fine scholar, and had distinguished
himself at Oxford, where he was the rival and friend of Murray (Lord
Mansfield). Bishop Newton, who knew him well, says that his tastes and
feeUngs were better suited to the Church than to politics. Lord Waldegrave
likewise commends his integrity. Walpole can find no fault in him, except
that he had a tendency to Jacobitism, a charge which his conduct and con
nections proved to be unfounded. He appears to have been entirely devoid
of ambition, honest, and most disinterested. He died in 1773, aged seventy-
two. The best account of Mr. Stone is in a note to Coxe's Life of Pelham,
vol. i. p. 430.— L. M.

56 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
women ; her English ladies not being suffered to keep
her company. Yet this weakness seemed solely the result
of a bad education. Her temper appeared to be lively,
and her understanding sensible and quick. Great good
nature, set off by much grace in her manner, recommended
all she said. Her person was small, and very lean, but
well made. Her face pale and homely, her nose something
flat, her mouth very large. Her hair was of a fine brown,
and her countenance pleasing.
When first she saw the palace she trembled. The
Duchess of Hamilton smiled. The Queen said, 'You
may laugh ; you have been married twice ; but it is no
joke to me.' The King received her in the garden of
St James's ; she would have kneeled, but he raised and
embraced her, and led her to the Princess, where they and
Lady Augusta dined together. Between nine and ten at
night they went to chapel. The Duke of Cumberland
gave her away, and after the ceremony they appeared for
a few minutes in the drawing-room, and then went to
supper. She played and sung, for music was her passion,
but she loved other amusements too, and had been
accustomed to them ; but, excepting her music, all the
rest were retrenched, nor was she ' ever suffered to play at
cards, which she loved. While she was dressing, she was
told the King liked some particular manner of dress.
She said, 'Let him dress himself; I shall dress as I
please.' They told her he liked early hours ; she replied,
she did not, and ' qu'elle ne voulait pas se coucher avec les
poules.' A few weeks taught her how little power she had
acquired with a Crown. The affection she conceived for
the King softened the rigour of her captivity. Yet now
and then a sigh stole out, and now and then she attempted,
though in vain, to enlarge her restraint. What must have
penetrated deeper was that policy did not seem to be the
sole motive of the mortifications she endured. At times
there entered a little wantonness of power into the
Princess's treatment of her. The King made her frequent
' She did some years afterwards with the King, but quite in private.

KING GEORGE III. 57
presents of magnificent jewels, and, as if diamonds were
empire, she was never allowed to appear in public without
them. The first time she received the sacrament she
begged not to wear them, one pious command of her
mother having been not to use jewels at her first com
munion. The King indulged her; but Lady Augusta
carrying this talc to her mother, the Princess obliged the
King to insist on the jewels, and the poor young Queen's
tears and terrors could not dispense with her obedience.
Previous to the Coronation the vacant Bishopricks were
bestowed. The Archbishoprick of York was given to
Dr. Drumnioiul,' and Hayter '¦* of Norwich, who had been
disgraced with Lord Harcourt, was, by the interest of the
same jiatron, Lord Talbot, promoted to the See of London.
Ncwcaslle veheiiieiitly opposed it, and solicited for Thomas
of Lincoln,* but received this thundering sentence from
Lord Hute : — ' If Thomas is such a favourite with your
Grace, why did not you prefer him when you had the
' The Hon. Robert Hay Drummond, .second son of George, seventh Eavl of
Kinnoul, liy his wife, l.ady Abijjail Ibuley, secoiul daughter of Roliert, first
l'".arl of Oxford, assumed the aiUlilional name of Ilnnunioml in acooidance to
the deed of email of his gveal-nraiuH'alliei-, William, Iirst Viscount Slralhallan.
Ho was ediiealed at VVeslminslei- and Chvi.st Cluuoh, Oxford, and attended
George 11. in the campaign of 1743 in the capacity of ehaplain. He was
eouseemted liisliop of Si. Asaph in Kensington Chmeli on 24th .\pril 1748,
was tran.slaled to .Salislmry in June 1761, and lo Voik in the following
(.li'toher. Walpole deseiibes him as lioinj; ' a sensible worldly nmn, but mudi
addicted lo his bottle' (^/oiinuil ,f thf Reigd of Cfors^c III., vol. ii. p. 89).
He died at llishopsthorpe, lOth December 177(1, ajjed .sixly-live. He married
Hcniietta, da\i[;liter of IVier Aviriol, a London merch.ant, by whom he had
n numeio\i,s family.- V„
" Thonias Hayter, the eldest son ofthe Rev, tu'ovj;e llaylor, Rector of
Cliajjford, Devonshire, was eoiisceraied Bishop of Norwich on jrd Oeoember
1749, nnd on tlie eleath of Frodeviek, Prince of Wale.s, was appointed pre
ceptor lo the yoimi; pvinees. His translation to London was eonl'umed at
How t'hmvh on .;.ith Oeloher 1761, and in the following November he was
admillod 10 ihe I'livy Coimeil. He died on gth Januaiy 1702, aged fifly-nine.
There is no truth in Walpole's scandalous story that Hayter was a natural
son of Dr. Liinoeloi Ulaekburnc, ArchWshop of York. (See \Valpole\s /<¦//<¦»¦.«,
185S, vii. p. 47--)- I'--
^ There w'cre at this time two bishops of the same name — fi . John Thomas.
llishop of Wiiuhesler, and Dr. Jvihn Thomas, Bi&liop of Lincoln, The latter
had been promoted by l.oid tlranville.

58 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
power ? ' The Duke, however, obtained the mitre of
Norwich for Dr. Yonge ; and being bidden to observe
that the King's answer to the address of Oxford on his
marriage was kinder than that to Cambridge, he replied,
it is true ; but two of the new Bishops are Cambridge men
— so easily did he comfort himself even with the shadow
of power !
Here ended, almost as soon as it began, the credit of
Lord Talbot. He was sometimes well, sometimes ill with
Lord Bute, and though remaining in favour at Court,
never seemed to have any influence there. A trifling
circumstance, because it occasioned an event that made
much noise afterwards, must be mentioned. As Lord
Steward, Lord Talbot composed part of that ridiculous
pageant at the coronation, the entry of the Champion.
So fond was Lord Talbot of his share in this mummery,
that he rehearsed his part on his steed in Westminster
Hall, and carried his new Bishop of London to be witness
of his feats. The Duke of York calling Hayter, who was
lame, up to the haut pas, which he ascended with diflSculty,
the Bishop said, ' You see, sir, how hard it is for me to get
a step.' When the day came, Lord Talbot piqued him
self on not turning his back to the King, and produced a
strange hubbub of laughter by trying to force his horse to
retire backwards out of the hall. With the City, with the
Knights of the Bath, and the Barons of the Cinque Ports,
Lord Talbot had various squabbles, by retrenching their
tables at the coronation. Beckford told him it was hard
if the citizens should have no dinner, when they were to
give the King one, which would cost them ten thousand
pounds. This menace prevailed. Sir WilHam Stanhope,
brother of Lord Chesterfield, a man of not less wit, and of
more ill-nature than his elder, said, ' It was an affront to
the Knights of the Bath ; for some of us,' added he, ' are
gentlemen: It was a more bitter speech he made against
the Scotch and their Protectress. ' He would not go to
Court,' he said, ' for fear of the itch, which would reduce
him to go to the Princess's Court for brimstone.' To the

^ KING GEORGE III. 50
Barons of the Cinque Ports Lord Talbot said, ' If they
came to him as Lord Steward, their request could not be
granted ; if, as Lord Talbot, he was a match for any of
them.' This boisterous and absurd behaviour drew aside
much odium from the Favourite ; but a's puppet-shows
were not exhibited every day, the zany was forgotten, and
the hisses of the mob soon fastened on the principal
performer.

6o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER VI
Interposition of Spain in behalf of France. — The Duke of Bedford and
Bussy. — Mr. Pitt's indignation at the demands of Spain. — Resignation of
Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple. — Exultation of Lord Bute and other
ministers. — Lord Talbot's advice to the Duke of Newcastle. — Effect on
the Nation of Mr. Pitt's Secession from the Cabinet.— His acceptance of
a Peerage for his wife, and of a pension. — Insidious conduct of the
Court. — Mr. Pitt's Successors in Office. — George Grenville. — Injudicious
Conduct of Mr. Pitt. — Address to him from the Common Council of
London, and from Provincial Towns. — Mrs. Anne Pitt's sarcasm against
her brother. — Meeting of Parliament. — Choice of a Speaker. — Sir John
Cust. — The King's Speech. — The Address. — Lord Temple's Speech. —
The King and Royal Family dine in the City with the Lord Mayor. —
Mr. Pitt's reception in Guildhall. — Riots.
It was not without reason that the nation took an
alarm, when almost all who conducted our affairs were
determined to take none. Spain for some time had
interposed officiously in behalf of France, which, said the
Spaniards, was sufficiently humbled, and must not be
ruined. It was known that they had furnished her with
money ; and, as if they sought an open breach with us,
they demanded for all Spain the same privilege as Biscay
and two other provinces enjoyed, of fishing on the coasts
of Newfoundland. This was peremptorily refused ; and
had Mr. Pitt's influence been equal to his spirit. Lord
Bristol ' had been immediately recalled from Madrid.
But the other ministers, who desired nothing better than
an excuse for their pusillanimity, begged to temporise.
They pretended to dread being overpowered, but were
more afraid of a new field being opened to success. The
Spanish ministers of the French faction had blown up
1 George William Hervey, Earl of Bristol, Ambassador in Spain, son of
the famous John, Lord Hervey. See infra.

^ AVA'C GEORGE III 6r
their opinionative and ignorant Prince ' with ideas of
holding tho balance between England and France ; but
the old Spaniards lamented a system so abhorrent from
the true interest of their country. The King of Spain was
possessed with a notion that his lights were equal to his
grandeur. He listened, or thought he listened, to no
advice: but if any thing is more fatal to a nation than a
foolish indolent prince, it is a foolish one that is active and
obstinate. Our ministers cried out against a war with
Spain as unnatural ; but when the interest of Spain did
not direct Spain, were wo to act as if it did ? The Duke
of Bedford, who, like Don Carlos, could be made to take
half of what hc meant for the whole, was clamorous against
a Spanish war ; and as he always compensated for the
arguments he leaped over, by excess on the other side, he
told Bussy he was sorry for his departure, as we wore no
longer in a situation to make war.-
Biissy, however, still lingered, and invented frivolous
excuses to palliate his delay. Lord Hardwicke, consider
ing a treat)- in the light of a bill in Chancer)-, begged some
hinJiiig words might be inserted in the treat}-. But
Mr. Pitt had fi.xcd his resolution. It was by one bold
stroke to assert the honour of his counti)-, or to quit the
rudder. lie insisted that a fleet of twelve or fourteen
men-of-war should be instanti)- sent to Cadiz ; and that
Lord Bristol should be ordered to demand a sight of the
treat)- between Spain and France ; and if not accorded, to
leave Madrid without delay. W'hen Spain had given such
indications of her partiality to France, nothing could be
more justifiable than this measure. But Spain had not
restrained herself within the bounds of favour. In the
midst of the negotiation between us and I'rance, to which
Spain pretended to offer herself as guarantee, she had
committed a most flagrant and unheard-of instance of
' Charles the Third, King of Spain, and liel'ore of Naples ; commonly
CAlled Don Carlos.
^ The Piiko p^viitively denied having made any such communication to
Bussy. See infill. — L. M.

62 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
taking part, nay, of adding herself as a party to the
grievances complained of Bussy, tolerated here as a
negotiator, and without even a character from his own
Court, presented to Mr. Pitt a cavalier note in the name
of Spain, demanding restitution of some prizes we had
made on Spain during the war, satisfaction for the viola
tion of their territory by the navy of England, liberty of
fishery on Newfoundland, and destruction of our settle
ments on the Spanish territory, in the bay of Honduras.
A power in amity with us, and affecting to act as mediator,
selects our enemy's agent to convey their complaints ! —
what could surpass this insult? — the patience of our
ministers under such indignity — not of Mr. Pitt He
replied with the majesty of the Crown he served, — the
vengeance of that Crown slept in other hands.
His hands tied, the nation affronted, and duped by the
partial breaking off of the treaty with France, no proper
resentment permitted against Spain, Mr. Pitt found he
could do no farther good. His character had been lost by
acquiescence ; and nothing could rouse the nation, but his
quitting the sphere of business, where he was so treacher
ously controlled. He had desired to enter his protest in
the council books against the temporising advice of his
colleagues. He and Lord Temple delivered to the King
their reasons and advice for a war with Spain ; and
October 2nd Mr. Pitt took leave of the Council, thanking
the ministers of the late King for the support they had
given to the war; and on the Sth he resigned the Seals.
Lord Temple quitted on the 9th following.
It is difficult to say which exulted most on this occasion,
France, Spain, or Lord Bute, for Mr. Pitt was the common
enemy of all three. Newcastle, Hardwicke, Bedford,
Devonshire, Mansfield, and Fox were not less pleased,'
1 The following note is transcribed from the manuscript memoirs of Sir
George Colebrooke, Bart., M.P., Chairman ofthe East India Company; an
eminent merchant, who sat many years in Pariiament, and possessed the con
fidence of some of the leading statesmen of his day : 
' During the time I attended Newcastle House and the Treasury Chambers

KING GEORGE III. 63
for they had all concurred to thwart his plan. Lord
Talbot alone, though of the same faction, seemed to see
farther than any of them. He advised the Duke of New
castle, 'not to die for joy on the Monday, nor for fear on
the Tuesday.'
The nation was thunderstruck, alarmed, and indignant
The City of London proposed to address the King to
know why Mr. Pitt was dismissed ; but it being replied,
that the King would tell them he had not dismissed
Mr. Pitt, but had wished him to continue in employment,
the motion dropped. Some proposed a general mourning ;
others, more reasonable, to thank Mr. Pitt for his services ;
but this too was damped ; for the Favourite's agents were
not idle, and insinuated that Mr. Pitt had acted with
on the Contract business, I had frequent opportunities of knowing how
despotically Mr. Pitt governed his ministerial colleagues, and how much he
was dreaded by the Duke. Some years afterwards I recollect His Grace
making this the subject of lively conversation at table, at Claremont ; but it
was no subject of merriment at the time the transaction passed. More than
once I was summoned to the Treasury to give an account of the state of the
provisions, and of the money, for the army, Mr. West giving, for reason, that
Mr. Pitt threatened the Duke, that if at any time a want of either should be
found, he would impeach him in the ensuing session. At the Treasury I
frequently met Mr. Wallis, Commissioner of the Navy, who mentioned the
following, memorable instance. A train of artillery was wanted at Ports
mouth for an expedition. Mr. Pitt told Wallis that it must be down by a
certain day he named. Wallis made some excuse for the delay, either that
the transports were not ready or the winds were contrary ; upon which
Mr. Pitt insisted that they should go by land, a method of conveyance which
was afterwards pursued.
'General Harvey, who had been sent by Prince Ferdinand to prepare
matters in England for the campaign, and to carry over the English draughts,
waited on Mr. Pitt to take his leave. Mr. Pitt asked him whether he had
obtained everything he wanted, and the General answered, not ; and he
therefore came to lake leave, that no blame might fall on him from the
Prince. Mr. Pitt desired the General to enumerate what he wanted, and
immediately rang his bell for Mr. Wood, who in the names of the different
Boards signified to their officers His Majesty's commands for the despatch of
what was required for Germany, and in four days General Harvey had in
readiness what he had been as many months soliciting.
' West, the Secretary, always looked frightened ; and well he might, for
Mr. Pitt would have been as good as his word, which was to impeach the
Commissioners of the Treasury, if they neglected anything needful for the
war. At times he depended so little on them, that, notwithstanding a con-

64 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
mischievous views ; for they who were incapable of great
views, were excellent in undermining. The King was
advised to heap rewards on his late minister. The Princess
pressed it eagerly. A peerage, a vast pension, the govern
ment of Canada (as a mark that it was not to be restored
at the peace), were offered to him. He had the frailty to
accept a peerage for his wife, and a pension of three
thousand a year for three lives !
The Court, impatient to notify their triumph, and to
blast his popularity at once, could not resist the impulse
of publishing in the very next night's Gazette, Mr. Pitt's
acceptance of their boons' — the first instance, I believe,
tract to supply the army, he caused provisions to be sent by victualling
transports. ' Proceeding in the way I have mentioned, of writing in the names of the
different public officers, there were numberless hiatus in their books of corre
spondence, and instances of orders carried into execution without their
sanction. The name of Lord Barrington was principally used as Secretary
at War, who did not know more than a stranger of troops being ordered on
service, till the embarkation had actually taken place.
' The Duke of Newcastle, speaking himself of the cavalier manner with
which Mr. Pitt treated the Cabinet, mentioned the instance of some foreign
expedition which Mr. Pitt had proposed, but which, in the opinion of the
ministers, and of Lord Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty, deprived Great
Britain of too great a part of its internal defence. Lord Mansfield had not
yet given his opinion ; but Mr. Pitt, apprehensive that it would be against
him, summed up the opinions of Council, a majority of which he declared to
be for the expedition ; adding, " The Chief Justice of England has no opinion
to give in this matter " ; thereby stopping his mouth. The Duke told Lord
Coventry, that Mr. Murray, when Attorney-General, and in the House of
Commons, had acknowledged to him that he was intimidated by Pitt. The
more the latter found Murray to be intimidated, the more he naturally pressed
him. ' I never saw the Duke in higher spirits than after Mr. Pitt, thwarted by
the Cabinet in his proposal of declaring war against Spain, had given notice
of resignation. The Duke had done more wisely, if he had followed Lord
Hardwicke's advice, and had resigned on the death of his late master. The
Duke could not endure to part with his power, much less to devolve it on
one who meant to keep it. When he last resigned the Treasury to the Duke
of Devonshire, it was with a view to have it back again at a convenient
season.' — L. M.
1 The following extraordinary notice was published in the Gazette of the
loth of October : ' The Right Hon. William Pitt having resigned the Seals
into the King's hands. His Majesty was this day pleased to appoint the Earl

KING GEORGE III. 65
of a pension ever specified in that paper.' At the same
time, to decry his councils, and to stigmatise them with
rashness, they added an article from Spain, setting forth
the pacific intentions of that Court But in this instance
their ardour outran their discretion, for the article published
was dated September 4th. Other letters had been received
from thence of the Sth, which, not being divulged, implied
that the letters of the Sth were of a hostile cast, and con
sequently justified Mr. Pitt's sentiments. Subsequent
events were a still clearer vindication of his conduct.
The Seals, which Mr. Pitt had resigned, were given to
Lord Egremont ; and his brother-in-law, George Grenville,
was entrusted with the management of the House of
Commons. Grenville had been destined for Speaker ; an
office to which his drudgery was suited ; and which, being
properly the most neutral place in government, would
have excused him from entering into the contest between
Mr. Pitt and the Favourite. But Grenville's temper,
though plodding and laborious, had not the usual con
comitant prudence. He lent himself to the views of
Lord Bute to promote his own. Lord Temple, who had
as little decency as his brother George had judgment,
was exasperated beyond measure ; broke out in bitter
invectives against him, and threatened to leave from him
the paternal estate and give it to James, the third brother,
who had resigned with him and Mr. Pitt
The public, though staggered by the pension, did not
of Egremont to be one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. And,
in consideration of the great and important services of the said Mr. Pitt,
His Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct that a warrant be prepared
for granting to the Lady Hester Pitt, his wife, a Barony of Great Britain, by
the name, stile, and title of Baroness of Chatham, to herself, and of Baron
of Chatham to her heirs male, and also to confer upon the said William
Pitt, Esq., an annuity of three thousand pounds sterling, during his own life
and that of Lady Hester Pitt, and their son, John Pitt, Esq.'— L. M.
1 It certainly is not the practice now (1844) to insert pensions in the
Gazette. Whether it ever was so it would be difficult to ascertain, as there
is no index prior to the year 1787. The impression of two very old officers,
who have frequent occasions to consult the Gazette, is, that no such general
practice ever prevailed. — L. M.
VOL. I. E

66 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
abandon their idol. At first the Common Council, which
had been summoned to thank him for his services, dropped
the intention and separated, after voting an address to
Parliament for widening the streets. But, on one hand.
Lord Temple's zeal kept alive the flame; and on the
other, the rancour with which Lord Bute's and Fox's
partisans pursued Mr. Pitt, only served to alarm the nation,
and to endear the man to them who they saw suffered
for his patriotism. Yet his own conduct was not judicious.
Incensed at the abuse thrown on him, he wrote a letter
into the City to explain his resignation, pleading that he
had no longer been allowed to guide. A term so engrossing
gave offence, and handle to ridicule. Fox's agents did not
overlook it, but published some cutting pamphlets on Pitt's
arrogance. Yet his condescending to appeal to the City
against the Court bore down all opposition. The Common
Council agreed to thank him, and to instruct their mem
bers ; and though Paterson, an agent of Fox, opposed the
motion, it was carried by 109 to 15. The contagion soon
spread, even to part of Scotland. Stirling, Exeter, York,
Chester, and other cities and towns, complimented Mr. Pitt
on his conduct.
His own sister, Mrs. Anne Pitt, who was of the opposite
faction, furnished his enemies with a severe sarcasm. She
had been Maid of Honour to Queen Caroline, and was
warmly attached to her brother, with whom she lived.
On his promotion to the Pay-office, he had shaken her
off in an unbecoming manner. She had excellent parts
and strong passions. Lord Bolingbroke had recommended
her to the late Prince, on whose death she had been made
Privy-purse to the Princess ; but being of an intriguing
and most ambitious nature, she soon destroyed her own
prospect by an impetuosity to govern her mistress, and
by embarking in other Cabals at that Court. Her disgrace
followed, but without dismission ; on which she had retired
to France. On her return, though she could never recover
the favour of the Princess, she so successfully cultivated
the patronage of Lord and Lady Bute, that she kept her

KING GEORGE IH. 67
ground at Leicester Fields, and obtained a large pension.
This she had notified by letter to her brother. He had
coldly replied, that he congratulated her on the addition
to her fortune, but was grieved to see the name of Pitt in
a list of pensions.' On his accepting one, she copied his
own letter, turning it against himself; and though restrained
by her friends from sending it to him, she repeated what
she had done, till it became the common talk of the town.
On the 3rd of November the Parliament met George
Grenville made a very handsome panegyric on the late
Speaker ; and then the House proceeded to the election
of his successor. The choice had been very difficult : not
from the number of competitors, but from a total deficiency
of proper subjects. Grenville, who would have filled the
chair with spirit and knowledge, had been taken off to a
province for which he was far less qualified. Lord Bute
had solicited Prowse- to accept the office, who was the
^ It was by such expressions as this that Mr. Pitt created the disappoint
ment in the public mind that followed the announcement of his pension. To
use the words of Lord Brougham : ' He appears to have been very far from
sustaining the exalted pitch of magnanimous independence, and utter disregard
of sublunary interests, which we should expect him to have reached and kept
as a matter of course, from a mere cursory glance at the mould in which his
lofty character was cast.' — Statesmen of the Time of George III., 1st series,
p. 45. A pension of ;£^4000 a year to Lord Holderness passed without a
murmur, while one of .;^3O0o s. year to Mr. Pitt raised a general burst of
indignation, only because the country regarded the latter as lowering their
idol to the level of the jobbing statesmen of the day. The cry against Mr. Pitt
was, indeed, almost universal. See letter to Mr. Conway, vol. iii. of Walpole's
Letters (lZ^^), pp. 453-4; and particularly the note containing the opposite
opinions of Mr. Gray and Mr. Burke. Mr. Pitt's noble refusal of the vast
emoluments of the Pay-office, which so enriched those who preceded and
succeeded him as Paymaster, entitles his conduct in all pecuniary matters to
a liberal construction from posterity. What is really to be regretted is the
humiliating tone of his correspondence with Lord Bute, in accepting the
pension (Chatham Correspondetne, vol. ii. p. 152), and his language at his
interview with the King on that occasion. — Annual Rfgis/cr for 1761, pp.
44.-45. But we will not dwell on the defects of a man who certainly was far
atiove his age, not only in talent, but in real independence. — L. JL
^ Thomas Prowse, member for Somersetshire, which he had represented
in five successive ParUaments, having beeu every time unanimously elected.
He was an opulent, well-informed, and influential country gentleman. He
died, after a long illness, on 1st January 1767, aged fifty-nine, and was buried

68 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
most knowing and the most moderate of the Tories, but
he had declined from bad health. The Duke of Newcastle
had proposed Bacon,' who had more Whiggism than
abilities ; but the Favourite determined on Sir John Cust,^
who was a Tory, and had nothing but industry ; he was
indeed a very poor creature. Lord Barrington named
him, his friend Lord Egmont praised him, and he was
chosen. Two nights before, at a meeting of the principal
men in the House of Commons, to hear the King's
Speech, and the respondent Address, read, Charles
Townshend, who was offended at the lead being assigned
to Grenville, found fault that there was no mention of the
militia. Grenville said it was not usual to insert anything
in the Address which was not touched upon in the Speech ;
and added, that he found there were very different opinions
in members of Parliament on the usefulness of the militia.
Lord Barrington and Charles Yorke supported Grenville :
Stanley agreed with Townshend, who again debated the
point with much warmth. The next night, at a larger
meeting at the Cock-pit, Townshend recanted to Grenville
all he had said, professed he believed he had been
infatuated, begged it might be forgotten, and that
Grenville would not take it to himself Grenville replied,
in Axbridge Church ; where the long panegyric on his tomb states — 'That
though frequently solicited, he never could be prevailed upon to accept of any
employment in the state ' (CoUinson's History of Somerset, vol. iu. p. 562).
— L. M.
1 Edward Bacon of Earlham HaU, Norfolk, Recorder of Norwich, son of
Walter Bacon, M.P. for Norwich. He was M.P. for King's Lynn, 1742-7;
ColUngton, 1748-54; Newport, 1754-6; Norwich, 1756-84, and served on
the Board of Trade and Plantations from 1759 to 1765. He died on 12th March
1786, aged seventy-three, and was buried in Earlham Church. — E.
" A more favourable character of Sir John Cust is given in the prefece of
Moore's General Index to the Journals of the House of Commons, vol. iv.
pp. xxiii. -iv. ; a very useful work, to the compilation of which he contributed.
He added to great industry a considerable knowledge of Parliamenteiry history
and constitutional law ; and his amiable disposition and obliging temper were
no insignificant recommendations to the Speakership. He was a Lincoln
shire country gentleman, of ancient family, and had inherited a great estate
from his mother, the heiress ofthe Tyrconnels. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 69
he had not : that for himself he forgot it ; as the King's
servant he could not forget it.
On the 6th, the King made his speech. Lord
Northumberland,' and Lord Berkeley^ of Stratton moved
and seconded the Address. Lord Temple rose, and
opened on his own and Mr. Pitt's resignations, the motives
to which he explained ; found fault that no mention was
made of the militia, and that the Pariiament had not been
thanked for establishing it He talked on Court favour,
and on those who disposed of all things ; endeavouring to
provoke Lord Bute to rise. He said the crisis for a war
with Spain had been most advantageously held out to this
country, and complained of those who had betrayed the
secrets of our situation to Bussy. It was a time, he said,
when a first minister was necessary ; but now, who
remained fit for that office ? Who thought himself capable
oi guiding 1 He uttered this in his usual languid manner,
though the matter was not ill conceived ; nor, though
indiscreet, was he so intemperate as had been expected.
The Duke of Bedford replied with much applause, and
said he did not know why the militia deserved more thanks
than the grant of regular troops. He declared,' upon his
honour, that he had told no such thing, as had been hinted
at, to Bussy ; and concluded with hoping never to see a
first minister. Lord Shelbourne, attached to Fox, and
profuse of application to Lord Bute, spoke against the
German war. The Duke of Marlborough* and Earl
Gower moved the congratulation to the Queen.
The decency of Lord Temple's prelude to new
opposition soon changed its hue in a manner more suited
to his factious turbulence. On the 9th, the King and all
' Sir Hugh Smithson Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
^ John Berkeley, fifth and last Lord Berkeley of Stratton. He died without
issue in 1773, having left his principal estates to Lord Berkeley. — L. M.
' It is certain that Monsieur de Bussy told different persons what the Duke
of Bedford had said to him, particulariy to Lady Hervey, from whom I
heard it.
* George Spencer, Duke of Marlborough, K.G. He was son-in-law of
the Duke of Bedford. He died in January 1817, aged seventy-eight.— L.M.

70 .)fE.MOIRS OF TIIE REIu.X OF
the Ro)-al famil)- dined in the city with tiie Lord Ma\or.
Thither, too, went Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple in a ciiariot
together, — a step justl\- censured, and vei\- nearl)- pni-
ductivo of fatal consequences. To t/i^m all acclamations
were addressed ; and the distinctions paid in the Guild
hall to Mr. Pitt, to the total neglect of the King, bestowed
all the honour ofthe triumph on tlie rornicr. Little was
wanting to turn the pageant into a traged)-. Riots ensued,
and mail)' per.sons were insulted. The l'"avoiuite had
taken the precaution of having a guard of biitoiiers and
bruisers ; and by the defence of that convo)- alone,
escaped mischief Sir Samuel Mud)-er, the Lord lVla)-or,
caused diligent inquiry to be made into the iiroceeilings
ofthe da)-, and learned that Beckford himself had visited
several public-houses over night, and had appointed
ringleaders to dilTeront stations, and had been the first to
raise the huzza in the hall on the entrance of Mr. Pitt
//w joining liimself to a pomp, dedicated to a t'ourt he luui
just quitted, that was not decent. Tiie ambition ofdrawing
to himself the homage of the people was not nioilest To
offer himself as an incentive to civil tumult, and to liow
dangerous consequences he could not tell, was not a
symptom of very innocent intentions.

KING GEORGE III. 71

CHAPTER VII
Mr. Wilkes's censures on the King's Speech, seconded by Dempster. — The
Debate on continuing the War. — Speeches of Beckford, Cust, Harvey,
Forester, Pitt, and George Grenville. — The Queen's Dowry voted. —
Ministerial Manoeuvres on the secession of Mr. Pitt. — Meeting at the St.
Alban's Tavem. — Discussion on the Militia Act. — Speech, in the House
of Commons, of Charles Townshend, Secretary at War. — Policy of the
Court. — Fox's Faction. — Debate on the War in Germany. — George
Grenville's desertion of Pitt. — Pitt's Reply, — Walpole's Reflections on
that Statesman.
On the 13th of November the Address to the King
was moved in the House of Commons by the Lords
Middleton and Parker.' Mr. Wilkes,^ a man of whom
much will be said hereafter, passed some censures on the
King's speech, which, in the language of Parliament, he
said he was authorised to call the speech of the minister ;
though of what minister he could not tell. The extra
ordinary Gazette, he said, which had vaunted the pacific
disposition of Spain, had been contradicted by facts : it
had appeared that we were rather in a state of war with
that Crown. Yet no notice had been taken of those
transactions in the speech, though all mankind was
apprised of their notorious insults. He himself had seen
a Spanish memorial, that had been delivered by a French
agent. Unless some communication was made to
Parliament, how could Parliament lay the state of the
' Thomas, Lord Parker, elder son of the Earl of Macclesfield, whom he
succeeded in that title in March 1764. Like his father, he cultivated mathe
matics successfully, and was much respected. He had been defeated in the
great contest for the county of Oxford in 1754, but was seated on petition.
He died in 1795, aged seventy-two. — L. M.
^' The famous John WUkes, member for Aylesbury, and author of The
North Briton.

72 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
nation before his Majesty? As little menrion, he
observed, was made of the militia, though the ground
on which the war had stood. Dempster,' a young Scotch
member, seconded Wilkes, though less peremptory in
opposition ; for though he pleaded for the extension of
the militia to Scotland, and said the militia had felt the
heavy hand of administration, yet he censured the German
war, as having neither object nor end ; condemned faction,
and said he was pleased to see that his Majesty had
emancipated himself from the chains that had been
prepared for him.
Beckford, with his usual rhodomontade, said our
situation had never been so comfortable, nor the
national union ever so complete. It was not the mob,
nor two hundred great Lords (who received more from
Government than they paid to it), that made us so
firm : the middling rank of men it was in which our
strength consisted, and who called upon us to demand
peace sword in hand. Nor had our abilities ever been
so great. He was astonished our ministers — who they
were he knew not, nor did he look on Grenville and those
in the House of Commons but as subalterns — were afraid
of any power upon earth : he was amazed they could
suffer such memorials from Spain, so derogatory to our
honour. The answer should have been made by the
mouth of cannon. The revenues of Spain were pitiful,
were foreign : must be brought home, — and that we might
have prevented. You are near shore, continued he ; will
you go back? and without a pilot? A King should not
govern by a faction : the late King had been governed
by one, who resigned in the midst of rebellion, and flung
an empty purse in his face ; but we had now no Earl of
Warwick, no king-makers. Hope must come from the
rising generation : we had tried the old in vain. The war
^ George Dempster of Dunnichen, Co. Forfar, a director of the East India
Company and M.P. for the Forfar District of Burghs, 1761-68 and 1769-90.
He was appointed Secretary to the Order of the Thistle on 25th August
1765, and died on 13th February 1818, aged eighty-five. — E.

KING GEORGE III.

73

in Germany had sm object, and had almost obtained it
The French ought to be kept there. He did not desire
to see France and England engaged single-handed. France
s£ud, let us both get out of Germany, for she felt the mis
chief of warring there. The manner, indeed, in which we
had conducted our affairs there, had been too expensive ;
of which he produced instances : but speak out, cried he ;
will you quit all your allies.' Two points must be ob
tained, the security of America and of our fisheries. We
had already conceded too much : he was sorry for it — was
sorry Mr. Pitt had softened at all. He would be ready
to second Mr. Wilkes in moving for the Spanish papers,
and to know if they avowed Bussy.
Beckford was answered by Cust ' (the Speaker's brother),
and by Harvey ; ^ the last, a lawyer ; both of Tory families,
and the latter very sensible. The former spoke on the
burthen of the war, and said, that to raise six millions,
we ran in debt two : this year would cost us between nine
and ten. He would appeal to our very successes for the
impropriety of continuing the war. The King had told
us he would never depart from our true interest : if we
never had departed from it, we should not be debating
now. Har\'ey condemned the war in GermEmy, and justi
fied the intentions of Spain. Fuentes had declared that,
if his Court had had any hostile designs, it would itself
have made the demands ; but the other end of the town,
said he, will always promote a Spanish war: had done
so in the last reign ; had driven it on by the feigned
cruelties exercised on Captain Jenkins,* who, however,
died with his ears on his head. Forester, another and
still shrewder lawyer, endeavoured to ward off the rising
spirit by showing there was no such question before the
House as what was then in debate, Wilkes not having
1 Per^jrine Cust. He is mentioned in Churchill's Satires.
' Eliab Harvey, laother of WiUiam Harvey of ChigweU, in Essex, died in
1769. [M.P. for Dunwich, 1761-68.— E.]
' During the administration of Sir Roliert Walpole the Opposition propa-
^ted a report, which was universaUy Ijelieved, Aat the Spaniards, though
at peace with us, had taken one of our ships, and cut off the captain's ears.

74 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
made any motion ; (this was an usual art in old members,
and often served the purpose) ; nor was the militia more
the subject of the debate, nor as yet to come on. Thus
was the House free from any influence but of gratitude
to the militia, as they had been encamped without law,
and only because we had a greater war abroad than we
could bear. He hoped that night's mail would not carry
to the Continent news of disunion in the new Parliament
Mr. Pitt, on whom all eyes were fixed, rose ; and said
he wished the turn of the debate had permitted him to
sit still ; but he found himself called upon. He professed
great zeal for his Majesty and for the administration,
when it should be settled ; and was desirous to leave his
own justification to his past conduct For the militia,
he should have been glad it had been mentioned in the
speech. He had advised that measure last year against
the greater part of the Cabinet Council. For a war with
Spain, the motives for it were not founded on the French
papers : those, he concluded, would be published here :
the silence of the ministers made him conclude so, or it
would be unfair dealing with the Parliament When those
papers should appear, he would, as a member of Parliament,
speak his opinion : did not desire on that question that
any man should think with him, but form his judgment
on the fact itself As the contrary sentiment had been
adopted by his Majesty, he hoped not to have the bulk
of the nation on his side. God alone knew what the
opinion would be, when the whole should come out The
probability was, that himself had been erroneous. His
own situation was awful ; he stood there to be examined —
hoped the ministers would produce the advice, signed by
Lord Temple and him, and delivered to his Majesty. He
would conceal nothing as far as was consistent with his
oath of Privy Councillor. Nor would he inflame — how
could he — he, who stood so unsupported ? He had been
taxed with assuming to guide. He declared he had never
abetted the publication of his letter to Hodges — never
had consented to its publication ; but now published, he

KING GEORGE HI, 75
did avow it. Early hc had contracted an indifference to
party-papers, and had rather read two passages in Virgil
or Horace. He had resigned the Seals in order not to
be responsible for measures he was no longer suffered to
gitidr, and from seeing the question of Spain in the light
he saw it. lie had acted from conviction, as he supposed
the great Lorils, who had opposed him, had done likewise.
Ho blesseil himself that no question had been moved that
day to bar unanimity. All vigour was recommended
from the Throne : he would not have the post depart with
many arraignments of the German war, and without any
minister sa)'ing a word in its behalf In their situation
he woultl have lain by : did they advise a speech of vigour,
and yet hokl their peace, when vigorous measures were
condemned? Himself was never stopped b)- popularity,
or by the turn of the title. He would speak though a
private man : hoped never to be a public man again. He
never would come into place again ; he never could ; for
he never coukl but by his own accord. He had been
nurseil in the lap of fortune, but now had not weight
enough to make laut one Lord, with whom he would live
and tlie, of his opinion. Hoped his Majesty's rest would
not be disturbed, as his had been : he had been robbed
of his sleep for many days, and now should be robbed
of his honour, if our troops were recalled from German)-.
Nothing but that spectre of an invasion, which the
Minisli)' had not had constancy enough to look at, had
frightened us out of Mahon. So would it be again, if
the troops of France found themselves at libert)- to quit
Ijcrniany. He had known five thousand French occasion
our recalling seventy or fourscore thousand men to look
them in the face. He paid a handsome compliment to
Atlmiral Hawke and the nav)- ; but said, ask the French
whether the)- could not engage )-on hand to hand, if
delivered from the war in German)-. The way to peace
was not In- lessening our efforts. England was equal to
both wars, the American and the German ; and if con
tinued, nothing but conquest would follow— all owing to

76 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
the German war. If we abandoned our allies, God would
abandon us. When we had spent a hundred millions,
should we throw away the fruit, rather than spend twelve
more? Let a man so narrow-minded stand behind a
counter, and not govern a kingdom. [This was pointed
at Cust, who was a director of the African Company.]
America had been conquered in Germany} Prince Fer
dinand had been the saviour of Europe, and had shattered
the whole military power of that military monarchy,
France. It was not from what young members had said
against the German war, but from what had not been said
for it, that he augured ill for this country. He hoped so
insignificant a name as his would be sent to every hostile
Court, though every other man in the House should be
against the German war; he would stand single, and
undergo the shame. Government, he hoped, would in
due time lay open the proceedings of Spain, lest gentle
men might be misled from not knowing the precise time
of the arrival of Fuentes.^ Harvey was sure Spain could
not have acted as alleged, yet owned he knew nothing of
the matter. But were people to go away, thinking he
himself had courted a war with Spain ? He might have
declared his private opinion in council ; but let Parlia
ment see the whole of the negotiation : let them know
his patience and long-suffering, till he was afraid he should
be answerable for it. He gave a flat contradiction to the
notion of his having courted a war with Spain, and pro
tested he had done all he could to avoid it. He had
stated his opinion in writing, lest false whispers from
those who ought to be above such underhand machina
tions should prejudice him in the eyes of his countrymen.
In delicacy, not in obligation, he would sit dovm rather
than divulge what had passed. Yet altercation, opposition
would have ensued, had there not been a determination
to preserve unanimity. He would even persuade gentle-
^ This was the famous sentence so often quoted, and so often ridiculed, in
the pamphlets of that time.
' The Spanish Ambassador. See infra.

KING GEORGE III. 77
men not to be too fastidious in their criticisms on the
Treasury and the budget For his relaxing on the article
of the fisheries, with which his friend Beckford had taxed
him, he said it was best to own the truth ; he had been
overborne by numbers. He and Lord Temple would
have made exclusive fisheries the sine qud non of the
peace. Were the negotiation to recommence, provided
circumstances concurred, he would stand for exclusive
fisheries ; nor sheathe the sword till they were given up,
even at the expense of another campaign. He was going
to sit down, but added a few words on the note of Fuentes,
which, said he, that minister knows was never remitted
to me. He did read me an extract ; it was to the effect
alleged. I did not much attend to it ; said I had written
to Lord Bristol, and would let it rest there. He did read
something Hke it, but did not deliver it.
This guarded, artful, and inflammatory speech remained
unanswered. George Grenville, indeed, said a few words
on the form of proceeding ; as, that it would be precluding
those great questions to insert them either in the Speech
or Address, and, to justify Spain, he read a letter in which
they ordered one of our cutters to be restored. As a rising
minister he spoke more largely on himself, disclaimed any
ambition, and professed he would do his duty without fear.
The Address passed without a negative. The next day
Lord Thomond ' and Lord Villiers moved the Address to
the Queen, and on the 19th her dowry was voted.
The secession of Pitt, and his popularity, that still kept
its ground, warned the administration to a closer union.
At least the old ministers, who had separated from him,
thought it prudent to draw nigher to the Favourite. The
Duke of Devonshire, governed by Fox, who hated Pitt,
and aspired to be lieutenant to Lord Bute, meditated a
coalition of the latter with Newcastle. The house of
Bedford were already devoted to the Favourite, and con-
' Percy Windham O'Brien, Earl of Thomond, second son of Sir William
Windham, and brother of the Earl of Egremont. Their sister was married
to Mr. George Grenville.

78 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
curred in that connection. In consequence of this con
junction, the Privy Seal was delivered to the Duke of
Bedford ; great promises were made to Rigby. Lord
Thomond, brother-in-law of Grenville, was appointed
Cofferer ; Lord Powis ' Treasurer of the Household, and
Lord George Cavendish ^ Comptroller.
On the 25th, at night, some forty persons, or fewer, met
at the St Alban's tavern, in Pall Mall. The Act that had
granted the militia was within a year of expiring. It was
become irksome to many of the country gentlemen, was
much disliked by the chief ministers, and by great part of
the House of Commons. The friends of the measure had
wished to get it renewed for five years more. Some
desired it perpetual. Pitt, while minister, had staved off
even the shorter term. He now went to this meeting,
spoke four times warmly for the perpetuity, and said this
was the moment to push it. Charles Townshend, who
attended the meeting too, spoke earnestly, but only for
the term of five years. The company signed a paper,
engaging to stand by one another in the measure, and
they who held commissions in the militia promised to
throw them up if the perpetuity should not be carried,
agreeing only to await the arrival of General Townshend,
the patron of the plan, who was expected from the army.
The Court was as much set against the militia. The
Duke of Devonshire told George Grenville he believed he
could not induce his own brothers to vote for it. The
very same day intelligence had been received of an intended
invasion from France. Grenville told the Duke he could
not come into any measure that would disband seven-and-
twenty thousand men, when we should have so much
1 Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis, having become male heir of this
illustrious family by the death of the last peer, Henry, Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, in 1738, was created Lord Herbert in 1743, and Earl of Powis
in 1748. His lordship married Barbara, sole daughter and heiress of Lord
Edward Herbert, brother of the last Marquis of Powis, and died in 1772,
leaving a son, on whose death, in 1801, the earldom became extinct.
— L. M.
^ Next brother of the Duke of Devonshire.

KING GEORGE III. 79
occasion for them : it would be better to grant the per
petuity, and repeal it afterwards.
The same morning Charles Townshend,' now Secretary
at War, moved for the land forces, which were granted
without opposition. His new office gave him an oppor
tunity of venting his vanity. He assumed much, and
called himself trustee for the honest claims of the officers.
On December 9th he opened to the House the state of the
foreign troops in our pay, the expense of which came to
near a million. Townshend pleaded the inconsiderable
loss we had sustained in the last campaign, not above two
thousand men, which would easily be recruited ; and that
next year, as in the last four, we should cover our allies
against any force France could bring against us. Should
we for next year continue the same army, or break off
abruptly? The Parliament had been called upon day
after day to disapprove or ratify the measure, and had
ratified it. The totality of the war had been one of the
great causes of its success. Had we neglected any other
part for Germany, it had been fatal ; but a mixed system,
and attention to the whole, had given us victory in every
quarter. France had resisted everywhere, had been dis
graced everywhere. Their navy, the last sanguine promise
of still another minister, was annihilated. We ought not
to desist but from inability to pursue up the blow. It
ought to be manifest that we were disabled. But where
was a symptom of decay ? In our trade, credit, agriculture,
where was a failure ? Yet he thought our situation nor
comfortable, nor desperate. Five millions he allowed
would be expended this year on the war in Germany.
He concluded with high encomiums on what he called
Mr. Pitts divine plan ; but added that a larger portion of
fame remained for those who should take up the plan and
terminate it by a good peace.
The Court, who wished to veil their eagerness for peace,
and who, instead of attaining that peace, were on the
brink of a war with Spain, took great pains to prevent
1 Second son of Charles, Lord Viscount Townshend.

8o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
their creatures from openly attacking the German war.
Lord Egmont was persuaded to be absent from the
House ; but Fox's faction was more intent on discrediting
Pitt than even on paying their court — and perhaps knew
how easily they should be forgiven. Rigby said he had
voted for all very large sums ; was sorry he began to have
a doubt ; wished an end was put, had been put, to the
whole war. The Germans were entitled to the protection
of the House, but ours was no protection. They were in
a worse condition than if conquered. The treaty with
Prussia would expire on the I2th of the month ; he hoped
we should make no more such with that little power. Not
to quit the alliance ought only to be a condition on the
party subsidised. In no one treaty did there exist an
article that obliged us to continue our national troops in
Germany. Nor could we supply our army with men ;
since 1758 we had sent over twenty-nine thousand men.
We had but thirteen thousand remaining. Could this
country furnish four thousand men a year to Germany ?
Marshal Ligonier had ordered the old corps to be recruited
at any rate. We had three thousand sick in hospitals,
and were reduced to send boys of ten years old — a good
way to make the war last ! He spoke, he said, neither
from fickleness nor discontent ; was very well contented ;
had tried to swallow the measure, but found it would not
do. If these troops had been brought home, we might
have disbanded the militia. Wished he could "see the
negotiation for peace renewed ; wished even a bad peace
was offered. He concluded the French account of the
rupture was authentic, or would have been contradicted.
He spoke, he said, to the country gentlemen ; they were
not included in the picture of our comfortable situation.
If so much was given to glory, their cups of comfort would
not be drunk so often as they used to be. Sir Robert
Walpole, whom he thought the greatest minister that this
country had known, had always declared the nation could
not stand under a debt exceeding an hundred millions.
Stanley defended the measure of pursuing the German

KING GEORGE IH. 81
war, and said it was evident from every page ofthe printed
negotiation that France wished to get out of Germany ;
that she was not equal to both wars, and had therefore
neglected everything to make her push there, hoping it
would exasperate the people of England against Hanover.
That none of our allies were in a situation to make con
quests, and therefore we must part with some of ours, to
obtain tolerable conditions for them.
George Grenville supported the question solely on the
foot of treaties, which he recapitulated, but took care to
assert that he had neither advised nor approved them ; he
had not been' able, he said, to stop a torrent ; let those
who had given the advice drink the dregs 1 he did not
desire to steal the fame due to another. It had not been
the German war, but the want of seamen, that had dis
abled France from prosecuting the war in America and
from invading England. Let us know what had been the
obstacle that had broken off the treaty. An immense
load of debt had been laid upon us : he would not call on
any light of Government, who had brought us into these
distresses, to help us out of them. If they had overlooked
these things, he must be sorry. But our honour was
pledged, and he would not be for an ignominious peace ;
nor, on the other hand, would he intoxicate the people
with unattainable objects. He would not hang out our
distresses ; to know them was the first point ; to conceal
them, the second.
Thus were hostilities openly commenced by Grenville.
He had, during the last reign, avowedly or silently sup
ported every one of Pitt's expensive German measures.
Indeed, he had held by Pitt's favour one of the most
lucrative places under the Government, the Treasurer
of the Navy. The scene was changed, and Grenville
with it.
Pitt replied in a long speech, but with much temper,
which he professed he would keep, though so marked out ;
but in contempt of Grenville, he affected chiefly to answer
Rigby, falling into the familiar, and not in a masteriy
VOL. I. F

82 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
style ; desiring to expostulate, not to altercate on who was
in or out of place ; but considering himself as in a council
of state, engaged to find out the point of truth, and how
to wind up the war. He complimented our troops, whom
he called the glory of human nature, and Charles Townshend
on his moderation and clear method of stating the question.
If Rigby, he said, had had communication of papers, he
must have seen the distresses of France, but would advise
him to reconsider his positions, before he published his
political code, before he should come to guide — but begged
pardon for his levity ; he chose to be in good humour, for
fear of being in bad. He would not enter into the wretched
consideration of what himself had done. Grenville had
treated his counsels as pernicious — nobody indeed had
asserted it — somebody did shrewdly convey it — for his
part he liked better a man that affirmed. Grenville, how
ever, would not entirely take away the lustre of this
measure, already more than half exploded by the King's
servants. Himself, an individual, had been called, com
pelled to the service ; he had found this measure bound
on upon the nation, both by the concluding and breaking
the treaty of Closter Severn. It was an electoral measure,
not advised, but submitted to in silence by the piety of
the Duke of Cumberland. The subsidy to Prussia had
been dictated by Hanover, not by Great Britain. Little
Princes are subsidized, when not worthy of reciprocation ;
but necessity had driven that great Prince to accept our
money ; yet his Prussian Majesty did not think that he
thereby lost his equality of not being deserted. Both the
Empresses had received subsidies from us. He himself,
he said, had resisted the measures of the closet, nor would
subscribe to them till qualified. His late gracious master
had suffered his representations ; and he had boldly urged
them, fearing our own defence and America would be
neglected ; nor would he agree to the German war, till
every other service had been provided for. Was it candid,
was it just, to throw the whole burthen on him, who had
been but an acceder to a plan settled ? an acceder to a

KING GEORGE IIL 83
ministry that had wanted vigour. He had borrowed their
majority to carry on their own plan. He had seen where
they had been right, where wrong. He had brought the
American war, and taken up the German ; had seen that
we must be strong enough to baffle France, or should do
nothing. France had been dedecorum pretiosus emptor. It
was true our expense had been great, and he offered him
self confitentem reum, if he had not thereby annihilated
their power both in East and West Indies. Perhaps he
had done it the wrong way ; and Mr. Grenville could have
done it some other way. The business, however, was
done, by whatever way done ; and he would now divide
the House alone against abandoning our allies. Relaxa
tion could only invite inflexibility in our enemies ; nor
ought we to give the money, and at the same time blast
the measure. As Germany had formerly been managed,
it had been a millstone about our necks ; as managed
now, about that of France. Let a man get possession of
the Government, and act as late ministers had acted, and
he would endeavour to make his heart ache. Now we
were leagued with the King of Prussia, who was born to
administer military wonders to the world ; his motto
should be, adversis rerum- immersabilis undis. To him
was added Prince Ferdinand, for whom he could not find
adequate words. That great Prince had stood like a
rampart to cover Germany — and at last, comperit invidiam
supremo fine domari.
Legge spoke a few words in praise of the measure, and
against abandoning our allies ; and the debate ended with
out a division.
The recapitulation of many speeches may perhaps weary
the reader, but, in equity, he must remember that at this
period at least it was essential to detail them. When
Mr. Pitt was driven from the management of the war, he
existed as a public man ; but in his speeches and past
services, his own defence of his measures was necessary
from his own mouth. Libels on libels were published
against him, and he wrote none. I am sensible that I do

84 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
not do justice to his arguments, and less to his eloquence ;
but what I give was faithfully taken from his own mouth
in the House of Commons ; and unless better transcripts
appear, this rude sketch may be welcome to posterity.
No flattery is intended to him. When I thought him
blameable, I have marked it, as will appear hereafter, with
the same impartiality. The debates, too, of a free nation,
arrived at the summit of its glory, may be worthy the
attention of future times. Our descendants will see what
their ancestors were in arms and eloquence, and what
liberty they enjoyed of discussing their own interests.
Grant, Heaven, they may not read it with a sigh ; reading
it in bondage and ignominy !

KING GEORGE IH. 85

CHAPTER VIII
Mr. Pitt's Enemies.— Debates in ParUament on the German War, and on our
Affairs with Spain. — Speeches of the leading Members. — Mr. Pitt's
Defence of Himself. — Colonel Barre's insulting Conduct to Mr. Pitt. —
Libellous Pamphlets against that Statesman by the Rev. Philip Francis. —
Justification of Mr. Pitt's Measures. — Family- compact between France
and Spain. — Portugal invaded by Charles the Third of Spain. — The
Queen's desire that her Brother should come to England. — Pratt com
pelled to be Chief -Justice of the Common Pleas. — Lord Hardwicke and
his Son.
Mr. Pitt's enemies did not content themselves with
traducing him in pamphlets and satires. A deeper blow
was meditated, which, though not carried to the extent
which the projectors hoped, could not but wound his mind,
and did to a degree lower him in the opinion of some
men, though the brutality with which it was conceived and
executed raised almost general indignation. I will just
touch the surprise it wrought on me, which may convey
some idea of what effect it must have had on others.
The report on the foreign troops was made the day
after they had been removed. Mr. Bunbury,' who married
Lady Sarah Lenox, had spoken, for the first time in
Parliament, against the German war. Lord George
Sackville, with more caution, but no less hostile intention
to Pitt, had declared for the measure, as no alternative
was proposed, though he hoped ministers would concert
1 Thomas Charles Bunbury, called after his father's death Sir Charles
Bunbury. [M.P. for the County of Suffolk 1761-1784 and 1790-1812. Well
known as a fortunate speculator on the turf. He is said to have possessed the
finest bred stud in the Kingdom, and was the owner of ' Diomed,' the winner
of the Derby in 1780, of 'Eleanor,' the winner of the Derby and The Oaks
in 1801, and of ' Smolensko,' the winner of the Derby in 1813. He died on
31st March 1821, aged eighty. — E.]

86 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
with our allies how to draw us out of this scrape. He did
not believe that France was in a worse situation than she
had been at Gertruydenburg,' when she rejected insolent
terms. She could, besides, subsist her troops on easier
terms than we could. She brought to account the con
tributions raised by her armies ; he did not know that we
did. Lord George was finishing his speech as I came into
the House. My ear was struck with sounds I had little
been accustomed to of late, virulent abuse on the last
reign, and from a voice unknown to me. I turned, and
saw a face equally new ; a black, robust man, of a military
figure, rather hard-favoured than not young, with a
peculiar distortion on one side of his face, which it seems
was owing to a bullet lodged loosely in his cheek, and
which gave a savage glare to one eye. What I less ex
pected from his appearance, was very classic and eloquent
diction, and as determined boldness as if accustomed to
harangue in that place. He told the house that in the
late King's reign we had been governed solely by Hano
verian measures and councils ; and though called to order
(in truth unparliamentarily), he proceeded with the same
vociferous spirit to censure all ministers but Lord Bute ;
and for Mr. Pitt, who was not present, he received the
appellation of a profligate minister, who had thrust him
self into power on the shoulders of the mob. The present
King said this new Courtribune was so English, that he
did not believe he had looked into the map for Hanover*^
and he commiserated the present ministers, who were
labouring through the dregs of German councils.
The reader must imagine the astonishment occasioned
by this martial censor. He was a Colonel Barr^, of French
extraction, born at Dublin, and had served for some years
in the war in America with reputation, prosecuting his
studies with assiduity in the intervals of duty. With
General Wolfe he had been intimately connected, both as
' At the conferences held there previously to the Treaty of Utrecht.
2 In twenty-eight years, viz. to 1788, the King has not once been at
Hanover, nor seems to design it.

KING GEORGE III. 87
an ofiicer and penman ; but had thought himself ill-used
by Mr. Pitt, though the friends of the latter, and Lord
Barrington, lately Secretary at War, bore witness that
Mr. Pitt had made it a point to serve him. In his younger
years he had acted plays with so much applause, that it
was said Garrick had offered him a thousand pounds a
year to come upon the stage.'
This man, therefore, had been selected by Lord
Fitzmaurice (become Earl of Shelburne by the death of
his father) as a bravo to run down Mr. Pitt Lord
Shelburne held a little knot of young orators at his house ;
but Barr6 soon overtopped them; and Fox had pushed
on the project of employing him to insult Pitt — to what
extent was surmised by all the world. The consequences
will appear in the next debate.
Glover,* the author of Leonidas, uttered a speech in
most heroic fustian, but not without good argument, to
show that all our great advantages had been obtained
before we w^ent deeply into the German war. Charles
* Additional paiticulars respecting Colonel Barre are given in the Chatham
Correspondence, vol. ii. pp. 41, 16S-171. See especially the notes, containing
extracts from the Mitchell MSS. — L. M.
' Richard Glover, a merchant who, by superior intelligence, great fluency
of speech in public, and some reputation as a poet, had gained considerable
influence in the City, and was thought of sufficient importance to be admitted
into the councils of Leicester House. This distinction, and the success of
his poems, which had all a political tendency, made him fancy himself on an
equality with Pitt, Lyttelton, and the other men of talent who surrounded
the Prince of Wales. The illusion was painfully dispeUed. The sudden
death of the Prince broke up the party ; Mr. Glover's services were no
longer required ; and happening to be at the time under commercial embar
rassments, he sunk into obscurity. In a few years, however, by dUigent
appUcation, and a successful speculation in the copper trade, he retrieved
his fortunes, but he never forgave the neglect of his former associates ; and
the memoirs he left behind him show the angry feeUngs he entertained
particularly against Mr. Pitt. To this circumstance he probably owed his
seat for Weymouth, the borough being one of those which Mr. Dodington
placed at the disposal of Lord Bute. Mr. Glover died in 1785, aged seventy-
three. His autobiography from 1742 to 1757 was published in 1813, under
the tide of Memoirs of a Distitiguished Literary and Political Cliaracter,
etc. They are not without spirit, but show few signs of a powerful mind,
and are in every respect inferior to what might have been expected of him. —
L. M.

88 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Yorke, Attorney-General, defended the measures of the
late King against Barr^ and his own friend Mauduit's
pamphlet, urging that his Majesty had reduced himself
to poverty to support the war in Germany. Elliot made
an admirable oration to reconcile himself to consistence :
owned he had opposed the treaties in 1755 ; and was then
told they were calculated to prevent a war in Germany.
He had since been dazzled with the national enthusiasm
on the King of Prussia's victories, and confessed that on
the like appearances he should again be led to approve
the German war. It was true that war had its object,
collateral division ; but would the House wish to German
ize this young King, and make him turn his thoughts
thither more than he did ? He concluded with a pathetic
ejaculatory wish that the peace had succeeded.
Oswald ' took the same turn of endeavouring to palliate
his inconsistencies ; but though his parts were still
shrewder and quicker than Elliot's, he did it much worse.
Dr. Hay ^ attempted, too, an apology for himself, but with
the worst success of the three ; and the necessity which
the principle men in Parliament found themselves under
of justifying their abandoned corruption and versatility,
stamped disgrace on this Parliament itself, which it did
but increase by fresh and repeated instances of servility in
ensuing sessions on every change of Administration.
The next day, December nth, Mr. Cooke ^ moved for
all memorials relating to our fisheries, etc., which he in
troduced by saying he wished to know what was the state
of our affairs with regard to Spain — he hoped, peaceable ;
but desired to see the papers relating to their claims, and
to know if they had treated us with contempt and disdain.
Beckford seconded him, urging that the Gazette and
Bussy's memorial contradicted one another. The King
had asked advice of Parliament : if ministers should refuse
' James Oswald of Dunnikier, joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland.
^ Dr. George Hay, of the Commons, one of the Commissioners of the
Admiralty. " George Cooke, prothonotary, member for Middlesex. [See p. 29 supra.
-E.]

KING GEORGE IH. 89
these papers, they refused to comply with the King's
request. He did not know who were the ministers, nor
whether we had a single minister, or a minister depute.
It was necessary to have one minister.
Grenville replied, that though he had heard of this
motion, he could not believe it would be made. It was
our right to have papers, when essentially necessary ; but
power of negotiations belonged to the Crown ; and
negotiations ought not to be made public, when real
mischief might be the consequence. Had his Majesty
asked advice as to Spain ? would you ground advice on
those papers ? or were they wanted to answer newspapers ?
Should a minister or minister depute make that answer ?
He had heard with surprise that one man ought to direct
What had been the constant charge against Sir Robert
Walpole but his acting as sole minister? Yet his
modesty had declined the appellation. Prime Minister
was an odious title : he was sorry it was now thought an
essential part of the constitution. He did beheve the
Gazette had contained, word for word, the sense of the
dispatch. The assurances of a peaceable disposition had
been given, but who could answer that they were to be
depended upon ? It would be breach of trust to com
municate the papers demanded without particular leave ;
nor, should they be communicated, would they be suffi
cient ground for advice. Would the House, if they contained
offensive words, lay them before the public to inflame the
people? The subject was not fit at that hour for the
intervention of Parliament If ministers are called upon
and tell our distresses, they are repeated abroad : if silent,
are supposed to allow them. There was no reason to
suspect the King of exercising his power improperly.
Lord Strange said he had not believed that any men
could be so hardy as to bring on this affair, and thought
they could not word it so as to obtain his assent : but the
motion was now so unexceptionable, that he could not object
to it. No letters of a private nature were demanded. The
House had a right to tender its advice, even unasked.

90 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Who doubted but Spain had communicated all those
papers to France? Yet ministers would not produce
them to Pariiament They were divided amongst them
selves ; therefore the people ought to interpose. By
showing no confidence to the people, the administration
would destroy their zealous attachment to the Crown.
Wilkes maintained that Spain ought to be considered
as hostile. Sir Francis Dashwood said he would agree
to the motion, if he saw either utility or meaning in it, but
such as he would not express. Parliament, he owned,
had a right to all papers, yet Parliament had a right too
to consider if there were any use in asking for them. He
saw a proper answer had been made to the memorial,
and the Spanish minister had been desired to recant —
(Mr. Pitt cried out, ' Where ? ') Spain said to France, you
are making peace, try if you cannot obtain something for
me. He had heard, he said, of no faction in the adminis
tration : he hoped there was none anywhere else. Why
should not confidence be placed in the King and ad
ministration, till it was abused ? There might be some
thing in the papers which Spain would not like the city of
London should know — yet he supposed there was not
more than appeared. Was it wished to address the
Crown to declare war ? But that was the prerogative of
the Crown. Spain, too, would probably think twice before
she embarked in hostilities. There might be different
opinions in the council of Spain. That secret we were
bound in honour to keep.
Lord Frederick Campbell' said he did not believe
there were any factions in the ministry ; if there were, the
King would put an end to them ; but if the administra
tion were distracted, this measure would distract them
much more. He had great hopes that these ill appearances
would end in peace. Nugent ^ lamented there being any
^ Third son of John, fourth Duke of Argyll. Lord Clerk Register of
Scotland from 1767 until his death. See infra. — E.
^ Robert Nugent, Esq. of Gosfield, in Essex, afterwards Earl Nugent,
See infra.

KING GEORGE III. 91
divisions, as unanimity was never more necessary. Bamber
Gascoyne said, if any of the papers were of too secret a
nature, a secret committee might be appointed to examine
them. By destroying parties we had created factions}
He himself had never been in a minister's house, nor ever
intended it^ The conduct of this patriot will appear
hereafter. Sir John Glynn said that that time twenty years had
been famous for calling for papers ; with intention then to
condemn a minister ; now it was with a view to applaud
ing one. A paper had been produced at that time which
the King of Prussia never forgave. Himself had never
seen any benefit arise from motions of that sort. Rigby
said, he should be sorry if that motion were likely to be
complied with ; but that did not seem very probable.
But what 1 had the city instructed its representatives to
demand a First Minister? He had heard the Excise
adopted by a sort of First Minister. He would tell the
House who were the Administration ; the twp Secretaries
of State, the Chancellor, the President, etc., and in their
deliberations there had been twelve against two ; proof
enough of union. The other House had a right to judge
as well as the Commons ; and was the natural barrier
between the Crown and people. Whoever sought the
Administration might find them in the Duke of Cumber
land's late lodgings at St. James's (where the councils
were held). At a time when not a man whispered to
his friend, but in commendation of the King, would the
House wish to set a First Minister over him ?
Mr. Pitt expressed much concern at the flame that had
^ This became a stronger truth every day.
' Mr. Gascoyne was the only son of Sir Crisp Gascoyne, Lord Mayor of
London, from whom he inherited a considerable estate. He had a strong
understanding, and was esteemed highly as a man of business. His rough
deportment had gained him at the University (we are told by WUkes) the
appeUation of the ' Butcher ' ; and he took no pains to get rid of it. He was
also caUed 'the King of Barking,' his country residence and principal
patrimony being in that village, where he was much respected, and where he
lies buried. He died in 1791. The first wife of James, second Marquess
of Salisbury, was his granddaughter, and inherited his estates. — L. M.

92 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
arisen, and that the House, by losing its temper, had lost
its reason, and degenerated into barbarism. His friend
Beckford, he feared, had thought more of him than he had
done of himself; but the word guide, commented as it
had been, had misled him. If the present question tended
to make one individual minister, he should be against it ;
but when he looked at the complexion of the House, he
had no such apprehension. Censured as he had been for
using an expression so much condemned, he could not
find reason to retract it. Lord Egremont, he believed,
would not hold the Seals an hour, if not permitted to
guide his own correspondence. Thus, he himself, who he
hoped had not lessened his country, had insisted on the
same right In the Treasury, in the Military, in the Navy,
he had never assumed or claimed any direction : had
never spoken to the King on those heads, but had always
applied to the ministers of those several departments ;
had transmitted everything through the channels of each
office. He hoped, he said, to have these egotisms par
doned ; he would now come to the question in agitation
with a temper that nothing could ruffle. Even the virtues
of the King, on which the House had been so much
advised to rely, must be a little the fruit of time ; hoped his
Majesty would be aided by wholesome and deep-sighted
advice. From the present motion what mischief could
arise ? he wished some necessity had made him absent —
but would it be decorous in him to be shy .' in a House
where, he believed, he did not stand too well? He
believed the bottom of the bottom of this affair would be
dangerous ; not so, while confined to memorials. Spain
had made three demands in a most extensive manner ;
the right of fishery, which he had said he would as soon
give up the Tower of London as grant ; nor would the
King, he was sure, accord it; himself had never been
ordered to hold any other language. But why, might it be
said, call for these papers ? because, if you temporized, or
let Spain think you temporized, she would more assuredly
push her claims. Suspense might be wholesome, if they

KING GEORGE HI. 93
were iirepared, and you were not The contrary being
true, contrary mca.surcs should be pursued, liimself
would not pres.q the motion, if told by authority that it
wa.s premature; but thon lot the ministers say so, and
mark the era, without moulting a feather of England's
crest. The note in thu memorial, said to be delivered,
was no departure from their demands. Did 'they even
say they would not impede the peace on the consideration
of these demands? Let ministers declare this, and he
would second to withdraw the motion — but he saw, he
said, he should not be told so. Or had P'rancc given up
her insulting menace, that she would stand bythe demands
of Spain ? 'i'liis was the Gordian knot, that he himself
had not been ;iblc to cut ; had feared it would rise in
judgment against him ; hoped it would not against any
other man. Divisions had always existed; when were
twelve men ca.'jt in the .same mould? Divisions were
sometimes salutary. Queen ICii/.abelh had promoted
them In her Councils. When he left administration, had
never seen such nnaniinily ; he had said in high place,
that his consolation was to leave such men in power ; and
had declfired that ho would only o[ipose what he would
have oiniosed with tho Seals in his liand — but to have
stayed ami have done that, would only have been pre
judicial, it was the extent of Spain's claims that had
shocked liim, not licr lofty idioms, tho most insignificant
of all things. Who(wcr should cede to them but a cockboat,
ceded all. But tlu; very present debate would strengthen
the King's hands, He then made an encomium on the
diligence, aclivity, nnd punctuality of the ICarl of Bristol.
Shouki the fisheries not be settled, the man who should
give them ui) woukl one day or other be impeached. For
himself he wished hc had not been so much in the right:
wished he hdd mt knoivn so much as hc did. What he did
know was biiriod in the centre of the carlh, France had
told us with good faith, that if we did not make up with
Spain, they would break off the Treaty with us. If Spain
declared war, he should think \\c\- filo dc se. It would not

94 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
be equal imprudence in her to abet France. Could the
House proportion its supplies without knowing in what
predicament Spain stood with France ? Should the former
declare war, she could lend money to the latter. The
revenues of Spain were under five millions, and she
employed seventy thousand men to collect them, besides
twenty thousand that were engaged in the affair of
tobacco. Was this a formidable enemy ? To him it was
indifferent to derive justification from this situation of
things ; should he prove to have been in the wrong, he
should comfort himself with having thought he was right.
All foreign Courts, especially Spain, would think the
present motion wise. Were he not limited, or self-limited,
he could enforce his arguments with more strength. The
Gazette had been printed to persuade eight millions of
people that Spain was amicable ; but if there were indis
putable proofs to the contrary, it was deceiving all the
world. It was of no consequence to establish on which
side lay truth ; Bussy's memorial had proved the con
nection between the two houses of Bourbon. Should the
event end in a rupture, we had lost our opportunity — if
affairs were in accommodation, would the honour of Eng
land be preserved ? Would Spain be obliged to England
who bowed, or to France, who should extort from us, in
the height of our conquests, advantages for Spain ?
Colonel Barrd, whether (as he gave out afterwards) to
show that he had not taken advantage of Mr. Pitt's
absence to abuse him the day before, or whether (as is
more probable) to pursue the point to which he had been
instigated, rose, and renewed the attack with redoubled
acrimony. Insult of language, terms, manner, were
addressed, and personally addressed, to Mr. Pitt, by that
bravo. His variations, inconsistencies, arts, popularity,
ambition, were all pressed upon Pitt with energy and
bitterness, and the whole apostrophe wore the air of an
affront more than of a philippic. He told the House he
could not amuse, but he would not deceive them. That
the disagreeable posture of our affairs with Spain was

KING GEORGE III. 95
solely owing to the late resignation, which had thrown
our councils and the nation itself into distraction. That
Mr. Pitt, though professing it, had no confidence in the
King himself Here Pitt, who had remained in astonish
ment at so bold and novel an attack from a new speaker,
called him to order, declaring that no word guilty of so
foul a crime as want of confidence in the King had fallen
from him, and sat down, leaving Barr6 to proceed in his
invective ; but the latter was interrupted by Fox, who
said the King's name was never to be mentioned in a
debate ; that the House had listened with pleasure while
justice was done to his Majesty's virtues ; that Colonel
Barr6 had a right to show to what he thought Mr. Pitt's
arguments had tended ; and that he chose to give the
former this hint, because he seemed so able and willing to
make use of his right. Charles Yorke said the King's
name could not be used to influence debate. Pitt said he
had referred to the King's speech, because it asked advice
of the House. Fox, still fearing lest the interruption and
ignorance of the forms of the House should disconcert
Barr6, replied, that the speech might be quoted, because it
is always understood as the speech of the minister. Barrd
went on, saying, that if any man opposed, and not from
the truest reasons, he would wish him to be silent. Should
there be a man whose whole life had been a contradiction
and a series of popular arts, he would judge him from his
actions, not from his words. Beckford called to have the
question read, to prevent such deviation into personality.
Rigby insisted that Beckford always deviated more than
Barrd had done. Barrd added that he had less reason to
deviate than Beckford, not allowing himself to be so dis
tracted ; and that his front was not broad enough to write
contradiction on ; nor would he desert the King's service
when most wanted. ;
Pitt made no manner of reply ; only turning to Beck
ford, and asking pretty loud, ' how far the scalping Indians
cast their tomahawks?' It seemed to some a want of
spirit, but it was evident by the indignation of the House,

96 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
that such savage war was detested : and Pitt perhaps did
not care to put them in mind how far himself had often
pushed invective ; nor chose to risk their preferring the
new master of abuse to the old. It had not been unwise, it
should seem, to have uttered a few words, stating to Barrd
the indecence of treating an infirm and much older man
with such licence, showing him that insult could not be
resented when offered in a public assembly, who always
interpose, and putting both him and the audience in mind,
that a man who had gained the hearts of his countrymen
by his services, could only forfeit them by his own conduct,
and not by the railing of a private individual. With the
public this outrage did Mr. Pitt no injury. Barrd was
abhorred as a barbarian irregular, and Fox, who had lent
such kind assistance to a ruffian, drew the chief odium on
himself Charles Townshend, being asked soon after
when the House would rise for the holidays, replied,^ ' I
do not know ; but when it does, the roads will be as
dangerous as if the army were disbanded.' And Barr^
having said that he would not answer for his head, but
would for his heart, ' Yes,' said George Selwyn,^ ' if he
could not, the former would have been broken long ago.'
The debate was terminated by Lord George Sackville
and Elliot ; the latter pleading against producing papers
in the height of a negotiation ; and adding, ' Perhaps an
express is now on the road from Spain determined for
war. The motion was rejected without a division, scarcely
six voices being given for the question. Not one Tory
spoke in the debate but Sir John Glynn, and he declared
against Pitt. The next time Barrd went to Court, the
King took most gracious notice of him.
The city of Dublin addressed Mr. Pitt on his resignation.
The same was proposed at Lynn, and rejected ; and at
Leicester such a motion was stopped by a person producing
1 Soon after, seeing another member give Barr^ a biscuit, Townshend said,
' Oh ! you should feed him with raw flesh. '
^ George Augustus Selwyn of Matson, Gloucestershire, the well-known
wit. His correspondence has been edited by J. H. Jesse, under the title of
George Selwyn and his Contemporaries (London, 1843, 8vo, 4 vols.).  E.

KING GEORGE III. 97
and reading a libel called Mr. Pitts Letter versified. It
was done by Francis,^ a clergyman attached to Lord
Holland, who supplied the notes. Another, by the same
hand, called A Letter from the anonymous Author of tlie
Letters versified, was published, reviling Mr. Pitt on
bearing Barry's ill-usage. Lord Melcomb, at Lord Bute's
table, constantly held the same language.
These specks were soon effaced in the confusion that
fell on the ministers themselves, and by the justification
which, in spite of them, burst forth of Mr. Pitt's measures.
The war which they had so poorly attempted to ward off
broke upon them when they had no longer his assistance.
A courier arrived on the 24th from Spain, with a refusal
of showing us their treaty with France. This treaty was
the famous Family Compact, to which even the House of
Austria had acceded, of which Mr. Pitt, by a masterpiece
of intelligence, had got notice,^ and of which our dastardly
ministers had hoped to deprecate the effects by pusilla-
' Philip Francis, translator of Horace and Demosthenes, was the father
of the reputed author of Junius. He was ordained in Ireland, and
sat>seqaenUy kept a school at Esher, where Gibbon was a pupU for a short
time. Having become domestic chaplain to Lady Caroline Fox, he acted as
tutor to her son Charles, and wrote in the interests of her husband. He was
appointed Rector of Barrow in Suffolk in 1762, and from 1764 to 1768 held
the post of chaplain of Chelsea Hospital. He died at Bath on 5th March
1773. ChurchUl describes him in Ttie Author, as 'the atheist chaplain of
an atheist lord.' See infra.- — E.
° ' Of this very alarming connection Mr. Pitt had the most early and
authentic intelUgence, together mth the most positive assurances from persons
of undoubted veracity, who are at tiiis moment in no common sphere of Ufe.' —
History ofthe late Minority, p. 30. Jlr. Adolphus states the treaty itself to
have t>een communicated to Mr. Pitt by the Earl Marechal Keith, in
gratitude for the reversal of his attainder, but ' that the fact, if it existed, was
not disclosed to the Cabinet.' — Adolphus, vol. i. pp. 44-5. This story
receives some confirmation from a contemporary memoir ofthe Earl Marechal
recently published by the Spalding Society of Aberdeen, and supposed to
have been written by Sir Robert Strange, who had once been a zealous
Jacobite. Neither the Chatham Correspondence nor the MitcheU manuscripts
contain anything on the subject ; and the papers of the Earl Marechal, at
Cumt)emauld, have never been thoroughly examined. The Editor is disposed
to lieUeve the inteUigence received by Mr. Pitt did not go so far as the
existence of the treaty, but consisted of facts sufficient, in his estimation, to
leave no doubt of the object of the n^otiation between France and Spain,
VOL. I. G

98 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
nimous palliatives and submission : a compact formed
because we were become so formidable, and the very
signature of which had terrified Lord Bute and his
associates into departing at once from our superiority.
This was the secret at which Mr. Pitt had so often hinted,
and which he had now the satisfaction of hearing published
by the mouths of his enemies. We had avoided the
interception of the Spanish fleet, as Mr. Pitt had earnestly
recommended. It was now arrived, and they temporised
no longer. Fuentes was recalled, and Lord Bristol was
consequently forced to return. Previous to his departure
Fuentes delivered a memorial to the foreign ministers, in
which Mr. Pitt was arraigned by name ; an honour almost
unheard of Alberoni had been accused by George the
First ; but though that precedent was not flattering, Mr.
Pitt could want no vindication, when the Court of Spain,
and Barr^, the tool of Lord Bute, conspired to charge him
with being author of the war.
We had been the willing dupes of the Spanish House
of Bourbon. It was a more horrid insult on all good faith
— on humanity — on ties of blood, that Spain summoned
Portugal to declare against us. The ruins of Lisbon were
almost smoking yet ! The Queen of Portugal was the
Spanish monarch's sister ; her husband and children were
dwelling in tents at a distance from their late capital.
Assassination and conspiracies had beset the Throne.
This was the moment that Charles the Third selected to
invade their kingdom I France, it was said, in vain
dissuaded this perfidy — not from delicacy ; but the
meditated conquest of Portugal was likely to engross the
whole attention of the Court of Madrid. If we should
support Portugal, it might be a division of our forces ;
but France needed all the assistance Spain could lend.
and of the general intentions of the Spanish Government. These facts he
had imparted to Lord Bute, who had not drawn the same conclusions from
them.— History of the late Minority, p. 33.— L. M. [See the Memoirs of
George Keith, Hereditary Earl Marechal of Scotland, prefixed to 'A
fragment of a Memoir of Field-Marshal James Keith,' etc.— Spalding Club
Soc. Pub. 1843, p. xii.— E.]

KING GEORGE HI.

99

Timber was virholly exhausted in France. She had sent
even to Dalmatia, and to little purpose. The expense of
ship-building is far greater in France than in England.
Her cities and trading companies set themselves to
building ships and presenting them to the King, but this
was a distant and slow resource.
The Queen, who bore great affection to her brothers,
was desirous that the second, Prince Charles of Meck-
lenburgh, should come over. The King would not
venture to propose it to Lord Bute, but wrote to him,
and after a reluctance of a fortnight on the part of
the Favourite, the boon was granted.
The ministers were solicitous to remove Pratt ^ from
the House of Commons, and offered him the dignity of
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He demurred ; but
was forced to accept it, for they would not only have
removed him from being Attorney-General, a post that
required a more pliant officer, and which he was willing
to give up ; but they had the injustice to refuse him his
gown as King's counsel, and he must have pleaded below
the bar, or have quitted his profession. Mr. Yorke was
made Attorney, and Norton Solicitor, Generals. This en
forced destination of Pratt to be Chief Justice preserved the
Constitution afterwards from the same men \\-hose policy
exerted such rigour against him. Mr. Yorke had lost the
precedence over Pratt when the latter was made Attorney-
General. It was on the coalition of Mr. Pitt, after tlie affair
of Minorca, with the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Hard
wicke. Pitt then offered to restore Lord Anson to the lead
at the Admiral t}-, or to make Yorke Attomey, but would not
grant both. Lord Hardwicke preferred his son-in-law to
his son ; a partiality which the latter, whose eye was fixed
on the great Seal, and which, by these means, Pratt after
wards obtained to his prejudice, never forgave to his father.
* Charles Pratt was a younger son of Lord Chief Justice Pratt, and became
afterwards Lord Chancellor and Baron Camden, as will ;ippear in these
memoirs. Pratt had been made Attorney-General by Pitt in 1757, and
their connection was too close fbr the Govemment to feel easy at his
continuing any longer in office. — L. M.

MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER IX.
Fuentes, the Spanish Ambassador, quits England. — Retum of Lord Bristol
from Madrid. — War declared against Spain. — Projects of Lord Bute,
Mr. Fox, and the Duke of Cumberland. — The Duke of Bedford. — Mr.
Pitt's influence with the Nation. — Divisions in the Council respecting
the War with Spain. — Expedition to the Havannah. — Meeting of
ParUament. — Lord Bute's harangue. — Mr. Pitt's Speech in the House of
Commons. — Rigby's attempt to show the inutility of our Conquests. —
Other Speakers in the Debate. — Pacific Disposition of the new Czar. —
Court Intrigues in France against Marshal Broglio and his Brother. —
Prejudices and resentments ofthe Tories. — Preponderating Influence and
Haughtiness of Lord Bute. — The Duke of York's contempt of Lord
Bute and the Scotch. — Proceedings in the Parliament of Ireland. — Lord
Halifax. — William Gerard Hamilton. — Bill for continuing the Militia.
On the first day of the year Fuentes, the Spanish
ambassador, quitted England, and was received at Calais,
and all the way to Paris, with distinguished honours, as
the saviour of France. He was a dull, cold man, and
wedded to all the weakness of his religion.^ Lord
1 He nevertheless made a favourable impression on the Duke of Newcastle,
at their first interview ; and at a later period we find him very handsomely
mentioned by Lord Rochford. Some of his private letters in the Chatham
Correspondence, as well as his public dispatches in the Parliamentary
Papers, are those of an ambassador who understood his duty, and performed
it. He laboured hard, in conjunction with his friend the Marquis of Grimaldi,
to restore the old connection of his country with France ; and one result of
their success was the appointment of Grimaldi to succeed WaU as First
Minister of Spain. Fuentes, then, for some time, replaced Grimaldi at Paris ;
and subsequently returning to Spain, he employed all his influence, which was
considerable, in supporting Grimaldi's Administration, until the latter
imprudently allowed his son, the Prince of PignateUi, to accompany the
expedition to Algiers, under the Count O'Reily, in 1777, where the Prince
perished ; and Fuentes, who had refused his consent to his going, was so
deeply offended, that he immediately joined the opposition to Grimaldi, and
contributed essentially to his retirement from office. — Coxe's History of the
Kings of Spain ofthe House of Bourbon, vol. iii. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. loi
Bristol,^ a very Spaniard too in formality and pride, was
recalled at the same time. His abilities had never been
esteemed, and were now much called in question ; but the
publication of his negotiations did him much honour.
Though he stooped to be the tool of Mr. Pitt, he had not
disliked to receive instructions that authorised him to be
imperious. His very parsimony gave way to any ostenta
tion about his own person.
On the second, the King, in full council, declared his
resolution of making war on Spain : for the ministers
who had driven out Mr. Pitt, rather than embrace this
necessary measure, were reduced to adopt it at the
expense of vindicating him and condemning themselves ;
and, what was worse to the nation than their shame,
had not him, nor his spirit, to conduct them. Nor yet
were they unanimous on this point, or on any other part
of the war. Lord Bute's object was, peace at any rate,
that he might pursue his plans of power at home. Fox
aimed at the destruction of Pitt, and at favour with and
through the Favourite, to which he sacrificed his views
of wealth, as Paymaster, in the German war. The Duke
of Cumberland, who was now rather openly than confiden
tially consulted, was inclined to support the German war ;
either from partiality to the Electorate, or hoping to com
mand there in the room of Prince Ferdinand. His Royal
Highness was reconciled to the Duke of Newcastle, who,
to please the Duke and Lady Yarmouth,^ fluctuated again
towards the war in Germany, though he could not lead
back his friend Lord Hardwicke * to that side. The bias
* George WilUam Hervey, Earl of Bristol, son of the famous John, Lord
Hervey, and grandson of John, Earl of Bristol, whom he succeeded in the
tiUe. His dispatches prove him to have acted with great pradence as long
as the disposition of the Spanish Court was doubtfiil, and with great spirit
afterwards. His connection with Mr. Pitt was m no degree of a servUe
character. It appears to have strengthened as that great minister was losmg
his ascendency in the Cabinet, and it stood the test of his downfaU. Lord
Bristol died unmarried, in March 1775, aged fifty-tliree.— L. M.
" Amelia Sophie de Walmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of George
the Second.
5 Philip Vorke, Earl of Hardwicke, Lord ChanceUor in the preceding reign.

102 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
too had been too strongly given to the Duke of Bedford,
who declared he would move in Parliament to recall our
troops from Germany. Lord Bute, fearing the Duke
would gain too great popularity by this conduct, and
inclined enough to heap any mortifications on the King
of Prussia and the House of Brunswick, took the same
side ; but was persuaded, as the money was already voted
and the contracts made, to suffer the troops to make one
more campaign there. The Duke of Bedford was assured
by the King that measures would be taken for recalling
the troops, without recurring to the authority of Parlia
ment Yet so much did they dread the effects of Mr.
Pitt's influence with the nation, and of their own unpopular
measures, that they agreed to give the King of Prussia
his subsidy for another year, but would not renew the
treaty with him, which now expired.
They were still more divided and embarrassed on the
war with Spain. Unavoidable as it was, the Dukes of
Newcastle and Bedford, Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mans-
field,! were against engaging in it ; and Hardwicke, when
the aiifirmative was decided, declared he would return no
more to Council. But Lord Bute, Lord Granville,^ Lord
Egremont, George Grenville, and, I think. Lord Ligonier,
prevailed for the declaration of war. Lord Anson ^ was
ill, and the Duke of Devonshire out of town.
Yet, though the war with Spain was a popular measure,
the City and the country had so mean an opinion of those
who were to direct it, that the stocks immediately fell to
66^, though in the Rebellion they had never been lower
than 72. The declaration from Spain luckily arrived
three days after the first subscription on the new loan had
been paid — yet it sunk four per cent — three days sooner,
and it would not have been paid at all.
Oh the 4th, war was declared. The next day came
' WUliam Murray, Lord Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
= John Carteret, Earl GranviUe, President of the Council, and formeriy
Prime Minister to George the Second.
^ George, Lord Anson, first Lord of the Admiralty.

KINC CFONGF. HT. I03
news of the reduction of Colberg, almost the last hope
of the King of Prussia. Nor yet were the ministers ready
to decide whether they would blow up the fortifications
of Ht;lleisle and abandon it, or whether they .shouki iinder-
laUe to Hup[)ort l'oi-lnt;al. 'i'liey (letermiiied fir.st to send
Lord Tyriiwleyi Ihitlier, while Lord All)eniarl(!« kissi:(I
tlio King's liaiid for tlu; coiiiniand of the expedition, which
was so often .set fori li and .so oflen eounternianded, and
which at last Iidionred to sea. Itwas to take iiji troops
at Martinico, and thence .sail to attack the Havannah.
On the igth the I'arlianient met, and the King ac-
quainled both ilou.scs with the new war he liail under
taken ; a ota-enionial deeoialt^d by llu: I'avouritc himself,
who, as if hc had wreiu'lied Ihe tluinderliolt out of Mr.
Pitt's hands only to wield it hiiiist:lf with mightier vigour,
now liaran(riu:(l the Parliament for the first time. ICvery
[ireiiaralive of |)oiiip, altilnde, and lofty langnage were
cnllctl in to make hiin worthy of himself His admirers
were in eCHtiisies ; the few that dared to sneer at his
theatric fustian, did not find il (iiiilt; so ridieiilous .is they
wi.shed. It was enough for the former Ihat their goil was
not ihinih, and tlu;ie vvas no danger that he would fami
liarise hini.st-lf toil oflen with the multitude. He affected
to adopt parliaiiuMilaiy measures, and to wish that all
the negotiations wilh S[)ain nii^jhl be laid before them ;
graciously promising'; to beseech tlu; King that not only
papers inight In; protliicetl, hut that the Cabinet C'ouncillors
thernsclve.s niijjhl be peniiittetl to divulge the oiiinions
they had given. This was a puny \)ieco of cliieane, the
ininisters endeavouring to prove liiat the hostililies of
' Jrihoii, Lord TyiiuvU'y, lurMicily An\l)i\ssador nt l.tslioii, (lovornor of
I'lirl Milium mul (illiiullm-, mul I'uluncl ol'n ic'niuu'Ul of (iuiiuts. [,\oi'oriliM|;
to Wftlpolc, jmiu',') O'llnia, nci'ond and Insl l(i\ron Tyiiiwloy (cr. i7o()),
retuvnod fiom l'oilu|.;iil In 17.IJ ' wllli tliivc wivr.i mul fourtri'n cliililron,' ono
of (ho formrr Wm^ '11 Porluniu'so, wilh lon({ liliick Imii- pliiiloil down lo tho
liolloin of ht'i Imi'li' {Ift/fr.t, vol. i. pp. jiS-ai(>)- Ho booitmo a li'icUl Mm-
«lli\l on lOth Jiiiio 17(>.), nnd dyinn iit Twickoiilmm on nth July 177,1, waa
burled t\l ("IioIhou lloNpilnl. — t'.,]
' (iporn'o Koppol, Ihiul l''.i\rl ol' Alboninrlo, ono iit llio Lords of Ihc Uod-
olumijiof lo Wlllinni, UuUo o! (.'innhciUuul.

I04 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Spain were subsequent in date to the period in which
Mr. Pitt found it advisable from their conduct to attack
the Spaniards. He had early detected their league with
France, and was not of a humour to weigh dates against
facts, or memorials against combinations. Nor Hard-
\vicke's forms nor Mansfield's subtleties could persuade
the seeing part of mankind that a war at our doors ought
to be treated with the same literal circumspection as an
action of trespass or battery at common law.
Mr. Pitt himself, in the House of Commons, with much
seeming modesty, assumed the honour that was due to
his intelligence and foresight ; and by disclaiming any
triumph on the necessity into which the ministers had
fallen of making war, asserted the right, to which his
counsels had entitled him, of having pointed out the
moment when the war ought to have commenced — a
moment, lost by his enemies, without the benefit of having
warded off the war with Spain. Lord North,i who
seconded the address of thanks for the King's speech,
had injudiciously fumished Pitt with an opportunity of
vindicating his measures, calhng him an abdicated mini
ster, and violently taxing him with a fondness for new
hostilities. Nothing could be more cool or artful than
Pitt's reply. It was all panegyric ; all gratitude for his
Majesty's resentment of Spain's provoking conduct, and
for the caution with which he promised to engage in so
large a war. In his own particular situation, he might
be supposed not to like such firm, and yet such cautious,
measures — but he did ; he heartily thanked the ministers
for their caution ; and meaned to conciliate unanimity,
which he hoped would spread from one end of the island
to the other. Himself for five years had laboured success
fully — but he did not mean to pride himself that way —
yet he had proved not to have been so much in the wrong
as his enemies had thought; and, however Lord North
had disparaged his intelligence, activity, and discernment,
he hoped his successors would not be endowed with worse
' Frederick, Lord North, eldest son of Francis, Earl of GuUdford.

KING GEORGE IH. 105
or less; and that the people would place confidence in
the Administration, whose large and wide-spread connec
tions must be followed by confidence and favour. A poor
individual like himself could have no such favour and
following 1 He should easily have been blamed, if any
slip had appeared in his conduct. Now it must be the
King — it must be the Administration, the Pariiament,
nation, army, and navy, who were to carry on the war ;
and he prayed to God it might all be enough ! Yet he
thought us equal to the whole. However, he had not
sought the Spanish war ; and if it were not too much for
a poor individual, for an abdicated minister, to say, he
hoped it would appear that for five years together he had
made much political court to Spain, and great persons had
concurred with him in those counsels. The sacrifices he
had offered would show how much he and they had been
in the right ; and that he had not been so haughty as was
represented in rejecting Bussy's memorial. He would
never call for the papers which would exemplify the temper
he had used towards Spain. If his Majesty should think
they would satisfy the nation, would satisfy Europe, he
knew he should appear to have had the unanimous appro
bation of the whole Cabinet to several of the papers he
had sent to Spain. But what imported it what one man
or another had thought three months before ? Since that
era he had received such public marks of Royal approba
tion, together with a pension and peerage (for his wife),
as few individuals could boast The moment was come
when every man ought to show himself for the whole. I
do, said he, cruelly as I have been treated in pamphlets
and libels, Arm the whole 1 Be one people I This war,
though it has cut deep into our pecuniary, had augmented
our military, faculties. Set that against the debt, that
spirit which has made us what we are. Forget everything
but the public ! — for the public I forget both my wrongs
and my infirmities.
Grenville told him he would have his wish : orders were
given for laying before the House all the papers from the

io6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
time of Bussy's memorial. 'I have no wish for their
coming,' replied Pitt. ' If for the benefit of his Majesty's
affairs, let them come ; and if they do come, shall it
be with no farther retrospect than Bussy's memorial?
How condescending is the boon ! how futile ! how unsatis
factory ! '
Yet notwithstanding their affected alacrity for war on
this occasion, the new ministers took every opportunity
of raising disgust in the nation against the late measures.
Rigby, at the instigation of Fox, moved that Colonel Boyd
should lay before the House of Commons the muster-roll
of the Hessians, on whom he threw out many reflections,
and affirmed that 9000 men were wanting out of the
22,000 which they ought to furnish. He said the muster-
rolls of our mercenaries were not returned to the office of
the Secretary at War ; and complained that not a single
order was gone to recruit the army in Germany, which
ought to amount to 96,000 men. He hoped Prince
Ferdinand would be allowed to give no more orders to
British troops. He pretended to approve the declaration
against Spain, but then endeavoured to show that we were
unequal to a new war. It required, he said, 38,000 men
to garrison our conquests ; and yet those garrisons fell
short by 11,000 men. Belleisle alone had cost near half a
million ; yet what did it furnish but sprats and little cows?
Canada gave us only furs ; yet hats were not become
cheaper ; nor were sugar or rum fallen by the acquisition
of opulent Guadaloupe ; nor negroes by the conquest of
Goree ; gum was the only commodity reduced. For
Louisburg, he hoped the fortifications would be blown up.
The enemy was hurt, but were we enriched, except from
the successes in the East Indies ? He wished, in short,
not to keep our conquests, and to put an end to a ruinous
war, in which we had no allies but mercenaries.
Charles Townshend took the same key, and said it had
been fortunate, if our apprehension of Spain had driven us
to make peace with France. He feared we should sink
from a dream of ambition to a state of bankruptcy.

KING GEORGE III. 107
Stanley maintained that France had beeh in earnest in
the negotiation, but had been buoyed up by the ambition
and revenge of Spain. Was France so weak, and yet not
in earnest ? The object of his own labours had been to
keep France divided from Spain, and with that view
England had offered to yield more than she had asked in
return. This was a strong vindication of Mr. Pitt's con
duct, and from a competent witness.
Grenville, in answer to Beckford, said he would pawn
his life that no assurances had been given to the City that
there would be no Spanish war. Thomas Walpole^ replied
that he had never been told from the Treasury that there
would not be war with Spain ; yet he would say, that had
the City apprehended it, they would not have lent their
money so easily. The Hessian papers were ordered to lie
on the table.
In prosecution of the same hostilities to Pitt, the Duke
of Bedford, resisting the most earnest entreaties of the
Duke of Cumberland, and even without the approbation
of the Court, determined to make his motion, which, how
ever, he softened from a proposal of recalling the troops
from Germany, into a resolution of the ruinous imprac
ticability of carrying on the war. He might as decently
have termed it an exhortation to Spain not to dread our
arms. Lord Bute, to show the Court did not countenance
so gross a measure, moved the previous question, and was
supported by Newcastle, Melcomb, and Denbigh. Lord
Temple of course opposed the Duke of Bedford. The
Lords Shelburne, Pomfret, and Talbot spoke for the
motion ; but the previous question was carried by 105 to
16, which latter were the friends of Bedford and Fox.
Six or seven even protested.
In the course of the debate Lord Bute dropped hints of
important good news, which he had received that very
morning. It was supposed to mean the pacific disposition
^ Thomas Walpole, second son of Horatio, Lord Walpole, only brother of
Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford. Thomas married the eldest daughter of
Sir Joshua Vanneck, with whom he dwelt in the City.

io8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
of the new Czar. Elizabeth, his aunt, was just dead, and
Peter the Third had mounted the Russian throne. So far
from inheriting her animosity to the King of Prussia, the
young Emperor was his enthusiastic admirer, and more
likely to war under his banners than to continue to over
whelm him with torrents of barbarians.
The Duke of Bedford receiving such a rebuff from the
Lords, the faction dropped the design of renewing the
motion in the Commons, the consequence having been a
side-wind of approbation to Mr. Pitt, and almost applause
to Lord Bute for taking up the military spirit — an ap
probation the latter did not wish to receive, nor intend to
merit. However, 5000 men were ordered for Portugal,
and the command destined to Lord Tyrawley. Lord
Albemarle too, and his brothers. Commodore and Colonel
Keppel,^ set out for Portsmouth on the expedition to the
Havannah; but they did not sail till the beginning of
March. Lord Tyrawley went to Lisbon at the same time,
whither M. Dunn, or Odunn, who had married a daughter
of Parsons,^ a famous Jacobite alderman in the last reign,
was dispatched from Versailles to traverse his negotia
tions. Dr. Osbaldiston,* the aged Bishop of Carlisle, was trans
lated to the See of London, on the death of Bishop
Hayter ; and was succeeded by Lyttelton,* Dean of
Exeter. ^ Augustus Keppel, second son, and William Keppel, Groom of the Bed
chamber to William, Duke of Cumberland, third son of William Anne, second
Earl of Albemarle.
^ Humphrey Parsons, formerly Lord Mayor of London, a great brewer.
Odunn was an Irishman.
' Richard Osbaldiston died on 13th May 1764, and was succeeded by
Richard Terrick, Bishop of Peterborough. — E.
* Charles Lyttelton, brother of George, first Lord Lyttelton. Lord Lyttelton
was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1738. He subsequently took
orders, and in 1 747 became Rector of Alvechurch, Worcestershire. He was
Dean of Exeter from 1748 to 1762, and was consecrated Bishop of Carlisle at
Whitehall Chapel on 21st March 1762. Lyttelton was a member of Johnson's
Literary Club, and President of the Society of Antiquaries. He died on 22nd
December 1768. Bishop Warburton wrote to Dr. Hurd on the occasion :
' A bishop more or less in this world is nothing ; and perhaps of as small

KING GEORGE III. 109
In France, Marshal Broglio, and his brother, the Count,
were disgraced by Court intrigues. They were the best,
and almost only successful, officers in the French service.
The marshal ^ was a mere disciplinarian, of no parts. The
Count ^ was lively, and earnest to inform himself ; and by
being quicker than his brother, with not much better parts,
was only more likely to be in the wrong : but they were
both men of strict honour. Having presented a memorial
against the Prince of Soubize, in which they attacked
Stainville, brother of the Duke of Choiseul, the latter,
who possessed the favour of Madame de Pompadour, pro
cured the marshal and his brother to be banished to their
country-seats. The Tories, triumphing in the partiality of the Court,
and rather offended than alarmed at the jealousy with
which they were beheld by the Whigs, who in power,
property, and credit were beyond comparison the pre
ponderating part of the nation, took every occasion of
displaying their old prejudices and resentments. On
every contested election they acted in a body against the
account in the next. I used to despise him for his antiquarianism ; but of late,
since I grew old and dull myself, I cultivated an acquaintance with him for
the sake of what formerly kept us asunder ' (Letters to Hurd, 1809, p. 428).
— E.
¦^ A greater military critic. General Jomini, was of a different opinion. He
pronounces Broglio to be the only French commander of that day whose
operations were uniformly skilful. He had fought in more battles than
perhaps any of his contemporaries. An authentic account of his life would
still be of value, but his fame was ecUpsed by the exploits of younger heroes,
and he had even ceased to be an object of interest when he died in exile at
Munster, in 1804, at the advanced age of eighty-six.— L. M.
" The Count de Broglio's talents were undeniable. It was his misfortune,
not less than his fault, that they were seldom well directed. His brilliant
defence of Cassel, during the Seven Years' War, showed that he had no mean
capacity for war ; but his ambition was to shine as a statesman, and, un
happily for him, the enmity of Choiseul excluded him from civil employments.
Partly, perhaps, out of revenge, and partly from his love of political intrigue,
he condescended to take charge of the secret correspondence which Louis
the Fifteenth carried on for many years, independently of his ministers, at the
principal foreign Courts, a system which made it aliftost impossible for an
honourable man to serve the King with benefit. M. de BrogUo eventually
fell into disgrace, and died in obscurity in 178 1, aged sixty-two.— L.M.

no MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
old Whigs, or later converts, however attached to the
Court Thus they exerted all their interest against Lord
Gower ^ and Lord Orford ^ on election causes, and against
the Duke of Bridgwater * and Lord Strange, on a bill for
a new northern navigation — points, on every one of which
the Tories were rancorous and unsuccessful. Nor was
Scotland wiser. One Haldane had stood for Bridport,
lost it, and petitioned. Sir Henry Erskine, a creature of
the Favourite, had the indecency and folly to call the
English party in the House of Commons a profligate
majority ; an offence not forgotten, though the Scots were
beaten by three to one. The inconsiderable number that
in either House of Parliament adhered to Mr. Pitt, and
the almost universal acquiescence to the Favourite's in
fluence, persuaded both him and his dependants, that they
had but to give the tone, and prerogative would master all
opposition. Nor did his partisans do more than was
practised by the Favourite himself If they insulted the
nation, he ruled the Court with a rod of iron. The Queen,
her brother, and the brothers of the King, were taught to
feel their total want of credit. The Duke of York, as
Lord Anson was dying, ambitioned the post of Lord High
Admiral, but did not dare even to ask it. Prince William,*
the favourite brother of the King, wished also to be em
ployed abroad, and ordered Legrand,^ his governor, to
solicit Lord Bute for a command. The haughty Earl
treated Legrand with scurrilous language for putting such
things into the Prince's head. The Duke of York, who,
though the elder, was by far the more indiscreet of the
brothers, openly expressed his resentment and contempt
of Lord Bute and the Scotch ; and as a mark of dis
obedience, went to a hunting party at the Duke of
Richmond's, to which he had been invited with the Prince
^ GranviUe Leveson Gower, Earl Gower, a converted Jacobite.
^ George Walpole, Earl of Orford, grandson of Sir Robert Walpole.
5 Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgwater, author of the famous Navigation.
* William Henry, afterwards Duke of Gloucester.
" Edward Legrand, Esq., Governor to Prince WiUiam and Prince Henry.

KING GEORGE III. in
of Mecklenburgh ; but the latter was not suffered to go to
a disaffected house in disaffected company.
But while inactivity reigned in the Parliament of Eng
land, that of Ireland was not idle. Lord Halifax,i their
new Lord-Lieutenant, was, like most of his predecessors,
very popular at first They voted him an additional
salary of four thousand pounds a year. He had the
decency, though very necessitous, not to accept it for him
self, but desired it might be settled on his successors.
The House of Commons, however, would not wait till it
should take place, to pay themselves, but passed a vote to
make their Parliaments, which existed during the life of
each King, septennial. The party attached to the Castle^
voted for it, concluding it would be thrown out by the
Lords. The Lords, as provident for their popularity,
thinking it would be rejected in England, passed it like
wise. It was rejected here, but not without much disposi
tion in some of the Council to have it granted. Lord
Hilsborough,^ who had great weight with Lord Halifax,
stayed with him in Dublin, and openly made war on the
Primate;* while William Gerard Hamilton,^ the Secretary,
gained such applause in that Parliament, that a motion
^George Montagu Dunk, second Earl of Halifax (cr. 171 5). A man of
great ambition and extravagance. As Secretaiy of State he signed the general
warrant against Wilkes in 1763. He died on 8th June 177 1, aged fifty-
four.— E.
' The Court of the Lords-Lieutenant.
' WiUs Hill, Earl of Hillsborough, afterwards first Marquis of Downshire.
He had gone over to Ireland professedly on his private affairs ; a large estate
having recently been bequeathed to him by Sir William Cooper. Letter from
Lord Barrington to Sir A. Mitchell. — Ellis's Original Letters, vol. vii. p. 443.
— L. M.
* Dr. George Stone, Archbishop of Armagh. See the preceding reign.
" ' Single-speech Hamilton,' who acquired his misleading nickname from his
celebrated maiden speech on 13th November 1755. (See Walpole's Letters,
vol. ii. p. 484). He made another speech in the following year, and ' shone
again ' (ibid., p. 510), while he spoke at least five times in the Irish House of
Commons. He held the lucrative office of Chancellor of the Exchequer in
Ireland from April 1763 to AprU 1784, when he was granted a pension of
;f 2000 a year. He died on l6th July 1796, aged sixty-seven, leaving nothing
behind him to warrant the brilUant reputation which he possessed during his
life.— E.

112 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
for augmenting the troops was carried by the sole power
of his eloquence.
March 19th, the bill for continuing the militia for seven
years was passed by the House of Commons in England ;
and the counties, that had not raised theirs, were ordered
to pay five pounds a man. This was settled by a com
promise, lest a longer term should be insisted on. Its own
friends were sick of it, and had clogged it with many
clauses, in hopes it would be rejected by their opponents.
But the ministers would not risk the unpopularity of a
negative, and were even afraid to part with so large a body
of men.

KING GEORGE III. 113

CHAPTER X.
Conquest of Martinico.— War in Portugal.— Lord Tyrawley.— Count la Lippe.
— The Cock Lane Ghost. — Pacific disposition of the new Czar. — His
Popular Measures. — Count Schouvalow. — Meditated War with Denmark
by the Czar and the King of Prussia. — Insurrections in Ireland, quelled
bythe Earl of Hertford. —Lord Bute's Ambition.— The Duke of New
castle. — His friends. — The Portuguese War, and the War in Germany. —
The Duke of Bedford. — Fox's Observation to Walpole. — Lords Mans
field, Hardwicke, and Lincoln. — Newcastle's tenacity of Power. — Creation
of seven new Peers. — Private negotiation with the Court of Vienna. — The
new Peers. — Buckingham House purchased by the Queen. — Seclusion of
the King and Queen. — The King's younger Brothers.
On the 22nd of March arrived news of the conquest of
Martinico by General Monckton^ and Admiral Rodney ;''¦
a plan ascribed by the people to Mr. Pitt, though executed
under the auspices of the Favourite. In truth, the valour
of the nation had taken such a bent, that Lord Bute could
not check it ; nothing but a peace could chain it up. If
the Earl did favour any part of the war, it was that in
Portugal. Colonel Burgoyne' was ordered thither with
^ Robert Monckton, brother of Lord Galway, a very gallant officer, who
signed the reddition of Quebec, and performed other memorable services in
that war.
"^ George Bridges Rodney, afterwards Lord Rodney, the great naval com
mander. He died in 1792. — L. M.
'Colonel John Burgoyne, natural son ofW. Benson, Lord Bingley. He
proved a very unfortunate commander in the subsequent American War. He
W.1S also an author, and wrote that excellent comedy, ' The Heiress. ' [Though
Walpole repeats the statement that Burgoyne was a natural son of Lord Bing
ley elsewhere (Letters, vi. 494), it seems to have been a mere piece of scandal
ous gossip without any foundation in fact. He was the only son of Captain
John Burgoyne by his wife Anne Maria, daughter of Charles Barmeston of
Hackney, Middlesex, and grandson of Sir John Burgoyne, Bart., of Sutton
Park, Bedfordshire. He died on 3rd June 1792, and was buried in West
minster Abbey. — E.]
VOL. I. H

114 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
five thousand foot and six hundred horse ; and there was a
plan for regimenting twenty-five thousand papists in Ire
land for the same service ; but the Irish Government did
not approve of giving discipline and arms to such danger
ous inmates. For General-in-Chief, it was proposed to
send to Lisbon the Prince of Bevern. He had been
suspected of infidelity by the King of Prussia,^ had been
disgraced, and his intellects were not reckoned sound.
Lord Tyrawley sent home his aides-de-camp, affecting
to wonder that we expected any invasion of Portugal.
This was imputed to his disgust at not obtaining the com
mand himself ; he who was a brave and old general, and
who was perfectly acquainted with the country.^ The Prince
of Bevern declined the offer; and Count la Lippe accepted it
He was born in England, had distinguished himself in every
hussar-kind of service, and in his dress and manners copied
Charles XH. of Sweden, though with more politeness. He
found the Portuguese troops in the most deplorable state of
cowardice and want of discipline. The English could not,
and did not, disguise their contempt of them. The Spanish
army might have marched to Lisbon, had they met with
no obstruction but from the natives. The English troops
saved that country ; and Count La Lippe, before he left
Portugal, formed a regular army there.*
^ Infidelity was then no uncommon charge against an unsuccessful com
mander. The Prince had in 1757 been worsted at Breslau, where he had only
twenty-four thousand men to oppose to an army of ninety thousand under
Daun and Prince Charles of Lorraine. In return, he defeated Daun in 1762
at Reichenbach, a victory that decided the fate of Schweidnitz, and thus con
tributed to the final success of Prince Henry of Prussia at Freidberg. — L. M.
' See supra.
' This remarkable man was sovereign of Lippe Buckebourgh, a petty state,
lying on the confines of Hanover and Westphalia. His mother was daughter
of George the First, by the Duchess of Kendal. He received the early part
of his education in England, and held a, commission in the Guards : at nine
teen, he served at the battle of Dettingen ; and two years after he showed
signal intrepidity as a volunteer under Prince Lobkowitz, in Italy. At the
outset of the Seven Years' War he joined the Confederates with his smaU
contingent, and bore a prominent part in the various military operations that
ensued. His bravery, in common with his opinions, had a tinge of eccen
tricity, but the boldness and originality of his mind were not ill directed. He

KING GEORGE III. ns
The facility which the Favourite found of mastering so
great and victorious a kingdom, and of removing the man
who had carried the glory of his country so high, was not
the only evidence, that however enlightened an age may
be, knavery and folly need never despair. The tares they
sow will shoot amidst any harvest Will it be credited
that, while the Romish superstition was crumbling away
even in Spain and Portugal, a set of enthusiastic rogues
dared to exhibit in the very heart of London, a pantomime
of imposture, which would hardly have been swallowed
in a paltry village of Castile? The methodists had en
deavoured to establish in Warwickshire, not only the
belief, but the actual existence, of ghosts. Being detected,
they struck a bold stroke, and attempted to erect their
system in the metropolis itself A methodist family, at
first out of revenge, endeavoured to fasten on one Parsons
the imputation of having debauched and murdered his
wife's sister. A young girl was reported to be visited by
the deceased, whom she called Fanny, and with whom she
established a correspondence of question and answer —
not by words, but by scratching. A certain number of
scratches signified ' yes ' ; another number, ' no.' At first
this farce, which was acted in Cock Lane, in the city, was
confined to the mob of the neighbourhood. As the rumour
became an enterprising and successful partisan, and an able commander of
artiUery ; in which latter capacity he distinguished himself both at Minden
and at Kampen. Being entrusted with a separate corps for the reduction of
Munster, he not only captured the place, but defeated General Armenti^res,
who had been sent with a French army to its relief. It was in Portugal,
however, that he established his reputation. 'He found the army there,'
says his biographer, ' in a state of thorough disorganisation, without either
food or pay ; even the guards at the Royal Palace implored alms from
strangers, with bended knees and outstretched caps. The officers, impelled
by want, followed various humble crafts. There were instances of the hus
band working as a journeyman taUor, while the wife earned her subsistence
as a washerwoman ; and captains might be seen bringing baskets of linen
from the wash. Many were servants in the households of generals and
governors ; indeed, servants were sometimes presented with commissions in
order that their pay might serve in lieu of wages.' AU these abuses the
Count, unsupported, if not opposed by the Court and the ministers, succeeded
in rectifying. With the assistance of the EngUsh, he checked the progress of

ii6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
spread, persons of all ranks thronged to the house. Two
methodist clergymen constantly attended the child, who
lay in bed in a wretched chamber, with only a dim rush
light at one end. These worthy divines affected to cast
an air of most serious import on the whole transaction,
and by their interposition prompted Fanny and the girl
on any dilemma. A servant wench commented and
explained Fanny's oracle. The father would accept no
money from the various visitants, for which he was
promised an adequate recompense by the chiefs of the
sect When the story had gained a requisite footing,
Fanny had the indiscreet confidence to declare that her
body was not in the vault where it had been interred.
Samuel Johnson, author of the Dictionary, was in the
number of the deluded, and with some others as wise as
himself, visited the vault, where, to the disappointment of
the Spanish troops, and defeated them in several encounters. He built the
citadel of Elvas. He organised a plan for the defence of the kingdom ; and
at the end of the war he quitted Portugal, foUowed by the gratitude and
attachment of the King and the people. Indeed, the House of Braganza
were not under greater obligations to his iUustrious predecessor. Marshal
Schomberg. His reforms show considerable acuteness and knowledge of
character, and were completely successfiil. One of the most questionable was,
that while he punished officers in Germany for accepting a challenge, he
punished the Portuguese for refusing, with the view of restoring a martial
spirit among the troops. The remainder of his life he passed at Buckebrough,
the chief town of La Lippe, beloved by his subjects, and always employed in
promoting their prosperity, though he has been charged with sometimes mis
taking himself for a great monarch, while he was only a petty prince. He
married in 1765 the Countess of La Lippe Bustafeld, a young lady of great
beauty and accomplishments, and had one daughter, whose early death was
quickly followed by that of the mother ; and the Count, inconsolable under
this double affliction, fell into a lingering disorder, of which he died in 1777,
at the age of fifty-three. He enjoyed the warm friendship of the King of
Prussia, the Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and other great commanders.
They entertained a high opmion of his miUtary capacity. He inspired a sort
of enthusiasm in all around him. Even the Spanish officers, who used to
ridicule his reforms, and when they first descried him in the field, with his
large hat and little sword, contemptuously asked whether the Portuguese
were commanded by Don Quixote, eventually partook of the general feeUng
of admiration that attached to his generosity — ^his extreme disinterestedness 
his abilities and valour. — Biographische Denkmale, von K. Barnhagen von
Ense. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 117
their credulity, they found the body.i Had the precaution
been taken of conveying it away, the fury of the people
might have been actuated to strange lengths ; for so much
credit had the story gained, that Parsons, the accused,
fearing a prosecution, began first A regular trial ^ in
stantly unravelled the 'cheat : the girl was detected of
performing the scratchings herself, and one of the clergy
men proved to be her abettor. Lord Chief Justice Mans
field tried the cause : the divine had the impudence to
present a letter to him on the bench from the Archbishop
of Canterbury,^ interceding on his behalf, for Seeker had
a fellow feeling for hypocritical enthusiasm. The Chief
Justice put the letter into his pocket unopened, saying it
was impossible it could relate to the cause in question.
Yet the punishment of these impostors was very moderate,
whereas the same judge inflicted most severe penalties on
one Anett, who published weekly papers against the book
of Genesis. The methodists did not take shame. They
turned informers against profaners of the Sabbath, tried
to establish great rigour on Good Friday and the fast-
days, and to revive the superstition of holidays, when
even the late Pope himself, Benedict xiv.,* had struck
^ Doctor Johnson, in the newspapers of the day, published an account of
this inquiry. His weakness consisted in so far giving confidence to this
flimsy imposture, as to think a solemn inquiry necessary. — Boswell (G. B.
Hill), vol. i. pp. 406-8; vol. in. p. 268. — L. M.
' The plot was devised by WilUam Parsons, the parish clerk of St.
Sepulchre's, and carried out by his daughter, a girl of twelve;years old, with
the object of maUgning a certain Mr. WilUam Kent of Norfolk, who had
sued Parsons for debt. Parsons and his coadjutors were tried for conspiring
to injure Kent's character on loth July 1762, and after a trial lasting over
twelve hours were found guilty. The house in Cock Lane, West Smithfield,
where this imposition was practised, was still standing in 1850. (Notes and
Queries, 1st series, vol. i. p. 244.) Walpole gives an amusing account of his
visit to the Ghost, when it was ' the reigning fashion ' of the hour. (See
Letters, in. 479, 481-2.) Goldsmith wrote an account of the Cock Lane Ghost
in an anonymous pamphlet entitled The Mystery Revealed, etc., for which he
received three guineas from Newberry. — E. ' Dr. Thomas Seeker.
* Prospero Lambertini, one of the most learned, enlightened, and virtuous
prelates that ever filled the Papal chair. Protestants have vied with
CathoUcs in doing honour to his memory. He died in 1758, at a very
advanced age. — L. M.

iiB MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
several out of the calendar. But the ritual of the Church
of Rome was too rich in materials not to be copied by
new zealots. They introduced into their service hymns
sung in parts by children, as very captivating to the
multitude ; and the Countess of Huntingdon,^ the patron
ess of the rising Church, erected a chapel at Bath, and at
other places of drinking waters, the sick and diseased
being an obvious prey to Reformers. Hogarth exerted
his last stroke of genius on the occasion above mentioned ;
the print he published on the Cock Lane Ghost had a
mixture of humorous and sublime satire, that not only
surpassed all his other performances, but which would
alone immortalise his unequalled talents.
The expectations conceived of the new Czar were now
verified. He declared to the Empress Queen, to France,
and to Sweden, that he was ready to abandon his con
quests for peace, and hoped they were in the same dis
position — not at the same price. France, indeed, had
many losses to regain, few acquisitions to restore — but
her hopes were placed on Spain. Sweden had made no
conquests, and must obey the dictates of so powerful a
mediator ; but the Empress Queen was far from being
equally tractable. Peter, however, having sacrificed the
first moments to decency, gave the next to the gratifica
tion of his will ; and without stipulating for his allies,
whose politics and procrastination were incompatible
with his ardour, he not only made peace with his favourite
monarch,* but promised the same troops which, under the
late Czarina, had almost crushed him. Nor was this a
bare promise, but faithfully executed. Such admiration
of a hero was not likely to content itself with merely
becoming his ally. Few men idolise heroism but they
who feel the passion in their own breasts. Having obliged
1 Selina, Dowager Countess of Huntingdon, widow of Theophilus, ninth
Earl of Huntingdon, who died in October 1756. The first regular chapel of
the ' eonnexion,' which she founded, was built at Brighton in 176 1. See the
Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, etc., London, 1839-40,
8vo, 2 vols. — E.
^ Frederick the Third, King pf Prussia.

KING GEORGE III. 119
Sweden to make peace too, the young Czar turned his
eye towards military exploits in a new field, and
determined to attempt the conquest of the duchy of
Sleswick from Denmark. Yet if he was dazzled by the
martial talents of the King of Prussia, Peter had a heart
susceptible of the most extensive humanity. One of his
first acts on his accession was to bestow liberty on the
Russian nobility. For the poor he lessened the tax on
salt, and for the relief of all, abolished the Inquisition of
the State. All the exiles were recalled, or received great
mitigation of their punishments. There was one man to
whom the Czar, though not so bountiful as he ought to
have been, was very kind. This was Count Schouvalow,
the favourite and supposed husband of the late Czarina.
A man who, in twelve years of absolute power, had never
made an enemy ; and who, had he ambitioned a crown as
much as he deserved one, might have reigned. This up
right man told the Czar that he had in his possession a
very large sum of money, which he believed the Empress,
his late mistress, had intended he should take for his own
use, but not having been a specific gift, he thought it his
duty to surrender it to his Majesty. The Emperor said
he was in great want of money, took it, but ordered him
to choose two thousand pounds a year in land wherever
he pleased. I knew this amiable person afterwards,
wandering about Europe,^ possessed of nothing beyond
that revenue, and sighing after a country to which it had
been imprudent to return.
The Czar and the King of Prussia wished to engage us in
the war with Denmark ; but though the Council was divided
on the measure, Denmark was too intimately connected with
us, and, as a maritime power, was too near a neighbour to
Scotland. In this exigence the King of Denmark marched
with a considerable force to Hamburgh, and obliged that
opulent city to fumish him with a million of rix-dollars.
In Ireland seemed approaching a scene of a new kind.
1 Count Schouvalow afterwards passed some time in England, and was a
frequent guest at Strawberry HiU. — L. M.

I20 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The jealousy of commerce had ever swayed England to
keep that Kingdom in a state of humiliation and restraint,
consequently of poverty. The lowest class of people in
no country less enjoyed the sweets of being ; and in no
country sought less to emerge from their state of barbar
ism. Proud and slothful, they created a kind of dignity
to themselves from inactivity. To labour no more than
noblemen was a sort of nobility ; and ignorance of a
happier fate was happiness. They preserved their ancient
poetry and traditional genealogies ; hated the English
settled amongst them as invaders, and necessarily were
bigoted to their old superstitions in opposition to the
religion of their masters. In short, they wanted but
luxury, to have all the passions and prejudices of great
lords. A considerable part of the island was plunged in
this dismal darkness and misery. As a spirit of opposition
and independence had spread amongst the Protestant
inhabitants, a spirit of improvement had gone forth too.
Manufactures were established, roads and bridges made,
and rivers rendered navigable. Inclosures for cultivation
of lands had followed. Occupation of commons seemed
usurpation to a race of lazy savages ; and the first murmurs
were carefully blown up to rage by their priests. A
massacre had been the last instance in which the Catholics
of Ireland had had any superiority ; and Popish priests
are historians enough to be ignorant of no such era. It
was the cause of property to throw down inclosures ; of
heaven, to cut the throat of inclosers — and of France and
Spain, to promote the good work. The tumults, however,
began upon the single foot of their grievances. Great
insurrections appeared in Waterford, the chief improve
ments having been made upon the Burlington estate.
The rabble soon distinguished itself by the name of
White Boys ; and their instructors, to veil one nonsense
under a greater, taught them to give out that they were
subject to the Queen of the Fairies, whom they called
Sieve Oltugh, in whose name their manifestoes were signed.
It appeared afterwards on the trials of some of their chiefs.

KING GEORGE III. 121
that this fairy sovereign resided at Versailles. French
officers were discovered among them ; and during the
Duke of Bedford's regency, a rising had actually been
made in the same quarter just as Thurot landed. After
many outrages, they proceeded to cruelty, and buried three
persons up to their chins, who had declared they knew
the ringleaders. As their numbers and impunity incrccised,
so did their insolence. They obliged the town of Lismore
to hang out lights, and forced a justice of peace to fix
up a proclamation by which they regulated the price of
provisions, and forbade any cheese to be made till after
Lent, that the poor might have the milk — a proof that
the devotees of the Queen of the Fairies, and of the Virgin
Mary, were equally attached to the observation of the
Fast For six weeks this insurrection was neglected ; and two
regiments of dragoons, that were sent against them, proved
unequal to the work. At last the House of Commons
took up the affair, and foot being ordered out against the
seditious, the matter was quashed, though not entirely
suppressed, till the Earl of Hertford^ was Lord-Lieutenant,
who refusing to pardon some of the chiefs, notwithstanding
very considerable intercession, an end was put to the
affair — but unless that country is more civilised and re
claimed from barbarism, or better guarded before another
weu- brcciks out, it will probably be selected by France
and Spain for the first scene of their operations. At the
time of which I have been spesdcing, France was more
eamest to make a general peace, than to incense us by
opening a war within our very gates,* and which might
have made it dangerous for the Favourite to second their
views. ' Francis Seymour Conway, Earl of Hertford, appointed Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland in 1765, while he was amtiassador in France.
' Nevertheless, the French were at the time suspected of promoting, if not
of originating, the insurrection. Lord Drogheda, who was employed with
his raiment against the insurgents, told Sir Richard Musgrave that French
money was found in the pockets of some of those lulled, by the soldiers. —
Mo^rave's History ofthe RebelHon in Ireland, p. 33. — L. M.

122 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
He was hotly pushing his schemes to projection ; and
resolved not only to make the peace, but to be indisputably
first minister when it should be made. Mr. Pitt was
removed, who could have obstructed the first object ; but
while the Duke of Newcastle held the Treasury, there was
a division of power, which all the lustre of favour could
not entirely surmount. They who looked forward, bowed
to the idol ; but they who held by gratifications to the
Treasury, could not but kiss the hand that dealt the
bribe. At first it was designed by disgusts to drive the
Duke to resign. Elliot and Oswald ^ were instmcted to
treat him rudely at his own board : but an old minister
or an old mistress endure many shocks before they
can be shaken off:^ nor could all his own treacheries
persuade the Duke of Newcastle that Lord Bute
could so soon forget how instrumental his Grace had
been in undermining Mr. Pitt He still had a mind
to be of the plot, though himself was become the object
of it
Newcastle's friends were quicker sighted ; and foreseeing
that they must again range under Mr. Pitt, if cast off by
the Court, they began to have doubts and difficulties —
and did but hasten their fall by daring to resume a right
of opinion. The expense of the Portuguese war adminis
tered their first pretence of complaint, and the protection
given to the King of Prussia by the Czar, changed the
posture of his affairs so advantageously, that it had no
gross appearance when the Dukes of Cumberland, New
castle, Devonshire, and their faction grew earnest for the
continuance ofthe war in Germany. The Duke of Bedford,
who was more than half-gained to the Court, but who
always added some contradiction of his own, was averse
to both wars, Portuguese and German ; and Fox, who was
' Gilbert Elliot and James Oswald, Scots, and Commissioners of the
Treasury. See infra.
^ It appears by a letter from the Duke to Lord Hardwicke, of the 7th May,
that the Duke's eamestness to prosecute the German war, in opposition to
the wishes of Lord Bute, caused a final breach between them. — Adolphus,
vol. i. p. 68.— L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 123
willing to preserve an interest in the Duke of Cumberiand,
had a difficult part to act He said to me, ' The Duke of
Devonshire says it is a Tory measure to abandon the
Continent ; for my part I do not know who are Whigs ;
they bore the partiality of the Pelhams^ to the Tories,
and Mr. Pitt's declaration in their favour, who had com
plained that they enjoyed none of the favours of Govern
ment.' Lord Mansfield would have preserved Newcastle
to the Court, but Lord Hardwicke pulled the other way.
Lord Lincoln ^ was devoted to Pitt, and wished to unite
him and his uncle Newcastle. The Duke of Devonshire
advised the latter to resign ; but so great was his inclina
tion to keep even the dregs of power with the dregs of life,
and so great his fear of being called to account for the
waste of money on the German war, that though the
King, as a fresh affront, declared seven new peers, without
acquainting him, he not only overlooked it, but begged
his cousin, Mr. Pelham,^ might be added to the number,
and got the barony of Pelham bestowed on himself, with
reversion to that relation.
I am forced to detail these intrigues, because the moment
was critical, and because it gave birth to a new party, and
to many subsequent events. The Court was the more
stiff, because they had conveyed a message through Count
Virri,* the Sardinian minister in England, to the Bailli de
Solar,^ the Sardinian minister at Paris, desiring to renew
¦^ Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, and Henry Pelham, his only brother.
° Henry Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, nephew of the Pelhams, and afterwards
Duke of Newcastle.
' Thomas Pelham of Stanmer, afterwards Lord Pelham.
* This subtle, insinuating Italian had paid his court to Lord Bute in the
preceding reign, and obtained a great ascendency over him. Though a man
of quality, he had been a monk, and the world and the cloister had united
to make him an accomplished statesman. He eventually rose to be first
minister of Sardinia. His main fault was that he used too much finesse and
precaution, and attached too great importance to trifles. Some amusing
anecdotes of him are told in Memoirs of a Traveller now in Retirement (1806),
vol. ii. pp. 65-78.— L. M.
" The Bailli de Solar had been the Sardinian Ambassador at Rome at the
same time that the Duke de Choiseul was the French Ambassador there, and
a warm friendship had existed between them from that period. — L. M.

124 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
the negotiation where it had been broken off. Lord Bute
had gone farther: he had ordered Sir Joseph Yorke to
treat privately with the Court of Vienna, without the
knowledge of the King of Prussia. For some time the
Court of Vienna did not vouchsafe an answer. To the
confusion of the Favourite, the first news he had of any
answer to come was from the Baron de Knyphausen, the
King of Prussia's minister here.^
April 28th, the new peers kissed hands. Lord Went
worth^ and Sir William Courtenay,^ Tories, were made
Viscounts. Lord Egmont,* Lord Milton,^ Lord Brudenel,
the Duke of Newcastle, Sir Edward Hussy Montagu,*
1 The communication made by Lord Bute to the Court of Vienna appears
to have originated in the belief that the Austrians were, on national grounds,
more inclined to peace than any of the other powers. Considering the close
connection existing between the Courts of Vienna and Paris, and the certainty
that such a step would be viewed in the worst Ught by the King of Prussia,
it must be regarded as a blunder. The correspondence that passed on the
occasion is printed in the Appendix to Adolphus, vol. i. p. 575- There is an
able Essay on the subject in the Appendix to the 5th vol. of Belsham, p. 475.
— L. M.
^ Sir Edward Noel, Bart., Baron Wentworth of Nettleshead, created
Viscount Wentworth of Welsborough, county of Leicester.
^ Sir William Courtenay, Bart., chief of the great house of Courtenay.
He had, like his father, represented the County of Devon for many years.
He survived his creation [as Viscount Courtenay] only ten days. The title
became extinct on the decease of his grandson, the ninth Earl of Devon. —
L. M.
* John Percival, second Earl of Egmont, an Irish peer, created Baron
Lovel and Holland of Enmore, in the County of Somerset His anxiety for
an English peerage is recorded in Dodington's Diary, pp. 420-2. — E.
° Joseph Damer, first Baron Milton in the peerage of Ireland, and M. P. for
Dorchester, created Baron Milton of Milton Abbey, in the County of Dorset
He was subsequently advanced to the dignities of Viscount Milton and
Earl of Dorchester, and died on 12th February 1798. — E.
° M. P. for Tiverton, created Baron Beaulieu of Beaulieu, in the County of
Southampton. He was the eldest son of James Hussey of Westown, County
Dublin, and married Isabella, Dowager Countess of Manchester, eldest
daughter of John, second Duke of Montagu, on whose death he assumed the
additional surname of Montagu. He was advanced to the dignity of Earl of
Beaulieu on 8th July 1784, and died on 25th November 1802, when the tides
became extinct. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams wrote a curious lampoon on
the occasion of Hussey's marriage, entitled an 'Ode to the Honourable
Henry Fox,' etc. — Worhs, 1822, vol. i. 90. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 125
Mr. Vernon,! of Sudbury, and Mr. Lane,* the two latter
Tories, were made Barons, and Lady Caroline Fox, a
Baroness. Lord Ligonier's Irish peerage was entailed on
his nephew. Mr. Vernon,^ clerk of the Council, and Mr.
Olmius,* were created Irish Barons. The Prince of Meck
lenburgh,^ brother ofthe Queen, was made a Major-General.
Lord Bute had often waived her request She was advised
to apply to the Princess, and the favour was immediately
granted. Soon after, Buckingham House * was purchased
and bestowed on her Majesty, St James's not seeming a
prison strait enough. There the King and Queen lived
in the strictest privacy, attended absolutely by none but
menial servants ; and never came to the palace but for the
hours of levies and drawing-rooms. The King's younger
brothers were kept, till they came of age, in as rigid
durance. Prince Henry, the third, a very lively lad, being
asked if he had been confined with the epidemic cold,
replied, ' Confined 1 that I am, without any cold ' ; and
soon after, when the Garter was bestowed on Prince
^ George Venables Vernon of Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire, M.P. for
Derby. Created Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton, in the County of Chester.
He was the great-nephew of Peter Venables, last Baron Kinderton, to whose
estates he had succeeded. He died on 21st August 1780, aged seventy-
one. — E.
" George Fox Lane, created Lord Bingley— he had married the only
daughter and heiress of the last Lord of the same name. He died in 1773,
without issue. — L. M.
' Francis Vernon, M.P. for Ipswich, created Baron Orwell of Newry,
County Down. He was advanced to the Viscounty of OrweU in 1776, and to
the Earldom of Shipbrook in 1777, and died in 1783, when his titles became
extinct. — E.
* John Olmius, M.P. for Weymouth, sometime Deputy-Governor of the
Bank of England, created Baron Waltham of PhUipstown, King's County. He
died on Sth October 1762.
•^ Charles Lewis Frederick, Prince of Mecklenburgh, brother of the Duke
of Mecklenburgh and of Queen Charlotte. Born 1741.— L.M.
^ Buckingham House, in St. James's Park, built by John Sheffield, Duke
of Buckingham, was purchased of his natural son. Sir Charles Sheffield, and
named the Queen's Palace. The mob called it in derision, Holyrood House.
[It was taken down in 1825, and the present hideous palace erected in its
place. — E.]

126 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
William and Lord Bute, Prince Henry said, ' I suppose
Mr. Mackenzie ^ and I shall have the green ribands.'
^ James Stuart Mackenzie, only brother of the Earl of Bute. He had been
Minister at Turin from 1758 to 1762, when he was appointed to Venice ; but,
before he could leave Turin, the death of the Duke of Argyle caused Lord
Bute to bring him home abruptly to take the direction of the Govemment in
Scotland ; an exercise of the Favourite's power, which proved him to be
virtually at the head of the Administration. From the same feeUngs of
exclusiveness, Lord Bute subsequently selected Mr. Mackenzie, in preference
to any of his colleagues in the Cabinet, to assist him in the early part of the
negotiations for peace. Whatever points were settled by his Lordship with
the King, were then communicated, through Mr. Mackenzie, to the Count de
Virri, by whom they were transmitted, through the Bailli de Solar, to the
Duke of Choiseul, and it was only after an article had been actually agreed
upon that it came officially under the cognisance of the Foreign Department ;
so that these two foreigners appear to have possessed more of Lord Bute's
confidence, as well as more influence over the negotiation, than the Secretary
of State, Lord Egremont; a circumstance which rather explains the jealousy
shown by the Cabinet, when the preliminaries had been settled, of any inde
pendent authority being given to the Duke of Bedford. These duties Mr.
Mackenzie discharged irreproachably, and, far from sharing his brother's
unpopularity, was much esteemed by all parties. He is described by his
secretary, M. Dutens, as having been most amiable, remarkably cheerfiil and
pleasant in society, with very simple tastes, and no ambition, well versed in
the sciences, 'particularly in mathematics, algebra, and astronomy.' He
took little part in public affairs after Lord Bute's resignation, and died in
1800, at the age of eighty-one years, only a few months after the death of his
wife, the daughter of John, Duke of Argyle. — Memoirs of a Traveller now in
Retirement, 1806, vol. i. pp. l6o-l, 164-6; vol. iv. pp. 227-9. — L. M.

KING GEORGE IH. 127

CHAPTER XI.
Debate in the House of Commons on a Vote of Credit and the Support of
Portugal.— The German War.— Pitt's Speech.— Colonel Barry's Reply to
Mr. Pitt. — Lord Bute's Ambition. — The Duke of Newcastle's Resigna
tion. — Fox and the Duke of Devonshire. — Ingratitude of the Clergy to
Newcastle. — Unwise conduct of Lord Bute. — He is declared First Lord
of the Treasury. — Sir Francis Dashwood, Chancellor of the Exchequer. —
His unfitness for that Office. — His general Character. — His establishment
of a Society of Young TraveUers.
May 1 2th. The House of Commons debated on a vote
of credit, and the support of Portugal. Glover, the poet,
pleaded against Portugal's claim to our assistance, from
their many infractions of treaties, from their cramping our
trade, and from the impossibilities our merchants had found
of obtaining redress ; a complaint that seemed to bear
hard on the late ministry : to which he added reflections
on the extravagance of the German war, which, contrary
to the professions of ministers, had grown from ;£'200,ooo
to six or seven millions. Pitt was offended, and corrected
Glover, who threw his information on some nameless
merchants, by whom he had been told that their remon
strances on the difficulties of the Portuguese trade had
not been read by the ministers. Wilkes censured the
weakness and irresolution of the ministry ; their abandon
ing Belleisle, and neglecting to send over the officers to
Germany. It was even said, he affirmed, that they had
been humiliating themselves at the Court of Vienna.
Legge more gently, and Beckford with more rhodomon
tade, pressed the same accusations. The latter was for
invading Spain by sea ; declared that the City suspected
the ministry of wavering, and demanded to have their old
minister again. Grenville answered finely, and compared

128 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
the smallness of the sum demanded, ;£'30o,ooo, with the
expense in Germany. Belleisle had cost more than what
was now asked for Portugal. That Court knew how we
were embarrassed, and asked not more than she knew we
could give. What proof was there of irresolution? was
not Martinico conquered .' was not the Havannah likely
to follow } or did Beckford think that great words, blus
tered in Parliament, constituted resolution ? Fluctuating
reports were rather owing to stockjobbers than to fluctua
tion in the measures of Government He affirmed that
not one step had been taken at Vienna derogatory to any
of our connections. We had only tried to feel how they
relished the family-compact among the Bourbons. But
whether the resolution was taken to recall our troops from
Germany, or at all events to go on, would it be prudent
to declare which was to be the measure ?
Lord George Sackville was liberal in blaming the
expense of the German war, which he compared with that
of Queen Anne; the whole of which, he maintained, except
in 17 II and 171 2, did not amount to what this German
war had cost alone, though we had then employed more
British and other troops than at present. Queen Anne's
war had never exceeded eight millions, including garrisons,
fleet, etc. The expense of 172,000 men from 1709 to 171 1
had not gone beyond what one year had recently cost in
Germany. If there had not been new inventions for
expense, we should not now be ready to beg peace.
Pitt, in a very capital style, took up the cause of Por
tugal : he did not stoop to that little hackneyed practice
of party, opposing whatever was the measure of the adver
sary. He had stood forth for general war, and for reduc
tion of the House of Bourbon. To advise still larger war
was constancy to the same plan ; and it was still safer to
advise it, when he was no longer answerable for the event.
To oppose vigorous steps would have been more truly
lending aid to the Court, who wanted to get clear of the
war. As having been a public minister, he must not, he said

KING GEORGE III. 129
intrench himself within his present private situation, but
speak his opinion. He should not wait for events, but speak
boldly as a counsellor. If he voted for this measure, it was
giving the Crown his advice, as if he was called to Council.
He did not think we ought to support Portugal, both for
commercial and political reasons. Portugal is in the imme
diate predicament of nearness to us after Ireland and our
Colonies, ft assists, without draining us. Assistance was
a matter of justice due from us to an oppressed, insulted
ally. There had not been such an infraction of treaties as
would release us from the ties of treaties. Should we
sit with folded arms while the two branches of Bourbon,
those proudest of the proud, would exclude us from
neutral ports .-" We must set Portugal on its legs, not .
take it on our shoulders. He then expatiated on the
character of Carvalho, the Prime Minister of Portugal, his
inflexibility to danger, his intrepidity ; and drew a picture
that might almost have passed for his own, as he seemed
to mean it should. Would there be danger in this
measure? he was a co-operator in it. If you, as a
maritime power, cannot protect Portugal, Genoa will next
be shut against you ; and then the ports of Sardinia : —
what ! ports shut against the first maritime power in the
world ! He then turned Glover into ridicule ; said he
admired his poetry, but quanto, optimus omnium, poeta,
tanto — he would not, he said, go on. For the sum de
manded, it might easily be raised, or a million more ; and
he would give the same opinion, whether the Duke of
Newcastle continued minister, or should be succeeded by
Mr. Fox, as was generally said to be the intention. The
only difficulty was to find funds. It had been predicated
for three years that we could not raise more money ;
therefore it was plain we could. Lord George should
have put into the scale what our enemies had lost ; they
had been losing, we acquiring. He hoped we should keep
up our officers and our marine, and not decrease the latter,
as we had done after the last peace. France had last
year spent eight millions in Germany. To outlast an
VOL. I. I

I30 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
enemy was worth perseverance. But we would not dis
tinguish between contracting our expenses and contracting
our operations. He paid great compliments to the officers
of land and sea, and pleaded earnestly against relinquish
ing Germany. It would be turning loose an hundred and
forty thousand French to overrun the Low Countries and
Portugal. If there was any odium from the German war
he begged it might fall on him ; though he had never
seen a contractor, yet he would not disculpate himself by
censuring others ; and he spoke in mitigation of the blame
thrown on the Treasury, owning he thought some little
might have been saved, but not suspecting them of
dishonesty. Yet, were an inquiry moved, he would second
it ; he would screen nobody. After the King of Pmssia
had been so ill-treated on our account, would we throw
such a power out of our alliance, only to save three or
four hundred thousand pounds .? But he thought he had
heard the army was not to be recalled — was transported to
find Lord Granby was going to it Himself was the only
man that agreed with the whole administration, for he
approved both of war in Germany and war in Portugal ;
and he was so far from meditating opposition, that he
should regard the man who would revive parties as an
enemy to his country. Himself had contributed to
annihilate party, but it had not been to pave the way
for those who only intended to substitute one party to another}
Should the least cloud arise between London and Berlin,
he prayed for temper and reconciliation. He wished to
move that the continuation of the subsidy to Prussia
might be added to the vote of credit; but it did not
become him to move for more than was asked by the
King's servants : yet he wished the vote of credit had been
greater, and knew the Duke of Newcastle wished so too.
He should rejoice to see the session closed with the grant
of a large sum of money, because England could not well
treat but at the head of all her force. Russia had
' Meaning Lord Bute, who was introducing the Tories in the place of the
Whigs.

KING GEORGE III. 131
acceded to Prussia — how much wiser to give money to
that monarch now, when he is in a better situation, than
as you would do, if he were still more distressed ! Nay,
that little teazing incident, Sweden, was removed by dread
of the Czar. Sweden is a free nation, but factions and a
corrupted senate have lowered it from the great figure it
made an hundred years ago. Act now, continued he, upon
a great system, while it is in your power! A million
more would be a pittance to place you at the head of
Europe, and enable you to treat with efficacy and dignity.
Save it not in this last critical year ! Give the million to
the war at large, and add three, four, or five hundred
thousand pounds more to Portugal ; or avow to the House
of Bourbon that you are not able to treat at the head of
your allies.
This speech, so artful, elevated, so much in character,
and so distressful to the junto that were endeavouring to
steal disgrace upon themselves and their country in the
face of the world, by setting up one war against another,
and dividing the attention of the public, till impotence
and mismanagement should render peace welcome, — this
speech did Colonel Barrd attempt to answer ; and did
answer it, only in length. He was sensible that he had
disgusted mankind by his indecent brutality to so great
a statesman : his friends had told him that his invectives,
illiberal as they had been, were reckoned the produce of
study ; and that he must shine in cool argument, lest he
should be thought a bully rather than an orator. If they
apprehended this, the result of their lessons was a proof
that their apprehensions had not been ill-founded. Nothing
could be more cold and dull than Barrd's reply to Mr.
Pitt. It revenged the latter for the former insult.
Calvert,^ a mad volunteer, who always spoke what he
thought, and sometimes thought justly, was so stmck
^ Nicholson Calvert of Hunsdon House, Hertfordshire, M. P. for Tewkes
bury, ' a ^^'hig and something more. ' He was the eldest son of Felix Calvert of
Furneaux Pelham, in the same county, and died on 4th May 1793, in the sixty-
ninth year of his age. See Cussans's Herts — Hundred of Brottghing, p. 54. — E.

132 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
with Barry's phlegmatic impropriety, that he told the
House it had put him in mind of a poet, who being at sea
in a tempest, and being missed while all hands were on
deck, was found half asleep in the cabin ; and, being asked
why he did not assist to save the ship, replied, he was
thinking how to describe the storm ?i The money was
voted, and nothing more of consequence passed that
session in Parliament
Both Houses thus complaisant and submissive, there
wanted but the office of Prime Minister to glut the
Favourite's ambition : and no wonder that he, who had
dared to strike the name of the first monarch in military
glory in Europe from the list of Great Britain's pensioners,
only to gratify the feminine piques of the backstairs ; and
who had ventured successfully to remove Mr. Pitt from
the command of that country which he had saved, restored,
exalted ; — no wonder such a Phaeton should drive over
a ridiculous old dotard, who had ever been in everybody's
way, and whose feeble hands were still struggling for
power, when the most he ought to have expected, was,
that his flattery and obsequiousness might have moved
charity to leave him an appearance of credit. It was
absurd for him to stay in place ; insolent to attempt to
stay there by force, and impudent to pretend to patriotism
when driven out with contempt. Against his will he was
preserved from having a share in the infamy of the
ensuing peace.
May 14th, the Duke^ acquainted the King that he
would resign, who answered coldly, 'Then, my Lord, I
must fill up your place as well as I can.' Still Newcastle
lingered ; and, as he owned afterwards to the Duke of
Cumberland, his friends had laboured to prevent the fatal
blow. Lord Mansfield, he said, had pleaded with Lord
Bute for above an hour, and could not extract from him
1 This speech ' is Said to have sUenced all fiiture attacks by the poet either
on Mr. Pitt or his administration, and was well received on all sides.' —
Hansard's Parliamentary History, xv. p. 1227, note.  L. M.
' Of Newcastle.

KING GEORGE III. 133
a wish that the Duke should continue in the Treasury.
Fox asked Lord Mansfield if this was true ? He replied,
' Not an hour, for I soon saw it was to no purpose.'
Thus disgraced, and disgracing himself, on the 26th
the Duke of Newcastle resigned : and he, who had begun
the world with heading mobs against the ministers of
Queen Anne ; who had braved the Heir-apparent^ of the
new family, and forced himself upon him as godfather to
his son ; who had recovered that Prince's favour, and
preserved power under him at the expense of every
minister whom that Prince preferred ; and who had been
a victorious rival of another Prince of Wales ;^ was now
buffeted from a fourth Court^ by a very suitable com
petitor, and was reduced in his tottering old age to have
recourse to those mobs and that popularity which had
raised him fifty years before ; and as almost the individual
crisis was revolved, with a scandalous treaty and a new
prospect of arbitrary power, it looked as if Newcastle
thought himself young again, because the times of his
youth were returned, and he was obliged to act with boys !
Such pains, however, had been taken to disjoint his
faction, that his exit from power was by no means
attended with consolatory circumstances. The Duke of
Devonshire would not resign, though he declared he would
seldom or never go to council. Fox had warned him not
to be too hasty in embarking in a party in which Pitt
must be a principal actor ; and remembering his Grace
how large a share Pitt had had in planting the Tories at
Court, and that, speaking of Legge, Pitt had said, ' I will
^ George, Prince of Wales, afterwards King George the Second.
' Frederick, Prince of Wales, against whom the Duke of Newcastle carried
the chanceUorship of Cambridge. [It would appear that the Prince never
went to the poll, as the Gentleman! s Magazine for December 1748 records
that the Duke ' was unanimously elected in a very full Senate in room of
the late Duke of Somerset,' p. 573. — E.]
5 Lord Bute had the ill-natured arrogance to compUment him on his
retirement : the Duke replied with a spirit that marked his lasting ambition,
' Yes, yes, my Lord, I am an old man ; but yesterday was my birthday, and
I recoUected that Cardinal Fleury began to be Prime Minister of France just
at my age. '

1.34 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
haye no more ear for Whig grievances.' The rest of
Newcastle's friends were as little disposed to follow him : but
that he might taste the full mortification of being deserted
by those whom he had most obliged, whom he had most
courted and most patronised, the clergy gave the most
conspicuous example of ingratitude. For thirty years
Newcastle had had the almost sole disposal of ecclesiastic
preferments, and consequently had raised numbers of men
from penury and the meanest birth to the highest honours
and amplest incomes in their profession. At this very
period there were not three bishops on the bench who did
not owe their mitres to him. His first lev^e after his
fall was attended but by one bishop,^ Cornwallis of
Litchfield ; who being a man of quality, and by his birth
entitled to expect a greater rise, did but reflect the more
shame on those who owed everything to favour, aAd
scarce one of them anything to abilities.
The conduct of Lord Bute was not more wise than
that of Newcastle. Instead of sheltering himself under
that old man's name from whatever danger there might
be in making peace, the Earl was driving together all
those whom he ought to have kept divided, and really
seemed jealous lest himself should not have the whole
odium of sacrificing the glories and conquests of the war ;
an infatuation that so far excuses him, as he must have
thought he did a service to his country in restoring peace:
but what must his understanding have been if he could
think that peace would be a benefit, let the terms be what
they would ? He supposed, too, that Newcastle, having
in opposition to Pitt declared for peace, could not retract,
and be against the peace. This was not knowing
Newcastle or mankind. The situation, too, was materially
changed : the weight of Russia was transferred from the
hostile to the friendly scale ; Martinico was fallen ; and
Europe could scarce amass the symptom of a fleet A
^ Frederic, brother of Earl Cornwallis, and afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury. Young, of Norwich, was out of town, but adhered faithfuUy to
Newcastle.

KING GEORGE III. 135
mind less versatile than Newcastle's could not want
arguments against a precipitate treaty. Yet was it not
Newcastle, nor a scandalous treaty, that shook the
Favourite's power. It was his ignorance of the world ;
it was a head unadapted to government, and rendered
still less proper for it by morose and recluse pride, and a
heart that was not formed to bear up a weak head, that
made him embark imprudently, and retreat as unadvisedly.
Lord Bute, on the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle,
was immediately declared First Lord of the Treasury.
George Grenville succeeded him as Secretary of State,
and Sir Francis Dashwood was made his Chancellor of
the Exchequer; a system that all the lustre of the
Favourite's power could not guard from being ridiculous,
though to himself mankind bowed with obsequious
devotion. Grenville was ignorant of foreign affairs, and,
though capable of out-talking the whole corps diplomatique,
had no address, no manner, no insinuation, and had, least
of all, the faculty of listening. The Favourite himself
had never been in a single ofiice of business, but for
the few months that he had held the seals : of the revenue
he was in perfect ignorance, knew nothing of figures, and
was a stranger to those Magi to the East of Temple-Bar,
who, though they flock to a new star, expect to be talked
to in a more intelligible language than that of inspiration.
When a Lord Treasurer or a First Lord of the Treasury
is not master of his own province, it suflRces if the
Chancellor of the Exchequer is a man of business, and
capable of conducting the revenue, of planning supplies,
and of executing the mechanic duties of that high post
But in the new dispensation it was difficult to say which
was the worst suited to his office, the minister or his
substitute. While the former shrouded his ignorance from
vulgar eyes, and dropped but now and then from a cloud
an oracular sentence ; the deputy, with the familiarity and
phrase of a fish-wife, introduced the humours of Wapping
behind the veil ofthe Treasury. He had a coarse, blunt
manner of speaking, that, looking like honesty, inclined

136 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
men to hold his common sense in higher esteem than it
deserved ; but, having neither knowledge^ nor dignity, his
style, when he was to act as minister, appeared naked,
vulgar, and irreverent to an assembly that expects to be
informed, and that generally chooses to reprehend, not
to be reprehended. When a statesman ventures to be
familiar, he must captivate his audience by uncommon
graces, or win their good-will by a humane pleasantry
that seems to flow from the heart, and to be the effusion
of universal benevolence. This was the secret as well as
character of Henry the Fourth of France : even the
semblance of it stood his grandson, our Charles the Second,
in signal stead, and veiled his unfeeling heart, and selfish
and remorseless insensibility.
Men were puzzled to guess at the motive of so improper
a choice as this of Sir Francis Dashwood. The banner of
religion was displayed at Court, and yet all the cenfurions
were culled from the most profligate societies. Sir Francis
^ Sir Francis Dashwood's want of knowledge of finance opened a fine field
for the wits of the day, and was of course greatly exaggerated. One of them
describes him as ' a man to whom a sum of five figures was an impenetrable
secret.' His vocation, certainly, was not to the Exchequer; and he was
unfortunate in having Mr. Legge for his predecessor. There were other high
offices of the Government which he would have filled with credit, for he had
respectable talents, was 'frank, spirited, and sensible,' and had gained the
consideration of the House. — (Smollett.) He was the only son of Sir Francis
Dashwood, Baronet, M.P. for Winchelsea, by Lady Mary Fane, eldest
daughter of Vere, fourth Earl of Westmorland. In his youth he had
travelled much, especially in Italy, and passed some time at Rome, where
he was long recollected from the following anecdote which made a great
noise at the time. ' It was on Good-Friday, when each person who attends
the service in the Sistine Chapel, as he enters, takes a small scourge from an
attendant at the door. The chapel is dimly lighted, and there are three
candles which are extinguished by the priest, one by one : at the putting out
of the first, the penitents take oif one part of their dress ; at the next, still
more ; and, in the darkness which follows the extinguishing of the third
candle, lay on their own shoulders, with groans and lamentations. Sir
Francis Dashwood, thinking this mere stage effect, entered with others,
dressed in a large watchman's coat; demurely took his scourge from the
priest, and advanced to the end of the chapel ; where, on the darkness
ensuing, he drew from beneath his coat an English horsewhip and flogged
right and left quite down the chapel, and made his escape, the congregation
exclaiming, ' II diavolo ! U diavolo ! ' and thinking the evU one was upon

KING GEORGE IH. 137
had long been known by his singularities and some
humour. In his early youth, accoutred like Charles the
Twelfth, he had travelled to Russia in hopes of captivating
the Czarina ; but neither the character nor dress of Charles
were well imagined to catch a woman's heart. In Italy,
Sir Francis had given in to the most open profaneness ;
and, at his return, had assembled a society^ of Young
Travellers, to which a taste for the arts and antiquity, or
merely having travelled, were the recommendatory in
gredients. Their pictures were drawn, ornamented with
symbols and devices ; and the founder, in the habit- of
St. Francis, and with a chalice in his hand, was represented
at his devotions before a statue of the Venus of Medicis, a
stream of glory beaming on him from behind her lower
hand. These pictures were long exhibited in their club-
room at a tavern in Palace Yard ; but of later years Saint
Francis had instituted a more select order. He and some
chosen friends had hired the ruins of Medenham Abbey,
them with a vengeance 1 The consequences of this frolic might have been
serious to him, had he not immediately fled the Papal dominions. '^(Private
Information.) His political life was by no means discreditable ; and, in the
unfortunate affair of Admiral Byng, he exhibited kindness of feeling not less
than tact and decision, which Walpole has elsewhere handsomely noticed. —
Memoirs of George II., vol. ii. p. 318. He had a taste for the arts, and
brought sculptors and painters from Italy to decorate his country-seat at West-
Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, where he laid out an extensive park with
skill and effect, and built a church and mausoleum. His private life was
reported to be very licentious. [Dashwood was born in December 1708, and
succeeded his father as the second Baronet in 1 727. He represented New
Romney from May 1741 to March 1761, and Weymouth from March 1761 to
April 1 763, when he was called to the House of Lords as Baron Le Despencer
in. succession to his uncle John, seventh Earl of Westmorland, who had died
in the previous August He held the office of Treasurer ofthe Chamber from
1761-62, and on 28th May 1762 was appointed Chsmcellor ofthe Exchequer,
a post which he resigned in the following April. From 1763 to 1765 he was
Master of the Great Wardrobe, and on 29th December 1 766 he was appointed
Joint Paymaster-General. He married Sarah, the daughter of Thomas
Gould of Iver, and widow of Sir Richard EUys, Baronet, by whom he had
no children. He died on nth December 1781. — E.]
' They called themselves the DUettanti. In fhe year 1770 they pubUshed
a pompous volume on some rubbish remaining of two or three temples in
Ionia. — [Ionian Antiquities, parts i.-iv., London, 1769, 1797, 1840, 1881,
fol.— E.]

138 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
near Marlow, and refitted it in a conventual style.
Thither at stated seasons they adjourned ; had each their
cell, a proper habit, a monastic name, and a refectory in
common — besides a chapel, the decorations of which may
well be supposed to have contained the quintessence of
their mysteries, since it was impenetrable to any but the
initiated. Whatever their doctrines were, their practice
was rigorously pagan : Bacchus and Venus were the
deities to whom they almost publicly sacrificed. The old
Lord Melcombe was one of the brotherhood. Yet their
follies would have escaped the eye of the public, if Lord
Bute from this seminary of piety and wisdom had not
selected a Chancellor of the Exchequer. But politics had
no sooner infused themselves amongst these rosy anchorites,
than dissensions were kindled, and a false brother arose,
who divulged the arcana, and exposed the good Prior, in
order to ridicule him as Minister of the Finances. But, of
this, more hereafter.

KING GEORGE III 139

CHAPTER XII
Honours heaped on Lord Bute.— His first Levee. —Archbishop Seeker.—
Lord Halifax appointed to the Admiralty. — Lord Melcombe a Cabinet
Counsellor. — Lord Bute's Haughtiness. — First appearance of The North
Briton. — Its excessive Audacity. — Sketch of its Author, John WUkes. —
Churchill, Wilkes's Associate. — Earl Temple. —Capture and re-capture
of Newfoundland. — The French camp surprised by Prince Ferdinand. —
Propensity of the Court for Peace. — General Conway. — Peter the Third.
— The Czarina Elizabeth. — The Empress Catherine. — Horrible Con
spiracy against Peter. — Catherine 'raised to the Throne. — Murder of
Peter. — Effi:ct of the Russian revolution on the King of Prussia.
Every honour the Crown could bestow was now to be
heaped on the Favourite. He was fond of his own person,
and obtained the Garter in company with Prince William.^
His first lev6e was crowded like a triumph. Archbishop
Seeker, who waited at it, pretended that, seeing a great
concourse as he came from Lambeth,* he had inquired the
occasion, and had gone in. Lincoln's Inn Fields, where
the Duke of Newcastle lived, was not now in the way to
Lambeth. About the same time died Lord Anson, and
left the Admiralty too at the disposal of the Favourite.
He wished to bestow it on Lord Sandwich, to make room
for Rigby, as Vice-Treasurer of Ireland ; but the shyness
of the Duke of Cumberland, whose creature Sandwich
was, made that measure impracticable ; and the Admiralty
was bestowed on Lord Halifax, with permission to retain
Ireland for a year. Elliot,^ a chief confidant of the
^ William Henry, third son of Frederick, Prince of Wales ; afterwards
Duke of Gloucester.
' Lord Bute held his lev&s at the Cockpit, ^^'hitehaIl, as did afterwards
the Duke of Grafton and Lord North. Till then, each minister saw
company at his o\vn house ; but Lord Bute, who lived in a small house iu
Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, had not room enough.
» Gilbert ElUot See supra, p. 34, note 3.

I40 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Favourite, was appointed Treasurer of the Chambers ; and
Lord Melcombe a Cabinet Counsellor : but there ended
all the ambition of the latter, he dying of a dropsy in his
stomach a few weeks afterwards.
These successes and the tide of power swelled the weak
bladder of the Favourite's mind to the highest pitch. His
own style was haughty and distant ; that of his creatures
insolent. Many persons who had absented themselves
from his lev^e were threatened with the loss of their own,
or the places of their relations, and were obliged to bow
the knee. But this sunshine drew up very malignant
vapours. Scarce was the earl seated but one step below
the throne, when a most virulent weekly paper appeared,
called the North Briton. Unawed by the prosecution of
the Monitor (another opponent periodic satire, the author
of which had been taken up for abusing favourites), and
though combated by two Court papers called the Briton
and the Auditor (the former written by SmoUet,^ and the
latter by Murphy,^ and both which the new champion
fairly silenced in a few weeks), the North Briton pro
ceeded with an acrimony, a spirit, and a licentiousness
unheard of before even in this country. The highest
names, whether of statesmen or magistrates, were printed
^ Dr. Smollett, originally a ship-surgeon, was an abusive Jacobite writer,
author of a compilation of the History of England, in which he had spoken
most scurrilously of the Duke of Cumberland for suppressing the rebellion,
and had been punished by the King's Bench for slandering Admiral Knowles.
[His 'genius,' however, to use the words of Walter Scott, 'has raised an
imperishable monument to his fame,' in the poems aud novels which
Walpole does not deign to notice in this allusion to his works. Nor is the
criticism just in other respects. Smollett's tracts are not more virulent than
most publications of a similar character of that day. His censure of the
Duke of Cumberland has been confirmed by subsequent historians, and his
punishment for the libel on Admiral Knowles reflects discredit on the
Admiral, rather than on] himself. See Sir Walter Scott's Lives of the
Novelists, 1825, vol.i. pp. 90-156. — L. M.]
^ Murphy, once an actor, was turned hackney writer, and had engaged in
a paper called the Contest, in behalf of Lord Holland. He stole many plays
from the French, and published other things long since forgotten. [' The
Way to keep Him,' and 'All in the Wrong,' are alone a sufficient refutation
of the above harsh criticism on Arthur Murphy. He was a. person of

KING GEORGE III. 141
at length, and the insinuations went still higher. In
general, favouritism was the topic, and the partiality of
the Court to the Scots. Every obsolete anecdote, every
illiberal invective, was raked up and set forth in strong
and witty colours against Scotland. One of the first
numbers was one of the most outrageous, the theme taken
from the loves of Queen Isabella and Mortimer. No
doubt but it lay open enough to prosecution, and the
intention was to seize the author. But on reflection it
was not thought advisable to enter on the discussion of
such a subject in Westminster Hall ; and, as the daring
audaciousness of the writer promised little decorum, it
was held prudent to wait till he should furnish a less
delicate handle to vengeance : a circumspection that
deceived and fell heavy on the author, who, being advised
to more caution in his compositions, replied, he had tried
the temper of the Court by the paper on Mortimer, and
found they did not dare to touch him.
This author, who must be so often mentioned in the
following pages, was John Wilkes, member of Parliament
for Ailesbury. Hc was of a plebeian family,^ but inherited
a tolerable fortune in Buckinghamshire, and had been
bred at Oxford, where he distinguished himself by
considerable accomplishments, and wanted only a better temper and more
independence of character to have risen to eminence. He died at an
advanced age in 1805. — I^. M.]
Smollett and Murphy, with Dr. Shebbeare, who was in Newgate for
abusing King George the First, King George the Second, King William,
and the Revolution, and Dr. Johnson, another known Jacobite, who even
in a Dictionary had vented his Jacobite principles, were selected by Lord
Bute to defend his cause, and pensioned by him as a patron of leamed men.
Johnson's acceptance of a pension was the more ridiculous, a.s in his
Dictionary he had lashed the infamy of pensioners. [Neither Smollett nor
Murphy were pensioned by Lord Bute. The bounty of the Crown was
never more inexcusably exercised than in favour of Dr. Shebbeare — a
pamphleteer, who was a disgrace to his party, and had not long before been
concerned in some fraudulent practices at Oxford, when employed by the
University to arrange the Clarendon papers. He died in 1788, at a very
advanced age. Dr. Johnson's pension .was not subjected to any conditions.
— BosweU (G. B. HiU), vol. i. p. 373-— L. M.]
' His father was a distiller.

142 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
humorous attacks on whatever was esteemed most holy
and respectable. Unrestrained either in his conduct or
conversation, he was allowed to have more wit than in
truth he possessed ; and, living with rakes and second-
rate authors, he had acquired fame, such as it was, in the
middling sphere of life, before his name was so much as
known to the public. His appearance as an orator had
by no means conspired to make him more noticed. He
spoke coldly and insipidly, though with impertinence;
his manner was poor, and his countenance horrid. When
his pen, which possessed an easy impudent style, had
drawn the attention of mankind towards him, and it was
asked, who this saucy writer was? Fame, that had
adopted him, could furnish but scurvy anecdotes of his
private life. He had married a woman of fortune, used
her ill, and at last cruelly, to extort from her the provision
he had made for her separate maintenance ; he had
debauched a maiden of family by an informal promise of
marriage, and had been guilty of other frauds and
breaches of trust. Yet the man, bitter as he was in his
political writings, was commonly not ill-natured or acri
monious. Wantonness, rather than ambition or vengeance,
guided his hand ; and, though he became the martyr of
the best cause, there was nothing in his principles or
morals that led him to care under what government he
lived. To laugh and riot and scatter firebrands with him
was liberty. Despotism will for ever reproach Freedom
with the profligacy of such a saint !
Associated with Wilkes in pleasure and in the com
position of the North Briton was a clergyman named
Churchill, who stepped out of obscurity about the same
period, and was as open a contemner of decency as
Wilkes himself, but far his superior in the endowments of
his mind. Adapted to the bear-garden by his athletic
mould, Churchill had frequented no school so much as
the theatres. He had existed by the lowest drudgery of
his function, while poetry amused what leisure he could
spare, or rather what leisure he would enjoy ; for his

KING GF.ORGIi HI. 143
Muse, and hin miMtrcH.n, und hiH bottle were so essential to
hlH cxiHtence, ihat they cngroHHcd all but the refuHc of hi.s
time. Yet for some yt;iir.s lii,4 poetry had proved a,s
indifferent as his .sennon.s, till a cniol and ill-natured
Htttire on tht; actors had, in the first year of tin's reign,
himdcd him up Id |)iililic regard. Having caught the
liisto of tlic town, hc proceeded ruiiiilly, and in u few
more publication.H Htiirtcd forth a giiuit in miinlier.M,
Hpproiicliing IIH lunirly a.s iio.s.siliie to Ills model, Dryden,
and (linging itgniii on tilt! wild nei:k of PeguHiis the reins
which I'opc hud held with .so light i\\u\ cautioiis a hand.
liniighmtion, liurnumy, wit, sutiic, strenglli, fire, und sense
crowded on hi.s iioinpo.silioiiH ; and thty were welcome
for him-— ho neither .sought nor invited their coin]ifiny.
t^iirelciHH of miiller and nmniier, hc added fjnice to sen.se,
or beauty to nonHeiise, just ii.s they ciinic in his way ; and
he could not hel|) lii^iiin' sonoroti.s, even when he was
uiiintclligililr). lit,; ltd vert i.sed the titles of his poems, but
iicllhcir pliuinnl nor btigiui theni till hi.s booksellers, or
lib own wiiiil of money, Ibretnl him to tlinist out the
crude hill gluriou.s siillieH of his iiiicorreettiil fiuicy. This
hueehaiiiiliiin prie.sl, now inoiitliing piitriotism, ami now
venliiig libertiiii.sni, the seouit;t; <ir hiul men, and seurce
heller thiiii the worst, deliiuichiuc; wives, iuul protecting
hi.s gown by the weight of his fist, engaged with Wilkes
in hi,s war on tlu; SeoLs ; aiitl Hoineliines leariiiiig, und as
orten not Uiiowing, the chaiiieleis Iu; alliickeil,' set him
self up ns the ilereules tlmt was lo cleanse the Slate,
and punish its oppressors; and, true it is, the storm
thill Miived lis WHS niisi'd in lavcnis and night-cellars; so
iniieli more (;(Veetiial wtirc the oi-j;ies of Churchill ami
' Mfi Simllioy, o|i|iowoil im ho Wftn lo thti |iolllkuil cicrd ol Cliiivcliill,
tliimnlil iiinrr liivoinahly ut lilm. lie pralien Iho (jcnoitwily mul straight-
I'dnvtinlntHlll ut hU I'lmnu'lrr, nnd wyn of his pooiuH lluil ' niiinly .scnsp Is
their t'lmi'iu'lprlfillo, ilciivlnii »tirii|i'lli of t'S|iit'».il(Ui IVoni Indln'iinlion, nnd
lliry I'liiiltiln lodi'tMiiiii^^ pixMitiiKQii ot ftouiid iiuirality niul lu'iiintiicnl Iriilli.'-
Smillipy'ii CiHc/'fr, iS.it), vul, 1, p. <),), Cuwiicr Imd t\ hlghev opinion of
htm lliiiii ut luiy ulliri' i;unirii\|iumry wilier, luul even Qom »u far as to ityle
him Mlip (jroftl I'Imicliill.'— /Wl/., p. 87.-1,, M.

144 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Wilkes than the daggers of Cato and Brutus. The two
former saved their country, while Catiline could not ruin
his, — a work to which such worthies seemed much better
adapted. But while the wit and revelry of Wilkes and Churchill
ran riot, and were diverted by their dissipation to other
subjects of pleasantry or satire, they had a familiar at
their ear, whose venom was never distilled at random, but
each drop administered to some precious work of mischief
This was Earl Temple, who whispered them where they
might find torches, but took care never to be seen to light
one himself Characters so rash and imprudent were
proper vehicles of his spite ; and he enjoyed the two
points he preferred even to power, — vengeance, and a
whole skin.
This triumvirate has made me often reflect that nations
are most commonly saved by the worst men in them.
The virtuous are too scrupulous to go the lengths that are
necessary to rouse the people against their tyrants.
While Wilkes and Churchill attacked the plenitude of
the Favourite's power, another cloud overcast it, which,
though inconsiderable and of short duration, contributed
to lower him in the estimation of the people. An
account arrived of the French having surprised and made
themselves masters of Newfoundland. General Amherst^
did not wait for orders from hence, but, detaching his
brother with a body of forces, recovered the island, and
made the French commander prisoner.
Prince Ferdinand, not less active and vigilant, had
surprised the French camp, desirous of embarking us
farther in the war, and hoping that new successes would
1 Groom of the Bedchamber to WilUam, Duke of Cumberland, and
Commander in America. He was afterwards Knight of the Bath, and
called Sir Jeffrey Amherst. He was subsequently made a Peer and
Commander-in-Chief, [and lastly Field-Marshal. He had been the favourite
aide-de-camp of Lord Ligonier during the German wars, and bore through
life the reputation of a very able and zealous officer. He distinguished
himself particularly in America. He died in 1797, in his eighty-first
year. — L. M.]

KING GEORGE III.

145

animate the nation to resist the propensity of the Court
for peace. General Conway took the castle of Waldeck
by stratagem ; and the Hessians triumphed in other
attempts.1 The Prince told Mr. Conway that we might
be joined by a body of Russians for a trait de plume, but
neither miscarriage nor success could beat the favourite
from his plan of pacification ; though, had we been
inclined to listen to that overture, a second change of
scene in Russia would have disconcerted our treating
with that nation.
Peter the Third, with a humane heart, had neither
judgment nor patience. He meant to do right, and
thought absolute power could not be better employed
than in doing right without delay. His approbation and
contempt were prompt and strongly marked ; and, as
his understanding was incapable of embracing many
objects, his few ideas took the larger possession of him.
Being educated a Lutheran, he despised the clergy of his
empire, and had offended the soldiery by enforcing
discipline, by restoring the conquests of the preceding
reign, by manifesting indiscreet predilection for a regiment
of Holstein, his native country, and by so blind a
devotion to the King of Prussia, that himself wore that
Prince's uniform. Indolence and drunkenness were added
to this want of conduct ; but he had to struggle with a
yet more dangerous evil. The late Czarina, his aunt,
finding no issue arise from his marriage with the Princess
of Anhalt Zerbst, questioned the latter ; and, it is said,
was informed by her that she must not expect any lineage
from her nephew. Elizabeth replied the State demanded
successors, and left the Grand Duchess at liberty to
procure them by whose assistance she pleased. A son
and a daughter were the fruits of her obedience. But,
though her politics were satisfied, it is said the mind of
' Alluding to the defeat of the French near Giessen by Prince Ferdinand,
on the 26th September, when he drove them from all their posts and
obliged them to fly with precipitation behind the Lahn. — Annual Register,
1762, p. 49. — L. M.
VOL. I. K

146 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Elizabeth was not, and that she privately saw her cousin,
the dethroned Czar Yvan. The opinion is general,
though at what time it happened is uncertain, that drugs
to destroy his understanding had been administered to
that poor Prince. Peter, though on obtaining the diadem
he openly exhibited a mistress, could not but know that,
if his wife had spoken truth, he could have no claim to be
father of her children : thence he had the same curiosity
as his aunt, visited the Czar Yvan, and, as the rumour
went, intended to name him his successor. Such rumours
were sufficient to alarm the Empress, who was slighted
by Peter, and had reason to think he meant to divorce
her. That bold bad woman, who had all the talents for
empire that her husband wanted, and who had been
educated by a most artful and intriguing mother, and
who, with a commanding person, had a heart susceptible
of warm impressions, was then under the influence of
Orloff, her lover, and her confidante, the Princess Daskau,
a young woman little above twenty years of age, but of
an adventurous spirit, and, what made her situation
singular, sister of the Emperor's mistress.
This junto agreed to believe that Peter would not
limit his aversion for the Empress to mere divorce, but
intended to put her to death ; a charge most improbable,
and inconsistent with the Emperor's humane and un
suspecting nature. How early a conspiracy was formed,
I pretend not to say ; nor, in relating the events of so
distant a country, and whence truth is so difficult to be
procured, do I pretend to give more than the outlines of
their general story, collected from the most credible
authority. But, however dark and secret the measures
were, the facts resulting from them were so glaring, so
horrid, so impious, that neither the lying palliatives set
forth by the criminals themselves, nor the mercenary
flattery of the learned, will be able to wash off" from the
Empress the foul stains of treason, murder, and usurpation.
The Emperor had not reigned above six months, when
the plan for dethroning him was formed, and ready to

KING GEORGE III. 147
break forth. One of the conspirators being arrested
for another crime, the rest concluded the whole was
discovered ; but, instead of dispersing or seeking safety
by flight, the chiefs trusted to rashness for impunity.
Orloff galloped off to the Czarina, who was absent from
the capital at a separate villa from the Emperor, and
told her she had not a moment to lose. That virago,
having ordered her women to report she was confined by
sickness, and placing guards upon the road to prevent
notice of her march being sent to the Czar, rode directly
to the army and demanded their protection. One only
regiment, that of Holstein, refused their support. All
the rest saluted her Empress ; and the clergy, who
trembled for their idols, and resented the loss of their
beards, ran headlong into rebellion. The senate, the
nobility, the people, all concurred to raise to the throne
in her own name a woman who had no one claim of any
sort to be their sovereign.
Nariskin, master of the horse, was the sole subject who
had fidelity enough to make his escape and inform the
Emperor of the catastrophe that awaited him. That
poor Prince was at Oraniebaum, a villa. Thunderstruck
with the news, he had not presence of mind to prepare
himself to save either his empire or his life. He lost both
by losing a day, which he wasted in drinking and vain
consultation, after having fruitlessly sent to Peterhoff to
secure the Empress. Next morning he heard that his
wife, at the head of fourteen thousand men, was marching
to seize him. He then attempted to make his escape to
Holstein, and embarked for Cronstadt — but it was too
late ! The garrison had received orders to fire on him.
Exhausted with perturbation of mind, with drink and
fatigue, he sunk under his misfortunes, surrendered
himself, and desired to see his wife, now his sovereign.
As incapable of pity as of remorse, she refused to admit
him, ordering him to sign a renunciation of his crown,
and a most humiliating recapitulation of his errors. Nor
did this avail : within very few days he was murdered.

148 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Thus far Catherine had acted like other monsters of
both sexes. Her next measures were as weak towards
men as they were profane in the face of Heaven. In
very silly manifestoes she endeavoured to justify her
crimes ; and dared even to call on the Most High as the
instigator of her abominations, speaking of her husband
but as her neighbour, and of his death as a judgment
Vain and contemptible was this attempt : it could blind
none but those who would be willing to acquit her
without it.
The Princess Daskau soon lost the favour she had
so blackly merited ; and Rosamouski, Hetman of the
Tartars, whom many accused as the very assassin of his
master, but who, as his friends urged, was forced into the
conspiracy, went into a voluntary exile. Orloff"- had
gained deeper hold on his mistress, and kept her in
subjection. Panin, governor of her son, was another of
the principal conspirators. Bestucheff", the late chancellor,
was recalled ; and thus he. Count Munich, Biron, once
Duke of Courland, and master of the empire, with the
various exiles of the late reigns, found themselves again
together at Petersburgh.^
After the murdered Prince himself, no man was likely
to be more affected by this revolution than the King of
Prussia. The Russians, so lately his enemies, had not
been pleased to become his allies. But, though the new
Empress was necessitated to comply with the wishes of
' This narrative of the dethronement of Peter the Third has been confirmed
in many essential points by later writers. — Tooke's Catherine the Second;
Castera ; Levesque, Hist, de Russie, vol. v. 298. The precise extent of the
guilt of the Empress is still a subject of dispute. The dethronement of her
husband might be an act of self-defence, for he seems to have contemplated
raising his mistress to the throne. His murder certainly had her ready
forgiveness, if not her acquiescence, and there is nothing in her character to
controvert its having been committed at her instigation. The attempt to
exculpate her in the Memoirs ofthe Princess Daschkow (1840) is very far from
satisfactory, though it in some degree elevates the character of the authoress
above the level of her contemporaries at the Court of St. Petersburgh, — a
court in those days without a parallel for the prevalence of the crimes and
vices of a semi-barbarous age. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 149
her subjects in withdrawing them from that service, she
was not disposed in so critical a situation to renew the
war, or to add provocation to a man whom she had
deprived of so useful and essential a friend. She
therefore only made the requisition of the thirty thousand
Russians in his service, but allowed him for a few days to
profit by their assistance, and extricate himself out of
this new difficulty. He returned for answer, that he
would only drive Marshal Daun from the hills before him,
and her troops should return. He did so. This was
taking his part with admirable presence of mind. He
knew that Daun must in a day or two learn the departure
of the Russian troops, and would attack him when
weakened.

I50 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XIII
Birth of the Prince of Wales.— Treasure ofthe Hermione. — Conquest of the
Havannah.— Indifference of the Court on that event.— Negotiations for
Peace. — Not popular in England. — Reception in France of the Duke of
Bedford. — The Due de Nivernois.— Beckford elected Lord Mayor.—
Duel between Lord Talbot and Wilkes. — Lord Bute's Delegates in the
House of Commons.— GrenviUe and Lord Bute. — Union of Lord Bute
and Fox. — The latter reproached by the Duke of Cumberland. — Lord
Waldegrave and the Duke of Devonshire decUne the proposal of Fox.—
Disgust at the union of Bute and Fox. — Purchase of a majority to approve
the Peace. — Fox's revenge against the Duke of Devonshire. — The King
and the Marquis of Rockingham. — Further severity to the Duke of
Devonshire.
On the 12th of August the Queen was delivered of a
Prince of Wales ; and the same morning the treasure of
that capital prize, the Hermione, arrived in town in many
waggons, and passed through the City to the Tower.
The sum taken amounted to near eight hundred thousand
pounds. In the beginning of the following month came the first
news from the Havannah ; and before the end of it we
learned the entire conquest of that important place by the
three Keppels,^ — the Earl of Albemarle, the Commodore
and the Colonel, his brothers. The honour they won
was a little soiled by their rapaciousness and by our great
loss of men : but to Spain the blow was of the deepest
consequence, and the place irrecoverable by any force
^ George, third Earl, Augustus, and William, sons of WUliam Anne,
second Earl of Albemarle. Frederic, the fourth son, was on this occasion
promoted to the Bishoprick of Exeter. Of Augustus (afterwards Lord
Keppel) see more in the preceding reign, under the History of Admiral
Byng. — Memoirs of George IL, 1847, vol. U. p. 351. [A Life of Augustus,
Viscount Keppel, by the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Keppel, was published
in 1842. — E.]

.'I {.{an. w'2«77iJ*v..y^.

¦Wa^Air i^ E>ou.taXC.^n.r3c.

\-Jircc n ( yAar/cttc .

KING GEORGE III. 151
they could exert. Yet such a victory seemed to infuse
as little joy into the Court of St. James's as into that of
Madrid. The Favourite and his creatures took no part in
the transports of the nation ; and, when he declined
availing himself of any merit from the conquest, it was
plain he was grieved either to have more to restore at the
peace, or less reason for making that peace but on the
most advantageous terms : but he was infatuated, and,
breaking through all the barriers of glory, he sent the
Duke of Bedford to Paris to settle the preliminaries,
whence the Due de Nivernois arrived for the same
purpose. Sullen and silent as Mr. Pitt was, and feeble and
impotent as the faction of Newcastle, still the City and
merchants showed some symptoms of indignation at
this obstinate alacrity for treating. The Duke of Bedford
was hissed as he passed through the principal streets ; and
treasonable papers were dispersed in the villages around
London. But in France the Duke was received as their
guardian angel. The most distinguished and unusual
honours were paid to him ; and the principal magistrate
of Calais, thinking him descended from the other John,
Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry the Fifth, compHmented
his Grace (and no doubt felicitated himself on the
comparison) on seeing him arrive with as salutary and
pacific, as his great ancestor had' formerly landed there
with hostile intentions.
His counterpart, the Due de Nivernois, had been long
employed in negotiations at Rome and Berlin, but had
not the good fortune to please at the latter Court, where
the King even turned into ridicule his puny and
emaciated little figure. His ill-health, the titles that had
centred in his person, and had filled him with vanity (for
he was Peer of France, Prince of the Empire, Grandee of
Spain, and a Roman Baron), and his affection for polite
learning, had disposed him to live in a retired circle of
humble admirers, to whom he almost daily repeated his
works both in prose and verse, but not without having

152 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
attempted to soar higher. He had assumed devotion, in
hopes of being Governor of the Dauphin : but, except in
concluding the peace, which, considering our eagerness,
he could not avoid concluding, he had never met with
brilliant success in any of his pursuits ; being as the
celebrated Madame Geoffirin^ said of him, 'Guerrier
manqu6, politique manqu6, bel esprit manqu6, enfin,
manqu^ partout' To England he bore no good-will ;
and though, till the treaty was signed, he concealed, as
much as peevishness would let him, the disgust he took to
this country, and was profuse in attentions to all, and in
assiduity of court to the Favourite and his faction, yet,
though he remained here a very little time after the
signature, his nature broke forth, and scarce was enough
good breeding left to skin over the sore reluctance of a
momentary stay.^
The nation was far less impatient than the Court for
peace ; and, though no great burst of spirit appeared
against it, there were sufficient symptoms of ill-humour
'' Madame Geoffrin was proprietor of a great manufacture of glass ; yet by
her wit, parts, riches, and cabals, and by patronising authors, and the modern
philosophers and painters, statuaries and architects, and by keeping an open
house for foreigners of all nations, she was much considered, and had great
respect paid to her by persons of the first rank in France. [Marmontel draws
a spirited portrait of her in his Memoirs. — CEuvres Posthumes, 1804, ii.
p. 102. — L. M.]
^ This is a very one-sided view of the character of the Due di Nivernois.
He had no pretensions to the character of a soldier, having been obliged to
quit the army firom ill-health at an early age. As a diplomatist, he certainly
failed at Berlin — as all other diplomatists did, who brought proposals that did
not suit the views of the King of Prussia. In England he gave great
satisfaction to all parties. His popularity is noticed by Lord Chesterfield. —
Letters, 1845, vol. i. p. 286 ; vol. iv. p. 356. He was a generous, though
not perhaps a very discriminating, patron of letters, and a respectable writer
for one who made literature only an amusement. His private life was
exemplary ; and he showed no common strength of mind in the firmness with
which he bore the loss of his rank and property, and, above all, his heavy
domestic misfortunes. His second wife, to whom he was tenderly attached,
died a few days after marriage. Of his two sons-in-law, the Count de Gisors,
his destined heir, an eleve of Marmontel, fell at the battle of Crevelt ; the
remaining one, the Due de Brissac, was torn to pieces by the mob at Paris,
at the beginning of the Revolution. The Due de Nivernois died in 1798, at
a very advanced age. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 153
to warn the prime minister, that, without redoubling his
industry and taking more solid measures, he might still be
foiled in the attempt of forcing an inglorious peace on the
nation. Beckford, who had been desirous of resigning his
alderman's gown, was, against his will, elected Lord
Mayor ; a mark of their good-will to his friend, Mr. Pitt.
The North Briton spread the alarm as much as possible ;
but the flippancy of the author began to draw storms on
his own head. Wilkes having in one of those papers
ridiculed the flattery of Lord Talbot, who, officiating as
Lord High Constable at the Coronation, had endeavoured
to back his horse to the gate of Westminster Hall, that he
might not turn his own back on the King, was challenged
by Lord Talbot ; and after a series of letters, which had
more the air of a treaty than a defiance, and consequently
reflected no great honour on either, they fought a bloodless
duel on Bagshot Heath.
These little rubs having alarmed the Favourite, he began
to consider how ill qualified his delegates would be to
support his treaty in the House of Commons if either
warmly or wittily attacked. It was too precious a cause
to trust to Sir Francis Dashwood. Grenville had not much
more credit, though more sense and gravity ; but was
tedious and ill heard, and had been trained to such
obsequious deference for Mr. Pitt, that at that time no
man thought him likely or proper to be opposed to so
capital a master. Grenville was besides unsatisfied ; and,
aiming higher, had been unwilling to risk an appearance
of honesty when it was not in his own cause. He had
neglected to traffic with the members of the House of
Commons ; had secured none of them ; and, being pressed
by Lord Bute on that head, fairly owned he would not
deal with them, unless the power was his own, and their
dependence rested on him. Lord Bute was startled, and
would have compromised, as himself was unacquainted
with the men, that the recommendation of members to
favour — that is, to places and pensions — should be made
through Grenville to himself But Grenville was obstinate.

154 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
and soon had cause to repent both his frankness and
perverse ambition. It was instilled, too, into Lord Bute,
that Grenville was not so much at variance with his family
as he wished to be thought — an imputation of which he
soon appeared to be guiltless : but the die was cast ; and
he heard with unspeakable astonishment, and with a rage
not to be described, that he must exchange with Lord
Halifax, that is, return to be First Lord of the Admiralty,
and quit the seals, and with them the management of the
House of Commons, which Mr. Fox had consented to
undertake. The blow to Grenville was grievous, but
could not be avoided or resented — then. No retreat
towards his brothers, Pitt and Temple, was left him.
Avarice decided the conflict, and he submitted to accept
the Admiralty.
When Fox thus stooped to be the Favourite's agent, he
gratified many more passions than he could be supposed
to mortify. In truth, except his pride, which had seldom
restrained him, what views could he have but this step
would gratify ? To ravish the glories of the war from his
rival, Mr. Pitt, to sacrifice them, and to be selected to
defend that sacrifice, glutted his spirit of competition.
Favourite he could not be, for the Princess i hated, and
Lord Bute feared, him : but to be necessary to both was
worth ambition, and the surest means of gratifying it ; and
to be master of the secret of the negotiation promised
that superabundance of wealth which by that secret he
acquired. Should he succeed in carrying through the
peace, he would have the first weight in the House of
Commons (for what harmony there was between these
rival friends may readily be conjectured) ; should he fail,
it were but the loss of the Paymaster's place, inconsiderable
' Besides his crime of being the favourite of the Duke of Cumberland, Fox
had deeply offended the Princess by advising Mr. Pelham, the very day after
the death of her husband, to take her son, the present King, from her, that
she might not get an ascendant over him. I one day mentioned this fact to
Lord Mansfield ; he said, ' It was very true, and he beUeved the measure
was not followed, only because Mr. Fox had advised it' — so jealous was
Mr. Pelham of Fox !

KING GEORGE III. 155
in peace compared with its produce in time of war : for it
must be noted that he would not accept the seals, and thus
stood in no responsible light ; a strain of prudence that
might have administered alarm to the Favourite himself !
Thus in the space of four months were the Princess and
Lord Bute by their rash and ill-digested measures reduced
to lean for support on Fox, whom they had most dreaded
as the minister of the Duke of Cumberland ; and who
would add his own unpopularity to that of Lord Bute,
and would necessarily determine Pitt to oppose with
increased resentment
Fox had embraced this invitation with such alacrity
that he had signed the treaty with Lord Bute without
consulting any of his friends ; concluding, as over-refined
politicians are apt to do, that he could bring them to his
lure, and, while he paid too high compliments to his own
abilities, setting too slight estimation on theirs. His first
application was to the Duke of Cumberland. That
haughty and sensible Prince received him with scorn,
reproached him warmly with lending himself to support
a tottering administration, and bitterly with his former
declarations of having given up all ambitious views. The
next trial made by Fox was on Lord Waldegrave,^ to
whom he urged that his Lordship had so much ridiculed
the Princess and Lord Bute, that they had more to
complain of than he had ; and he endeavoured to enclose
the Earl in his treaty with the Court, by asking him, if it
should be proposed to call his Lordship to the Cabinet
Council, whether he should like it ? The Earl, who had
been bred a courtier, who was of too gentle manners for
opposition, and too shrewd not to see that the power of
the Crown was predominant, desired time to consider, and
went to Windsor to consult the Duke of Cumberland.
His Royal Highness acknowledged the attention with
many thanks, but would give no advice. The Earl, who
wanted not to be told, that not advising him to make his
court when he was disposed to it, was advising him
' James, Earl Wald^rave, Govemor to George the Third when Prince.

156 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
against it, was not courtier enough to quit a Prince, his
friend, for a Court that he himself despised and hated ;
and immediately wrote to Fox to desire the proposal
might not be made to him. The Duke of Devonshire^
was in like manner endeavoured to be softened by Fox,
who wished to wear the credit of reconciling his own
friends to the peace, and bringing their support to the
administration. But here again he was foiled. The Duke
gave him a civil answer, assured him of his personal good
wishes, but declined any connection with him as minister.
Abandoned by his highest and most showy friends. Fox
felt the mortification of discredit both with his patron
and the public, and the keenest appetite for revenge. As
a politician, his credit was saved by his industry and
success ; and by his arts his vengeance was soon gratified
on two of those that thus cast him oft". But now were the
seeds sown, which, though slowly, produced such bitter
crops in subsequent years. Detested by the public, Fox
could never recover from the stain contracted at this
period ; — but first we must relate his triumph, and the
temporary victory he gained for the Court.
Nothing was so unpromising as the prospect of the new
system at first. All the devotion of the Tories to the
Court could not reconcile them to the nomination of Fox.
They knew the mischief he had done them, and had not
the quickness to see that a renegade is tied to make
satisfaction by greater benefits. Lord Mansfield, not
trusted, as he had expected to be, by Lord Bute, had
blown up discontents against the peace. Lord Egremont
and . George Grenville had adopted those doubts ; and
doubts from men in high place convey extensive influence.
Had the peace been instantaneously proposed to the
House of Commons, there is no question but it would
have been rejected ; so strong a disgust was taken at the
union of Bute and Fox, and so numerous were their
several personal enemies. Yet in one respect Bute had
chosen judiciously ; Fox was not to be daunted, but set
^ William Cavendish, fourth Duke of Devonshire, Lord Chamberlain.

KING GEORGE III. 157
himself to work at the root. He even made applications
to Newcastle ; but the Duke of Cumberland ^ had inspired
even Newcastle and Devonshire with resolution ! This,
however, was the last miscarriage of moment that Fox
experienced. Leaving the grandees to their ill-humour,
he directly attacked the separate members of the House
of Commons ; and with so little decorum on the part of
either buyer or seller, that a shop was publicly opened at
the Pay Office, whither the members flocked, and received
the wages of their venality in bank-bills, even to so low a
sum as two hundred pounds for their votes on the treaty.
Twenty-five thousand pounds, as Martin,^ Secretary of the
Treasury, afterwards owned, were issued in one morning ;
and in a single fortnight a vast majority was purchased to
approve the peace !
Bad as that peace proved, it was near being concluded
on terms still more disadvantageous ; for France, re
ceiving earlier intelligence than we did of the capture
of the Havannah, had near prevailed on the Duke of
Bedford to sign the treaty — but Aldworth,^ his secretary,
^ Many causes might be assigned for the Duke's dissatisfaction. It is not
improbable that a generous Prince might resent the indignity offered to his
country. He might, too, resent the unrelenting hatred of the Princess, and his
total exclusion from power. He might feel for Germany, his other country,
which he saw neglected ; or he might have hoped that the aversion of the
Princess to the House of Brunswick would not cease without disgusting Prince
Ferdinand ; and that then, if the war had continued, the command would
have once more devolved on himself.
^ Samuel Martin, a West Indian, had been in the service of the late
Prince of Wales. See more of him hereafter, and in Churchill's Duellist.
[He had been brought into the Treasury by Mr. Legge when Chancellor of
the Exchequer in 1758. Sir George Colebrooke's MS. Memoirs represent
him as a plain-spoken, honest man, and more to be depended upon than his
joint secretary, Mr. West. — L. M.]
' Richard Aldworth Neville, of BiUingbere, Berkshire, [son of Mr.
Aldworth of Stanlake, by Catherine, sister of Mr. Henry Neville Grey of
BiUingbere, whose estate he subsequently inherited. He filled for some years
the office of Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, which occasioned
his being employed at Paris ; and he represented Wallingford, Reading, and
Tavistock in different Parliaments. The Barony of Braybrooke descended
on his only son by a special limitation in the patent obtained by his relative.
Sir John Griffin, Lord Howard de Walden, whose large estates he also
inherited. Lord Braybrooke's History of Audley End, 1836, p. 54. — L. M.]

158 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
had the prudence or foresight to prevent that precipitate
step.^ The Court having secured the obedience of Parliament,
it was determined to assume a high tone of authority ; to
awe, and even to punish, the refractory. ' The King,' it
was given out, ' would be King, — would not be dictated
to by his ministers, as his grandfather had been. The
prerogative was to shine out ; great lords must be humbled.'
Fox — whose language ever was that the Crown must
predominate whenever it would exert its influence —
warmly upheld the doctrine of rewards and punishments ;
and, having employed the former with so much success,
he was rejoiced to inflict the latter to glut his own
vengeance. The first fruit of these councils struck
mankind with astonishment The Duke of Devonshire,
who had kept himself in the country, coming to town on
the 28th of October, went to pay his duty to the King,
and, as is customary with the great officers, went to the
back-stairs, whence he sent the page in waiting to acquaint
his Majesty with his attendance. 'Tell him,' said the
King angrily, 'I will not see him.' The page, amazed,
hesitated. The King ordered him to go and deliver those
very words. If the page had been thunderstruck, it may
be imagined what the Duke felt. He had, however, the
presence of mind to send in the page again to ask what he
should do with his key of Lord Chamberlain. The reply
was, ' Orders will be given for that.' The Duke went
home with a heart full of rage, and tore off" his key, which
1 This statement rests on Walpole's unsupported testimony. The facts
that I have been able to collect on the subject, in the quarters likely to be the
best informed, are these : — On the 7th of September Lord Egremont wrote to
the Duke of Bedford, informing him of the King's commands that he should
not sign the preliminaries without first sending them over for his Majesty's
approbation. On the l8th the Duke wrote to M. de Choiseul that he was
ready to sign, and that he only waits his answer to send his messenger to
London. On the 28th or 29th Lord Egremont wrote by the French courier
of M. de Nivernois that the Havannah was taken. On the 30th he repeats
the news, and promises fresh instructions. The Duke never pretended to
sign against the King's orders, though he complained of their tenor. Thus
Walpole's story becomes very improbable. — L. M.

KING GEORGE IIL 159
immediately after he carried to Lord Egremont, the
Secretary of State ; and the next morning his brother.
Lord George Cavendish, and Lord Besborough,^ his
brother-in-law, resigned their places. As the Court urged
that the Duke's disgrace was owing to his refusal of
attending Councils, his Grace's friends pleaded that he
had asked and obtained the King's leave not to attend
them, as he seldom had attended them even in the late
reign ; and that, his summons having been made by a
commis in Lord Egremont's office, the Duke did not
think that such a message interfered with his dispensation.
Some said there had been no intention to dismiss the
Duke ; attributing the affront to a sudden start of passion
in the King, who, coming from Richmond that morning,
had met the Dukes of Devonshire and Newcastle together
in a chariot, whence, suspecting a cabal, he had gone home
in anger, and, at the moment the Duke arrived at
St. James's, was writing to Lord Bute that now was the
time ; words which proved at least that the Duke's
disgrace had been meditated, and which in truth nobody
doubted. The Princess had more than once termed him
ironically the Prince of the Whigs ; and his Grace having
dared to desert from Fox's banner, left no doubt of the
latter having contributed to irritate the prejudice already
conceived. Nor could Fox wipe off the suspicion ; though,
as soon as the affront was known, he had hurried to
Devonshire House,^ and protested his utter ignorance of
any such design. The Duke received him coolly, did not
pretend to believe him ; and his family never for
gave it.
^ William Ponsonby, Earl of Besborough, one of the Postmasters-General,
had married Lady Caroline Cavendish, eldest sister of the Duke of Devon
shire. 2 Mr. Fox did not go to Devonshire House ' to protest his utter ignorance
of any such design.' He wrote to the Duke at Chatsworth on the 2nd of
November, to express his sorrow at what had happened, and, in a subsequent
letter of the 9th, assured his Grace that ' he neither knew nor had the least
suspicion ' of the intention to strike his Grace's name out of the Privy
Council. — Note by the late Mr. Allen, on the manuscript copy of these
Memoirs. — L. M.

i6o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The fairness of the Duke's character, his decent and
timid caution, and the high rank in which he stood with
the party, made the measure much wondered at ; yet it
was far from producing such open offence as might have
been expected, nor did the consequences spread. The
Marquis of Rockingham, five days afterwards, resigned
the Bedchamber ; but, offering to explain his disgusts, the
King with much haughtiness refused to hear him —
another strain of authority much vaunted, and not without
effect The Peerage itself kissed the rod, which was
declared to be held out to humble them. Nor did they
take the alarm, though the rigour towards the Duke of
Devonshire was prosecuted farther ; for, a Privy Council
being summoned November the 3rd, the King ordered the
Duke's name to be struck out of the Council-book ; a
severity of which there had been no precedent in the last
reign, but in the cases of Lord Bath and Lord George
Sackville ; the first, in open and virulent opposition ; the
second on his ignominious sentence after the battle of
Minden. John, Duke of Argyle,^ when his regiment was
taken from him, was not thus affronted ; nor had George
the First refused to admit Lord Oxford ^ to kiss his hand
on the Queen's death, nor denied an audience to the Earl
Marichal,^ involved in Jacobitism.
^ Turned out for his opposition to the Excise Scheme in 1733.
^ Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Prime Minister to Queen Anne.
' George Keith, loth Earl Marichal, engaged in the rebellion of 1715-
When he came out of the King's closet, and was asked what the King had
said, he repUed in the words of the old ballad :
* The King looked over his left shoulder,
And a grim look looked he,
And cried, *' Earl Marshal, but for my oath.
Or hanged thou should-st be." '
Lord Marichal was afterwards in the service of the King of Prussia, and
Governor of Neufchatel. He was pardoned by King George the Second. He
is one of the few persons whom Frederic appears to have really loved. He
was a philosopher after the fashion of that monarch, but a more practical and
amiable one ; for he bore the loss of rank and wealth, and the various
discomforts of a long and almost hopeless exile, with unostentatious cheerful
ness, conducting himself all the while so prudently that amidst his many

KING GEORGE HI. i6i
political opponents he had not a single personal enemy. The general esteem
that followed him through Ufe afterwards attached to his memory ; and his
name is rarely to be found mentioned in the works of his contemporaries
without some expressions showing an earnest desire to represent him in the
fairest colours. D'Alembert wrote an iloge in his honour. His brother.
Marshal Keith, was a man of far superior ability, and his exile was a serious
loss to the British army. Lord Marichal died at Potsdam in 1778 in his
eighty-sixth year. — Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, edited by J. P. Wood,
vol. U. pp. 196-7. — L. M.

VOL. I.

i62 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XIV
Preliminaries of Peace with France and Spain. — Secret springs of political
actions. — Embassy to the Court of Spain offered to Lord Sandwich. —
Insult to the Duke of Cumberland. — Honours and preferments. —
Resignation of Lords Ashburnham and Kinnoul. — Lord Lincoln's in
gratitude to the Duke of Newcastle. — Bait offered to Lord Granby. — Mr.
Conway. — The Duke of York obliged to go to Italy ^Profusion exercised
by the Court. — Charles Townshend's want of judgment. — His bons-mots.
— Attempt to propitiate Walpole. — Correspondence between him and Fox
respecting the Rangership ofthe Parks offered to Lord Orford. — Conduct
of the latter.
On the Sth of the month a courier arrived with the
preliminaries signed by France and Spain I shall not
detail those preliminaries, too well known, and to be
found in all common histories. It is my part to explain,
as far as I could know them, the leading motives of
actions and events ; and, though the secret springs are
often unfathomable, I had acquaintance enough with the
actors to judge with better probability than the common
of mankind ; and where these memoirs are defective or
mistaken, still they may direct to the inquiry after
sounder materials, and prove a key to original papers
that may appear hereafter.
The peace with Spain, as it opened a door for an
embassy to that Court, aff'orded Mr. Fox a new oppor
tunity of revenge ; and as this measure at least he could
not waive the honour of having suggested, so did it
corroborate the belief of his being the author of the other
too.* He immediately offered that embassy to Lord
Sandwich,^ who as greedily accepted it Sandwich,
^ The disgrace of the Duke of Devonshire.
' John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich. See more of him in the preceding
reign, and in the subsequent part of this work.

KING GEORGE III. 163
rejected and exploded by all mankind, had been adopted,
fostered, patronized in the most kind and intimate manner
by the Duke of Cumberland ; nor had he the confidence
now to consult his Royal Highness, or to venture in person
to notify to him his desertion. He wrote. The insult
was too glaring, and could not be pardoned to either Fox
or Sandwich, both of whom were for ever excluded from
the Duke's presence but at his public levies, and there
underwent the most mortifying neglect from him ; though
Fox often sued in most abject manner to be forgiven.
Severity gratified, honours and preferments were amply
proffered, and but few rejected. The Duke of Man
chester * had been named to the Bedchamber the instant
Lord Rockingham had quitted it. The Duke of Marl
borough* and the Earl of Northumberland* were made
Lords Chamberlains to the King and Queen ; the latter
of which posts Lord Bristol had refused to accept, from
attachment to Mr. Pitt Lord Egmont was made Post
master in the room of Lord Besborough. The seals of
Secretary of State, with the feuille de bMfices, were once
more offered to the Duke of Newcastle ; but he replied
it would be time enough to talk of business when the
Parliament met. His friend. Lord Ashburnham,* resigned :
and so did his other friend. Lord Kinnoul,^ who, though
1 George Montagu, fourth Duke of Manchester.
'¦¦ George Spencer, third Duke of Marlborough.
•' Hugh Smithson Percy, Earl of Northumberland, afterwards Duke of
Northumberland, and Lord-Licutcnant of Irelnnd.
? John, second Earl of Ashburnham, Lord of the Bedchamber, and
Ranger of St. James's and Hyde Parks. He subsequently became Groom
of the Stole, and died on 8th April 1S12, aged eighty-seven.- E.
0 Thomas Hay, Harl of Kinnoul, better known as Lord Dupplin. He
ha<l, in the preceding reign, held with credit, at different times, the offices
of n Lord of the Treasury, of Paymaster, Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, etc., and was a frce|uent and useful speaker in tho House of
Commons, 'where,' says Walpole, 'he aimed at nothing but understanding
business and explaining it.' The Duke of Newcastle chiefly relied upon him
in the distribution of the secret service money and the Govermnent patronage
among the members. His embassy to Lisbon is remembered by the satirical
verse of Pope : ' Kinnoul's lewd cargo or Tyrttwiey's ciew.
He took very little part in public affairs afterwards; residing usually on his

i64 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
his bosom-confidant, dwelling in his very hou.se, had
borne his disgrace, and now affected to forget him, and to
plead obligations to the Duke of Devonshire, at the same
time declaring his reluctance to break with the Court ; a
reluctance so decisive, that he retired into Scotland, and
came no more to London till the year 1770.
Lord Lincoln,* Newcastle's favourite nephew and heir,
displayed more open ingratitude. He asked an audience
of the King, called his uncle a factious old fool, and said
he could not forget a message which himself had brought
from his uncle to his Majesty in the year 1757, in which
the Duke had signified to his then Royal Highness, that,
if he would not disturb the tranquillity of the rest of his
grandfather's reign, the Duke, in or out of place, though
he hoped the latter, would support his measures to the
utmost. It was justice to recollect this promise ; but
Lincoln's subsequent conduct, at the same time that it
was inconsistent, was honourable neither towards the
King nor his uncle. He had a second audience, in which
he told the King that the Duke insisted on his resigning ;
' but if I must,' said he, ' I will show but the more warmly
the next day that I remember the message, of which I
have kept a copy in writing.' The third time, when he
went to resign, he said he must oppose. The King told
him his tone was much changed since his first audience.
But the Court never had much reason to complain of
Lord Lincoln's hostilities. His exceeding pride kept him
secluded from the world, and rarely did he appear either
at Court or in Parliament • For some time he fluctuated
estates in Scotland, and devoting himself to rural improvements and matters
of local interest. He died in 1787, aged seventy-seven, without issue, and
was succeeded by his nephew.— L. M. [See Pope's sixth epistle of the First
Book of Horace, p. 121, and the notes thereto, in Elwin and Courthope's
edition oi Pope, vol. in. p. 325. — E.]
1 Henry Pelham-CUnton, Earl of Lincoln, Knight of the Garter, and one
of the Lords of the Bedchamber, was the son of Henry, Earl of Lincoln, and
Lucy Pelham, sister of the Duke of Newcastle and Henry PeUiam, First
Lord of the Treasury; having married his first cousin, Catherine, eldest
daughter and co-heiress of Mr. Pelham, the Duke's estate, and a new
creation ofthe Duchy of Newcastle in reversion, were settled on him.— L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 165
between Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt, to the latter of whom
he at last attached himself; but with constant derision of,
and insult to, his uncle, and, whatever were the Duke of
Newcastle's faults, cruel and unmerited. The truth
was. Lord Lincoln's avarice was as unbounded as his
haughtiness. Though possessed of two places for life,
and one of them the most lucrative in England, the
auditorship of the Exchequer, which never produces less
than eight thousand pounds a year, and during the war
had brought in at least twenty, he had resented the
Duke's not bestowing on him two more places for the
lives of his younger sons.
As every door was to be opened or barricaded that
could admit or exclude friends or enemies to the pre
liminaries, messengers were stationed at the seaports to
waylay Lord Granby on his return from the army, with
the most advantageous offers, as the Ordnance and
command of the army, setting aside the worthy old
Marshal Ligonier* with a large pension ; a bait gulped by
the former without scruple. Mr. Conway, to whom they
did the honour of thinking they could not bribe him (and
whoever they could not bribe, they concluded, could not
approve their treaty), was decorated with the empty
honour of conducting home the army ; which would, and
did, prevent his return before the discussion of the
preliminaries in Parliament And the Duke of York,
whom they would not silence by favours, they obliged to
go on an idle expedition to Italy.
The profusion exercised on this occasion, and which
reduced the Court to stop even the payments of the
^ John, Earl Ligonier, was a French Huguenot. He distinguished
himself under the Duke of Marlborough in Flanders, and was invested by
George II. with the Order of the Bath on the field of Dettingen. He
became a General in the army on 30th December 1746, Commander-in-Chief
on 24th October 1757, and Field-Marshal on 28th November 1757. He was
created Viscount Ligonier in the peerage of Ireland on 21st December I7S7,
and on 27th April 1763 was made a Peer of Great Britain by the title of
Baron Ligonier of Ripley, in the County of Surrey. He was further advanced
to the dignity of Earl Ligonier on loth September 1766, and died on 28th
April 1770, aged ninety-one.— E.

1 66 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
King's bedchamber, made men recall severely to mind the
King's declaration on the choice of the Parliament, that
he would not permit any money to be spent on elections.
Their greatest difficulty was with Charles Townshend,
who slipped through their fingers at every turn, and could
be held down to no decision. He refused to be First
Lord of Trade with the same power over the colonies as
had been granted to Lord Halifax. At the same time he
was loth to resign, though in that quarter the needle
rested at last, — a mark of that want of judgment that was
conspicuous in all his actions ; for, having fluctuated from
uncertainty of the issue, he chose the losing side but the
very day before the great victory of the Court on the
preliminaries. His post of Secretary at War was soon
after given to Ellis.* Townshend's bons-mots wounded
where his conduct could not. It being reported, to
justify the treatment of the Duke of Devonshire, that the
King complained he had been kept prisoner ; ' True,'
said Townshend, ' he is a prisoner, but he mistakes his
jailor.' Another of his sayings had not only proved a
prophecy, but was often applied in the following years.
He had said of the last arrangement before Fox was
set at the head, that ' it was a pretty lutestring adminis
tration which would do very well for summer wear.'
After so many considerable names, it will look,
perhaps, like vain presumption in me to name myself as
one whom it was thought necessary to manage. But, as
it proves how low the arts and attention of Fox could
descend, and as my answer (at least, I have always sus
pected so) contributed to an event of much consequence
afterwards, I shall be excused by the candid for giving
some account of it. I had, soon after my appearance in
the world, lived in much intimacy with Fox, had warmly
' Welbore EUis. See his character in the preceding reign. — [Walpole's
Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. U. pp. 141-2. EUis was at this time M. P. for
Aylesbury and joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. He subsequently filled the
offices of Treasurer of the Navy and Secretary of State for America, and was
created Baron Mendip on 13th August 1794. He died on 2nd February 1802,
aged eighty-eight, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. — E.]

KING GEORGE IIL 167
espoused his side when persecuted by the Duke and
Duchess of Richmond,* and had happened to have con
ferred some other Httle favours on him. I had carefully
avoided receiving the smallest or the greatest from him.
As his character opened more to the world, I declined any
connection with him in politics, though determining never
to have a quarrel with him, as I well knew his vindictive
nature. When he united with the Duke of Newcastle,
he had offered j in truth slightly enough to procure the
reversion of a considerable place, which I hold only for my
brother's life, to be confirmed for my own, provided I
would be upon good terms with the Duke. I had ever, in
the most open manner, spoken of that minister with con
tempt : and having never to this hour received a favour
from any minister, I shall be believed that I never would
accept one from Fox. I answered accordingly with much
scorn, ' I will not accept that reversion from the Duke."
Fox, knowing this spirit, and knowing, too, that I had
declared to Lord Bute that I would receive no favour from
the Court, had no hope of fixing me to his measures by
any offers he could make. Nor yet had he had reason to
know I was averse to the preliminaries, on which I had
kept silent. The truth was, I had been civilly treated on
the King's accession, and had so much disliked Newcastle
and Hardwicke, that few men were better pleased than
myself to see a new administration ; and had not the
standard of Prerogative been hoisted, and disgrace brought
on this triumphant country, I should probably have
remained a satisfied spectator. Yet was I not so steeled
by the glories of the war as to be insensible to the
yearnings of humanity; and therefore, ignominious as
the articles were, my conscience would not suffer me to
speak against a treaty that would stop such effusion of
blood. Sentiments, I confess, most heroic : yet I blush
not to own that they divided my sensations, and forbade
my voting against the preliminaries, though I was too
^ Charles, second Duke of Richmond, and Sarah Cadogan, his Duchess.
Fox had stolen their eldest daughter. Lady Caroline Lennox.

i68 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
much an Englishman to vote for them, and accordingly
left the House before the putting of the question.
As doubtless I did not trust Fox with this situation of
my breast, nor made my court on his new dignity, he
concluded I was in the number of the disapprovers.
Direct offers, or direct threats, would be vain : but to put
me in mind of my dependence on my nephew, by whose
interest I was chosen into Parliament,* and which depend
ence Fox ought to have remembered I had braved* for
his sake ; or of my dependence on the Treasury, which could
hurt me severely ' by stopping the payments of my place
in the Treasury ; he wrote me the following letter : —
Nov. 21, 1762.
Dear Sir, — As soon as I heard that the Parks,* which
Lord Ashburnham had quitted, were worth ;^2200 a year
(as they certainly are), I thought such an income might,
if not prevent, at least procrastinate, your nephew's ruin.^
I find nobody knows his Lordship's thoughts® on the
present state of politics.
' For the Borough of Lynn, in Norfolk.
* On the contested election for the borough of St. Michael, in Cornwall,
Lord Orford, my nephew, had quarrelled with me for taking part with Fox.
I offered to resign my seat, but would not give up the Uberty of voting as I
pleased. ^ As Usher of the Exchequer, I advanced a very large sum of money every
year to furnish the Treasury with paper, stationery wares, etc., and to pay
the workmen ; so that, if the payments are kept back, I am a considerable
sufferer. * The Rangership of St. James's and Hyde Parks. This po.st was not worth
two thousand two hundred pounds a year tiy itself, but with the Bedchamber ;
as Lord Ashburnham had held it. Lord Orford was already Lord of the
Bedchamber ; so, though I did not know it at that time, the offer was grossly
fallacious. Fox, however, might be ignorant too of this circumstance.
' George Walpole, third Earl of Orford, grandson of Sir Robert Walpole.
Not only his grandfather and father had left great debts, but his own dissipa
tion had involved him in many more.
' He scarce ever had any thoughts about poUtics, but lived almost always in
the country and at Newmarket, wasting his time and fortune by carelessness,
rather than in pleasures and expenses. With si most engaging figure and
address, he profited of no one advantage to which he was born ; and, without
any view of advantage to himself, disgusted every friend he had by insensibiUty,
and every friend he might have had by insincerity.

KING GEORGE III. 169
Perhaps he has none. Now, are you willing, and are
you the proper person, to tell Lord Orford that I will do
my best to procure this employment for him, if I can soon
learn that he desires it ? If hc does choose it, I doubt not
of his and his friend Boone's* hearty assistance, and
believe I shall see you, too, much oftener in the House of
Commons. This is offering you a bribe, but 'tis such a
one as one honest good-natured man may without offence
offer to another.
If you undertake this, do it immediately, and have
attention to my part in it, which is delicate. If you do
not undertake it, let me know your thoughts of the
proposal, whether I had better drop it entirely, or put it
into other hands, and whose.
You '11 believe me when I tell you that goodness of
heart has as much share in this to the full as policy. —
Yours ever, H. Fox.
This artful and disingenuous letter the messenger was
ordered to desire I would answer immediately. I deter
mined at once to guard my expressions in such a manner
that, under the ap[)earance of the same insincere cordiality
which Fox affected to wear, it should not be possible to
fix either declaration or engagement upon me ; showing
him at the same time that I would neither accept favour
from him, nor be indirectly obliged to him through my
nephew. I was aware that, if I refused to notify the offer
to Lord Orford, he or his friends, and the Court too,
would raise a clamour against me for preventing his
receiving a favour that he wanted so much : and, as he
was already Lord of the Bedchamber, there could be no
reason in honour why he should not accept an addition of
income ; nor vvas there anything in his principles that
would make him difficult to be farther bound. With these
views I returned the following answer : —
' Charles Boone, brought into Parliament by Lord Orford for Castlerising.
Fox had already sounded Lord Orfoid through Mr. Boone, but without
receiving any answer.

I70 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Nov. 21, 1762.
Dear Sir, — After having done * what the world knows
I have done, to try to retrieve the affairs of my family, and
to save my nephew from ruin, I can have little hopes that any
interposition of mine will tend to an end I wish so much.
I cannot even flatter myself with having the least weight
with my Lord Orford. In the present case I can still less
indulge myself in any such hopes. You remember in the
case of the St Michael election how hardly he used me on
your account I know how much he resented last year his
thinking you concerned in the contest about the borough^
where he set up Mr. Thomas Walpole ; and, as he has not
even now deigned to answer Mr. Boone's letter,^ I can
little expect that he will behave with more politeness to
me. Yet I think it is so much my duty to lay before him
anything for his advantage, and what is by no means
incompatible with his honour, that I will certainly acquaint
him immediately with the offer you are so good as to make
him. You see I write to you with my usual frankness and
sincerity ; and you will, I am sure, be so good as to keep
to yourself the freedom with which I mention very nice
family affairs. You must excuse me if I add one word
more on myself My wish is, that Lord Orford should
accept this offer ; yet, I tell you truly, I shall state it to
him plainly and simply, without giving any advice, not
1 This alludes to my having projected a match for Lord Orford with Miss
NichoU, an heiress worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, whom
Lord Orford would not marry ; and in the course of which negotiation I had
a great quarrel with my uncle, old Horace Walpole, who endeavoured,
though trusted with her by me, to marry her to one of his own younger sons.
This quarrel had made very great noise, and many persons were engaged in
it. The young lady afterwards married the Marquis of Caernarvon, [who
succeeded his father as third Duke of Chandos in November 1771].
2 Mr. Fox had supported Mr. Sullivan at a borough in the West against
Mr. T. Walpole I forget whether it was Callington or Ashburton. [It was
the latter.] Lord Orford was heir to estates in both by his mother.
^ Mr. Boone had acquainted me with this, and Mr. Fox thought I did not
know it, but I chose to let him see I did.

KING GEORGE III. 171
only for the reasons I have expressed above, but because
I do not mean to be involved in this affair any otherwise
than as a messenger. A man, who is so scrupulous as
not to accept any obligation for himself, cannot be allowed
to accept one for another without thinking himself bound
in gratitude as much as if done to himself The very
little share I ever mean to take more in public affairs
shall and must be dictated by disinterested motives. I
have no one virtue to support me but that disinterested
ness ; and, if I act with you, no man living shall have to
say that it was not by choice and by principle. — I am, dear
Sir, your sincere humble servant,
Horace Walpole.
There were truths enough to displease, and they did not
escape Fox. The consequence to me was, that by his
influence with Martin, Secretary of the Treasury, my
payments were stopped for some months, nor made but
on my writing to Lord Bute himself ; which, as, notwith
standing this persecution, I would take no part with the
administration, proved that the delay had not flowed from
the minister himself, but from his associate, my good
friend : nor did it stop there. In the meantime I had
written thus to Lord Orford : — Arlington Street, Nov. 22, 1762.
My Dear Lord, — I must preface what I am going to say,
with desiring you to believe that I by no means take the
liberty of giving you any advice ; and should the proposal I
have to make to you be disagreeable, I beg you to excuse
it, as I thought it my duty to lay before you anything that
is for your advantage, and as you would have reason to
blame me if I declined communicating to you a lucrative
offer. I last night received a letter from Mr. Fox, in which
he tells me that, hearing the Parks, vacant by Lord Ash-
burnham's resignation, are worth ;£'2200 a year, he will,
if you desire to succeed him, do his best to procure that

172 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
employment for you, if he can soon learn that it is your
wish. If you will be so good as to send me your answer, I will
acquaint him with it ; or, if you think it more polite to
thank Mr. Fox himself for his obliging offer, I shall be
very well content to be, as I am in everything else, a cypher,
except when I can show myself. My dear Lord, your
very affectionate humble servant,
Horace Walpole.
To this letter, nor to the offer, did Lord Orford give
himself the trouble of making the least reply ; but, arriv
ing in town on the very day the Parliament met, he came
to me, and asked what he was to do ? I replied very
coldly, I did not know what he intended to do ; but, if his
meaning was to accept, I supposed he ought to go to Mr.
Fox, and tell him so, I having nothing farther to do with
it than barely to acquaint him with the offer. Without
preface or apology, without recollecting his long enmity to
Fox (it is true, he did not know why he was Fox's enemy),
and without a hint of reconciliation, to Fox he went,
accepted the place, and never gave that ministry one vote
afterwards ; continuing in the country, as he would have
done if they had given him nothing. I return from this
digression.

KING GEORGE HI.

173

CHAPTER XV
Conference between the Duke of Cumberland and Mr. Pitt.-r-Pitt's lofty
style and inconclusive manner. — Want of union in the Opposition. —
Anxiety of the Ministers. — Debates in both Houses on the Preliminaries
of Peace. — Sudden and unexpected appearance of Mr. Pitt. — Legge, Fox,
and Beckford. — Prerogative. — Pitt's Speech. — His retirement from the
House when Fox rose to speak. — Speech of the latter. — Charles Town
shend's versatility. — The Minority on the Division.— Exultation of the
Princess of Wales on the Preliminaries being carried. — Severe political
persecution. — Numerous, dismissals from place.
The rupture between the Duke of Cumberland and Fox
seemed naturally to pave the way for a connection
between that Prince and Mr. Pitt. They accordingly
met, and had a conference of four hours ; but there their
amity commenced and ended. The good sense of his
Royal Highness could, in spite of all his haughtiness, make
him bend properly. Pitt, having less good sense than
parts, and affecting more haughtiness even than he pos
sessed, and being full of schemes rather than plans, could
not be brought to any rational system. Meaning to make
use of the Prince but to a certain degree, — that is, to
thwart the Court, or to give it jealousy, not to erect the
Duke as head of a party, — he talked in his usual vague
and inconclusive manner ; his nearest friends having often
said, that between the uncommunicativeness of his temper
and the want of suite in his reasoning faculties, it was
ever impossible to pin him down to any chain of definite
propositions. TJiis the Duke experienced, and combated in vain. All
he could draw from Pitt was a positive demand that the
peace should be opposed by the now forming party. Yet
would he not submit to see the Duke of Newcastle ;

174 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
though, in his lofty style, he said he would accept of the
Duke of Cumberland's guarantee of Newcastle's fidelity.
It was difficult for the chiefs to coalesce : Lord Hardwicke
had publicly commended the preliminaries ; and though
he had rejected large off'ers made to his son, Charles
Yorke, he and his friends knew not decently how to fly to
Mr. Pitt's banner, which they had so lately levelled. This
want of union in the Opposition gave all the remaining
advantage to the administration that they yet wanted.
Mr. Pitt affected to be a chief without a party, and the
party without him had no other chief ; for Newcastle was
worse than none, and the Duke of Cumberland had too
much deference for the Crown, and was too much above
courting the people, to be fit to figure as a ringleader.
In this temper of things did the Parliament meet,
November 25th. Lord Egmont and Lord Weymouth 1
moved the Address in the Lords, where there was no
opposition : Lord Carysfort ^ and Lord Charles Spencer
in the Commons. Nicholson Calvert made a warm speech
against the peace, and was answered by Birt, who gave
Mr. Pitt the honour of the first plan for taking Martinico.
Beckford was yet more violent against the treaty ; and
compared Florida, which was to be ceded to us, for bar
renness to Bagshot Heath. Charles Townshend made a
trimming speech, though very personal against Beckford,
and the day ended without a division ; Mr. Pitt being
confined at home with the gout Without doors the scene
was more turbulent : the Favourite was assaulted in his
chair by a formidable mob, and had not the Guards
arrived opportunely, would hardly have escaped with life.
On the 30th of the month the preliminaries were laid
before both Houses, who were acquainted that the King
had ordered them to be printed and distributed to the
members on the morrow. The Duke of Grafton in the
' Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth, afterwards one of the Secretaries
of State.
" Sir John Proby, K.B., Lord Carysfort in the peerage of Ireland, M.P.
for Huntingdonshire. — E.

KING GEORGE III.

175

Lords, Calvert and Bamber Gascoyne in the Commons,
objected to this ; it being usual for the two Houses to
give the orders for printing papers communicated to them ;
but the first method was acquiesced in, and the Lords
resolved to take the papers into consideration on the
Thursday sevennight following. Lord Pomfret* moved to
order the high bailiff" of Westminster to attend, to give an
account why he had taken no measures to disperse the
mob on the first day of the session. At the same time
the ministers endeavoured, by money and threats, to
silence or intimidate the printers of newspapers, libels,
and satiric prints, and succeeded with a great number.
On the 1st of December, Calvert moved to defer con
sidering the preliminaries till the Thursday sevennight
following, as Mr. Pitt was not able to attend ; but the
ministers, and for that very reason, insisted on bringing
them on upon the same day with the Lords, and carried
their motion by 21 3 to 74 ; so unpromising was this outset
of the new Opposition, in which appeared the families of
Cavendish, Fitzroy, and Townshend.
The memorable day, December pth, being arrived, both
Houses sat on the preliminaries. Lord Shelburne and
Lord Grosvenor moved to approve them. The Duke of
Grafton, with great weight and greater warmth, attacked
them severely, and, looking full on Lord Bute, imputed to
him corruption and worse arts. The Duke was answered
by the Earl of Suffolk ; and then Lord Temple spoke
with less than usual warmth. The F'avourite rose next,
and defended himself with applause, having laid aside
much of his former pomp. He treated the Duke of
Grafton as a juvenile member, whose imputations he
despised ; and, for the Peace, he desired to have written
on his tomb, ' Here lies the Earl of Bute, who, in concert
^ George Fermor, second Earl of Pomfret, brother-in-law to Earl Gran
ville. He was clever, and a ready speaker ; but so hot, headstrong, and
injudicious, that his support was of very questionable benefit to his poUtical
friends. 'Vide an arausing anecdote of him in George Selwyn and his Con
temporaries, vol. i. p. 352. — L. M.

176 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
with the King's ministers, made the Peace.' A sentence
often re-echoed with the ridicule it deserved, and more
likely to be engraven on his monument with ignominy
than approbation. The Duke of Newcastle and Lord
Hardwicke censured the preliminaries, which the latter
said were worse than could have been obtained the last
year ; and he reflected on the assiduity with which pre
rogative was cried up, more than it had been by the most
ductile Parliaments. Henley the Chancellor abused them
both ; but the fine defence of the treaty was made by
Lord Mansfield, which, he said, though he had concurred
to make, he should still retain his old connections and
attachments ; a promise he soon violated, with as little
decency as his late friends had censured prerogative. At
ten at night the preliminaries were approved by the Lords
without a division.
But it was the other House on which expectation hung.
The very uncertainty whether Mr. Pitt's health would
allow him to attend, concurred to augment the impatience
of the public on so serious a crisis. The Court, it was
true, had purchased an effective number of votes to ratify
their treaty ; but, could Mr. Pitt appear, he might so
expose the negotiation, and give breath to such a flame,
that 'the ministers could not but be anxious till the day
was decided, and they knew all that they had to
apprehend from Mr. Pitt. Their hopes grew brighter as
the debate began, and he did not appear. The probability
of his absence augmented as Beckford proposed to refer
the preliminaries to a committee of the whole House ; a
measure that seemed calculated to gain time, and that
was seconded by James Grenville, who told the courtiers
that it did not look as if they were very desirous of praise,
so eager were they to hurry through the question. The
demand was opposed by Ellis; Sir Francis Dashwood,
and Harris of Salisbury, when the House was alarmed by
a shout from without ! The doors opened, and at the
head of a large acclaiming concourse was seen Mr. Pitt,
borne in the arms of his servants, who, setting him down

KING GEORGE III. 177
within the bar, he crawled by the help of a crutch, and
with the assistance of some few friends, to his seat ; not
without the sneers of some of Fox's party. In truth,
there was a mixture of the very solemn and the theatric
in this apparition. The moment was so well timed, the
importance of the man and his services, the languor of
his emaciated countenance, and the study bestowed on
his dress, were circumstances that struck solemnity into
a patriot mind, and did a little furnish ridicule to the
hardened and insensible. He was dressed in black
velvet, his legs and thighs wrapped in flannel, his feet
covered with buskins of black cloth, and his hands with
thick gloves. He said a few words in support of the
motion for sending the preliminaries to a committee ; not
in order to give time for raising animosities, but as it was
for the dignity of the King and the country to weigh
them maturely. Parts of the treaty, he confessed, were,
beyond his expectation, good ; but his mind was wounded
by what regarded our trade and our allies. He wished
for a committee, that he might call merchants to the bar
to state the importance of what we were to keep, of what
we were to give away. He would be convinced we were
doing right, or he would inflexibly arraign. Legge said
he should cavil less than most men, but could not
bestow approbation in the lump. Fox answered as
briefly, that nothing could ever be finished, if perfection
was insisted on. Beckford replied that the House was
as insignificant as a parliament of Paris, if treaties were
not laid before them for advice, but only for approbation ;
and he and Calvert laid themselves out on the defence
made by the ministers, that it was the King's prerogative
to conclude peace or war ; and, indeed, no occasion was
lost of sounding high any branch of prerogative.
The Opposition not choosing to risk a division on the
Committee, Harris, mentioned above, who was afterwards
made one of the Lords of the Treasury, moved roundly
to approve the preliminaries, with the addition of words
acknowledging the prerogative in question. Had the
VOL. I. M

178 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
treaty been glorious or salutary, there is no doubt but the
prerogative would not have been called in aid ; a proof
how distinct are prerogative and the welfare of the nation.
This Harris had written some abstruse books on language,
and possessed a good share of reputation within a certain
sphere. Lord Ilchester and Fox had brought him forth,
and thought to make him a man of business, but he made
only a very pliant courtier and wretched orator ; and in
the end, attaching himself to George Grenville, closed
with all his arbitrary measures, and fell with him, with no
other blemish on his character than of having thought too
much as a scholar, and too little as a senator.* In his
motion of approbation he said, ' Peace was not made for
the emolument of one country, but of many ' ; a truth so
home, and that recoiled so forcibly on him, that it was
the very reason why this country, for whose emolument
it was not made, ought not to have honoured it with its
acceptance. Stanley spoke well and handsomely in defence of the
treaty ; and then Mr. Pitt rose. His speech it would be
difficult to detail ; it lasted three hours and twenty-five
minutes, and was uttered in so low and faint a voice that
it was almost impossible to hear him. At intervals he
obtained the permission of the House to speak sitting, a
permission he did not abuse ; supporting himself with
cordials, and having the appearance of a man determined
to die in that cause and at that hour. This faintness and
the prolixity with which he dwelt on the article of the
fisheries, gave a handle to the courtiers to represent his
speech as unmeasurably dull, tedious, and uninteresting.
But it contained considerable matter, much reason, and
some parts of great beauty : but thunder was wanting to
blast such a treaty, and this was not a day on which his
genius thundered ! His health or his choice had led him
to present himself as a subject of affliction to his country,
and his ungrateful country was not afflicted.
1 James Harris, M.P. for Christchurch. Author oi Hermes, and father of
James, first Earl of Malm'esbury.— E.

KING GEORGE III.

179

Some passages of his speech I shall mention, though,
for the reasons I have hinted at, and for that I sat at a
great distance, I could but very imperfectly collect what
he said. He allowed the prerogative of the Crown in
making peace or war, though something he saw squint
at what would subvert the liberties of this country ; and,
though such prerogative there was, still was it gracious
to lay the treaty before Parliament. The Crown might
finally sign the Treaty ; but at the same time it was a
fundamental right of the House of Commons to offer
their opinion. If this was not the question confessed,
he would stop the debate to insert in these words, as it is
also the indubitable and fundam.ental right of Parliament
to offer advice. From this he launched out on this
venerable, this lovely Constitution, and referred to the
journals to show what answers were made by Parliament
to James the First and Charles the Second ; particularly
to the unkingly and unconstitutional messages of the
former, as when he bade them not meddle beyond their
province, with a ne sutor ultra crepidam. He hoped we
had no new cobbler of this old Constitution, and (looking
at Fox) if we had, that man should not stand unaccused,
unarraigned. With regard to the peace, it could not be
called a question of humanity, for one campaign more
might have prevented seven hereafter. In all other wars
our commerce had been interrupted ; in this alone,
increased ; and in respect of commerce, four of the best
provinces in old France were not worth the acquisitions
we had made. Those France might have reconquered ;
Guadaloupe she could not retake. We had got possession
of their four trades of the world. Thanks to God,
General Amherst had recovered Newfoundland ! Thanks
to Providence, Amherst's brother had behaved like his
brother ! Thus had we secured two of those trades, the
fisheries and the sugar, all but at St. Domingo, and that
we must have taken the next campaign. Our conquests
in Africa gave us the Slave Trade ; and those in India
the exclusive trade of the Indies. These depended no

i8o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
longer on the chance of war I He believed there was no
disunion between France and Spain ; this treaty would'
manifestly increase their weight : the Havannah would
add to it — the Havannah ! that would have enabled you
to supply Spanish America with British manufactures
and implements I He then pronounced the preliminaries
inadmissible ; declared he had thought it right to make
peace when Mr. Stanley went to France, and had been
for the King not abusing his prosperity. But he had
proved that France was not in earnest then ; had only
meant to cajole us, and deserved no management from us,
after forcing us to the expense of this war, particularly by
her iniquitous behaviour in the two Courts of Madrid and
Naples, a conduct never paralleled in the unbridled
behaviour of Louis the Fourteenth. Yet why talk of
Naples, which was Bourbon weakness coupled with
Bourbon weakness ! Obstinate, however, as himself had
been in pushing forward the war with Spain, he supposed
he had been in the wrong, as nobody had joined in
sentiment with him but Lord Temple. They two were
for making the entire maintenance of the fisheries the
sine qud non ; but all the rest had been against them,
both the old ministers and the favoured minister of this
King. Soon had it been known to France that the
exclusive fisheries would not be made a sine qud non.
He had not thought that France would at once give them
up, but he had held them worth trying for for another
campaign or two. Before the death of the Czarina —
before the acquisition of Guadaloupe, the Havannah, and
Pondicherry — the Due de Choiseul had asked but for one
rock at Newfoundland ; he wished he had made his stand
there, and refused, though overwhelmed with most illiberal
calumny and scurrility ! He took notice of the thousands
of lives thrown away at the Havannah by their being
sent out at so untimely a season, when the work might
have been done in the month of April ; but he had retired
first, when he found he was not permitted to have the
least weight. Yes, said he again, the French had cried

KING GEORGE III. iSi
Donnez-nous un rocher simplement. I replied, I did not
intend to give them the garden of Eden. But what they
asked for their batiments picheurs extended to much more
than a rock. They asked for fishing vessels, now had
been given them a fishery — en toute propria, in full right ;
I never would have granted it. Then, after expatiating
on the fisheries, he drew attention to himself, by seeming
to bid adieu to politics, and to despair of his own health.
He might never come to the House again. He was
unconnected, followed no party, respected the King's
administration, though he must remonstrate when he saw
them going on fatal ground. He prayed for the House
of Brunswick ; stood on revolution principles alone against
France ; had a deep-rooted alienation from France ; acted
on the spirit of King William, on whose maxims, and on
the maxims on which they came thither, the House of
Brunswick must rest, or could never be secure. He had
seen the day on which every unsound maxim had been
disclaimed ; now saw unhappy clouds darkening our
prospect ; wished the ministers would think of these
important matters before it was too late !
He then went through the points to be ceded in America
and Africa ; and declared he would not have agreed to
any terms approaching to these preliminaries. He in
veighed against the bad faith of France, and showed from
their losses how much they had lain at our mercy. In
the campaign of Crevelt alone they had lost forty thou
sand men. Every year had cost them twenty thousand
more. Would you still treat on the same terms you
would have treated, after they had put you to the expense
of fourteen additional millions, and after your arms had
been crowned with such advantages? It could not be
for the sake of Portugal ; for you had been told from the
throne that a stop had been put to the progress of the
Spaniards in that country. We must, say the French,
have St. Lucia, for cela bouche Martinique ; is that a
reason to be given to a British Parliament? France
should have given you Guadaloupe, or she and Spain,

1 82 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
HiSpaniola. She had given you more in Canada than
she knew you could use, and more than he had contended
for ; but then she had got the fisheries. On the coast of
Bengal we should never have suffered her to come ; yet
did she affect to cede all her conquests, where she had
made none ; but, alas ! no nation had ever lost an oppor
tunity so happy, so almost accomplished, of fixing its
ascendant and commerce ! He applauded the drawing of
the article of Canada, infinitely better executed than he
could have done it Spain, too, he owned, had acknow
ledged our right of cutting logwood as fully as he could
find any authority in our records to contend for ; but the
negotiators had not been equally able in fixing Spain to
acknowledge our right of fishery in Newfoundland. Spain
does not renounce her right of fishing there, but desists.
For the King of Prussia, he was disavowed ! given up !
sacrificed ! so melancholy was the effect of the coldness
that was grown between the two crowns ! The branches
of Bourbon were united ; we and our allies disunited !
He had seen nothing he envied in French councils till
now. They had indulged a noble delicacy of honour,
and obtained everything for Spain ; nay, had treated
Austria with punctilio. We did not so remember those
who had served us ! The moment the battle of Culloden
should be forgotten, this country would be undone ! We
ought to have made a family compact with the King of
Prussia. Stanley said a few words on his own part in the negotia
tion ; and then Mr. Fox rising to speak, Pitt, in contempt,
or exhausted, retired out of the House, attended by
redoubled huzzas ! the mob re-echoing the duration of his
speech, 'Three hours and a half! three hours and a half!'
The secession of Pitt struck such a damp on Opposition,
that Fox had but little to do but to chant Te Deum for
victory. He said little, very little, in behalf of the treaty,
to which success was now ensured. He rather painted
his own situation, and that of parties, ranking himself
with the Whigs, but affecting to believe a general union of

KING GEORGE III. 183
all factions under the King. He had been called out, he
said, when men would have revived those distinctions, and
torn the Tories from the support of the Crown. No desire
did he know of extending prerogative; if it had been
exerted unduly in signing the preliminaries, ministers
were answerable ; but he vowed to God he did not know
that it was in the mind of any man to enlarge the pre
rogative. Mr. Pitt had thought we could have gone on
much longer, and that France could not ; he himself
thought we could not have gone on much longer : but
what had Mr. Pitt given except assertions in support of
his persuasion .' He himself had been told that our com
merce was declined. If England would apply itself to
improve this peace, it would turn out the greatest that
ever had been made.
Charles Townshend, discontent, expecting much severe
animadversion on the treaty, and dreading to differ
with Mr. Pitt when the latter was likely to exert all his
powers, had come to the House prepared to arraign the
preliminaries. Finding his mistake, and secure by the
retreat of Pitt, he changed his battery, defended the peace
as well as it could be defended, burned incense on the
altar of prerogative, and sang almost hosannahs to the
praise of the King. It happened the next day that
Dempster, commending Mr. Pitt, and calling him the
arch-patriot, Rigby said, Mr. Pitt, it was true, had spoken
three hours and a half, but an archer-patriot had said more
to the purpose in twenty-five minutes.
The Duke of Newcastle had sent to his friends not to
divide ; on which they retired. This not being known to
the Duke of Cumberland, his adherents stayed, and two
of his own servants. Lord Ancram* and General Fitz-
1 WiUiam Henry Kerr, Earl of Ancram, Lord of the Bedchamber to the
Duke, and M. P. for Richmond. He acted as aide-de-camp to the Duke at
Fontenoy, where he was severely wounded, and commanded the cavalry on
the left wing at CuUoden. He succeeded his father as fourth Marquis of
Lothian in July 1767, and was elected a Scotch representative peer in October
of the following year. He became a general in the army in 1770, and died
on I2th April 1775, aged sixty-five.

1 84 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
william,* were in the minority — ^which were but sixty-five
against three hundred and nineteen. The Duke was
angry that his people had been left alone: on which it
was resolved to rally on the Report, but with no better
success ; the Court were still two hundred and twenty-
seven to sixty-three. Lord Royston, Lord Hardwicke's
son, being of the majority.
Nothing can paint the importance of this victory to the
Court so strongly as what the Princess of Wales said on
the news of the preliminaries being carried : ' Now,' said she,
' my son is King of England.' The ministers ordered that
the numbers on the question should be printed — had
they printed the names too, the world would have known
the names of the sixty-five that were not bribed.
Fox having thus successfully employed rewards, thought
the time was come for making use of the other weapon of
government — punishment. A more severe political per
secution never raged. Whoever, holding a place, had voted
against the preliminaries, was instantly dismissed. The
friends 2 and dependants of the Duke of Newcastle were
particularly cashiered ; and this cruelty was extended so
far, that old servants, who had retired and been preferred
to very small places, were rigorously hunted out and de
prived of their livelihood. An inquisition was held at Fox's
house ; and a despotic spirit prevailed so rudely, that Lady
EHzabeth Waldegrave,^ sister of the Duchess of Bedford,
1 John FitzwUliam, brother of the Viscount of that name. [Groom of
the Bedchamber to the Duke, and M.P. for New Wind^sor. — E.]
3 If there was any hardship in this step, it consisted in these gentlemen not
having received previous notice from Mr. Fox that he should regard opposition
to the vote in the Ught of such direct hostility to the Government as would
be incompatible with the tenure of office under it. Previously, there appears
to have been no settled rule as to the clsiims of the Government on the support
of members in office. Mr. Pitt, when Paymaster, not only voted but frequently
spoke against the Government. It would now be considered very extraordinary
in any member of the administration, however subordinate, to vote against a
Government measure without a previous intimation to the Premier of his
readiness to resign. — L. M.
^ Fourth daughter of John Leveson, first Earl Gower, wife of General John
Waldegrave, who succeeded his brother in the Earldom of Waldegrave.
[Lady Elizabeth was the fifth daughter of Earl Gower. She died 28th April
1784.-E.]

KING GEORGE III. 185
and a notable politician, desired to be admitted to the
junto of proscription.
In particular, Mr. Wilkinson* and Mr. Earie* were
dismissed from the Board of Ordnance for their votes ;
as was the younger Thomas Townshend ^ from the green
cloth, without the smallest notification. Some were even
sacrificed who had given no offence, as the worthy Admiral
Forbes,* who was removed from the Admiralty to make
room for Cotes, of the same profession and a friend of Fox.
Schutz, who had been seven years of the King's bed
chamber, was turned out, for no reason but that he had
not a seat in Parliament, and could be of no use there.^
But to wind up the year with more dignified rigour,
the Dukes of Newcastle and Grafton and the Marquis of
Rockingham were dismissed from the Lieutenancies of
their several counties.® The same affront being designed
for the Duke of Devonshire, Fox affected to make a point
of saving him ; but the Duke, with proper spirit, scorned
to be obliged to him, and resigned to accompany his
friends. 1 Andrew Wilkinson, M.P. for Aldborough. He was re-appointed Store
keeper ofthe Ordnance in 1765. — E.
* Giles Earle. [This is a mistake. Giles Earle died in August 1758. The
Mr. Earle alluded to in the text must have been William Rawlinson Earle,
M.P. for Newport in the Isle of Wight, and Clerk of the Ordnance. — E.]
' Eldest son of Thomas, one of the Tellers of the Exchequer, second son
of Charles, Viscount Townshend, Secretary of State to George I. and 11.
'' Younger son of the Earl of Granard.
° A sufficient reason against his original appointment, but a bad one for
his dismissal. Mr. Schutz was very rich, having succeeded by bequest to a
large estate in Essex, from Sir J. Tyrrel. — L. M.
8 This certainly was a very harsh proceeding. No Lord-Lieutenant has
since been dismissed without far more decided provocation. — L. M.

1 86 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XVI
Death of John, Earl Granville. — His character. — PoUtical persecution
originating in Fox. — Want of cordiaUty in the Ministerial League
between him and Bute. — Attack on Patent Places. — ^Lord Northington
and Sir Fletcher Norton. — The Duke of Cumberland's remark on the
harsh proceedings of Fox. — Triumph of the Court. — Wilkes and Church
ill. — Favour shown to the friends of the Stuarts. — Observance of the
Jacobite fast. — Calvert's extraordinary Speech. — Sir John Philipps'
Motion for the Accounts of the Nation. — Folly of the Tories. — Com
mittee to inspect Madhouses. — Accounts of the Navy. — Calamities of
War. — No famous native Generals except Wolfe and Lord Clive. — Charles
Tovmshend's fickle Politics. — The Standing Army.
John, Earl Granville, the antagonist of one Prime
Minister, Prime Minister himself, and then assistant to
every succeeding Prime Minister, died on the second day
of the new year. The rhodomontade, to which he was
addicted, was set off by parts and wit, or forgiven to his
good-humour. It was very unlike the presumptuous
ascendant of Pitt, or the lofty ignorance of Lord Bute.
Pitt, unsociable and muffled in clouds, was adored from
the terror imprinted by his lightnings. Bute thought
distance and obscurity sufficient characteristics of divinity ;
but Granville, like Bacchus, rattled his car among men,
and was but the more admired the more he familiarized
himself with mortals. He had fallen unpitied, but un-
hated : and sank in rank without sinking in esteem, his
fall having lessened him less than his exaltation. He
seemed so proper for every part, that in him it did not
seem mean to be second, after commanding.*
^ Lord Chesterfield's briUiant character sketch though long, must be in
serted here.
' Lord Granville had great parts and a most uncommon share of learning
for a man of quality. He was one of the best speakers in the House of
Lords, both in the declamatory and the argumentative way. He had a

KING GEORGE III. 187
The persecution, set on foot at the end of the last year,
was kept up with unrelaxed severity.* A place of ;^200
a year was taken from Mr. Legge's nephew,^ a boy at
school : and another of the same value from a man in
Sussex, who had been rewarded with it for service done
against an inhuman set of smugglers, by the interest of
the late Duke of Grafton, whom Fox had hated. In
truth, these hardships were not only suggested by Fox,
but now and then executed without the knowledge of the
Favourite, who often disclaimed^ them, and sometimes,
wonderful quickness and precision in seizing the stress of a question, which
no art, no sophistry, could disguise to him. In business he was bold, enter
prising, and overbearing. He had been bred up in high monarchical, that
is, tyrannical principles of government, which his ardent and imperious
temper made him think were the only rational and practical ones. He
would have been a great first minister in France, little inferior, perhaps,
to Richelieu ; in this government, which is yet free, he would have been
a dangerous one, little less so, perhaps, than Lord Strafford. He was
neither ill-natured nor vindictive, and had a great contempt for money ; his
ideas were all above it. In social life he was an agreeable, good-humoured,
and instructive companion, a great but entertaining talker.
' He degraded himself by the vice of drinking, which, together with a
great sto'ck of Greek and Latin, he brought away with him from Oxford,
and practised ever afterwards. By his own industry he had made himself
master of all the modern languages, and had acquired a great knowledge of
the law. His political knowledge of the interest of princes and of commerce
was extensive, and his notions were just and great. His character may be
summed up in nice precision, quick decision, and overbearing presumption.'
— Chesterfield's Letters, 1845, vol. ii. p. 456. — E.
1 This persecution is inexcusable, and very unlike Mr. Fox, who was a
very good-humoured man. — L. M.
^ Son of Heneage Legge, one of the Barons of the Exchequer.
' I shall give two instances of my assertions. Sir William Milner held a
place of about ;^2ooo a year in the Custom House, the greater portion of
which had been allotted to his wife's aunt, Mrs. Poyntz,* as a jointure on
the death of her husband, who had been Governor to the Duke of Cumber
land. This was now taken away, and bestowed by Lord Bute on Mr.
Poole, to make him amends for the ravage made on his family t in this new
persecution ; Lord Bute intending at the same time to reserve ;^6oo a year
out of it for Mrs. Poyntz. Lord Spencer, who had married her daughter,
wrote to the King representing the case, and begging his protection for Mrs.
Poyntz. The petition concluded with telling the King that this appUcation
* Anna Maria Mordaunt, Maid of Honour to Queen Caroline, and widow of Stephen
Poyntz. She had been a great beauty ; the poem of The Fair Circassian was written ky
a gentleman who was in love with her.
t Sir Francis Poole, related to the Duke of Newcastle, had been turned out, with others
of the same connection.

i88 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
to load his associate, made recompense to the parties
aggrieved ; for though they became heartier friends after
wards, and though the Favourite bore testimony, in a
subsequent period, that Fox was the only man who had
not deceived him, it is pretty sure that their ministerial
league was far from cordial ; not quite sure that Bute did
not deceive Fox; and certain that the King betrayed
symptoms of satisfaction on hearing that the blame
of all this violence fell on Fox.
He had meditated going still greater lengths. Lord
Lincoln, whom he particularly hated, was Auditor of the
Exchequer for life, the amplest sinecure in England,
except the Archbishoprick of Canterbury. Some other
great patent-places were held by men then in Opposition.
Fox himself enjoyed a very considerable one in Ireland ;
yet so much did his thirst of vengeance surmount his
interest, that a question was put to the Chancellor,
was made to him, because probably his Majesty would hear of the grievance
no other way. On this the whole was stopped ; but that Fox might bear aU
the odium, and Lord Bute have aU the merit, the latter sent a message by
Lord Ancram to the Duke of Cumberland,* to say, that if his Royal High
ness would take it as a favour, the King would continue the pension to Mrs.
Poyntz ; and it was accepted.
The other was the case of Mrs. Cavendish, widow of an Admiral of that
name. She had for many years enjoyed a housekeeper's place in one of the
offices, in lieu of a pension as an Admiral's widow. Fox, hunting after
employments for his dependants and objects of vengeance for himself, light
ing on the name of a Cavendish, took away her place. The lady of a respect
able famUy, and sister of Mrs. Cartwright, Maid of Honour to the late
Queen, sent the latter to Lady Suffo!k,t from whom I heard this account,
immediately to entreat by her means an audience of Lady Elizabeth
Mackenzie.? Mrs. Cavendish herself, Uving in devotion and unknown to,
proved to be a relation of Lady Bute ; to whom Lady Elizabeth Mackenrie
had instantly appUed. Lady Bute, no less surprised, sent for her lord up
stairs. He said the story could not be true : it was one Mrs. Greening that
was displaced, to make room for Mrs. Goldsworthy, a companion of the
late Duchess of Richmond.! It proved that Fox had thus imposed on Lord
Bute, to whom the name of Mrs. Cavendish had never been mentioned, and
who gave her immediate redress.
* Eldest son of the ilarquis of Lothian, and Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke.
t Henrietta Hobart, Countess of Suffolk, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline.
J Wife of James Stuart Mackenzie, brother of the Earl of Bute.
§ Sarah Cadogan, Duchess of Richmond, mother of Lady Caroline Fox.

KING GEORGE III. 189
whether the King could not take away patents bestowed
in former reigns, and whether the case might not be laid
before the twelve Judges. The Chancellor, who had fits of
bluntness and honesty, or prophetically affectionate to
grants for life, so profusely heaped on him afterwards,
replied, ' Yes, they might lay the idea before the Judges,
and then refer Magna Charta to them afterwards, to
decide on tliat too.' Norton, Solicitor General, as bold
and as blunt, but never as honest as Lord Northington,
being consulted to the same point, advised to take away the
places, and then see if the law would restore them. This
man now rose from obscure infamy to that infamous
fame which long will stick to him. It was known that
in private causes he took money from both parties, and
availed himself against one or other of them of the lights
they had communicated to him.* Yet his abilities were
so good, and his knowledge so great, that no man had
more extensive practice in Westminster Hall. In Parlia
ment he had for some years been disregarded ; but his
foul tongue and causidical boldness, his clearness in
argument or facility in assertion, his attachment to Lord
Mansfield, and his total alienation from all principle,
offered him as a proper tool to a Court that was to wade
1 The same charge is brought against Sir Fletcher Norton by Junius
(Letter 39), who appUes to him Uie lines of Ben Jonson, describing the
lawyer who, Gi\'es forked counsel ; takes prox-oking gold
Oh tithtr lurmi, and puts it up ;
So wise, so grave, of so perplexed a tongue,
And Icud withal, that \\-ould not wag, nor scai-ce
Lie still, Ti'ifi.^Ht a/c£.
Though Norton had the diaraeter at the bar of being the reverse of a
liberal practitioner, it is very improbable that Walpole's assertion, ' that he
took money from both parties' in a suit, should be literaUy correct. He had
too many rivals as well as enemies in the profession to admit of such conduct
remaining unpunished ; but it is not uncommon for a counsel to feel himself
bound in honour to refuse a brief which he could not accept without using
knowledge acquired while employed by parties who had a different interest
until ^e has given those parties the option of employing him again ; and
Norton's eagerness for gain made him take a very narrow view of such
questions. — L. M.

190 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
through the letter of the law to the demolition of the
spirit. Yet his authority alone could not encourage such
a violation of justice as had now been in agitation. The
Favourite, too, and the Favourite's favourites, might think
it more eligible to leave patent-places unmolested ; they
must have coveted them more than they could wish, to
render them precarious.
The Duke of Cumberland, on these harsh proceedings,
said to Lord Waldegrave : ' Fox has deceived me grossly
— not, as you think, by giving me up ; he might be as
angry with me for talking to Newcastle and Pitt — but he
has deceived me, for I thought him good-natured ; but in
all these transactions he has shown the bitterest revenge
and inhumanity.'
When the Houses met after Christmas, the Court was
so thoroughly the master, that scarce an attempt was made
at opposition. Yet Wilkes and Churchill wrote with as
much intemperance as if the nation had been overspread
with the flame of faction. The latter now published his
Prophecy of Famine, one ofthe severest and least irregular
of his works. Their poems and libels seemed to have
little effect, but the seeds sown by them took deep root.
Nor did the Court trouble itself to deny what was charged
on it. The measures of the House of Stuart were so
thoroughly copied, that even the rankest friends of that
family were adopted at St. James's. Sir John Philipps
himself was made a privy counsellor.
It happened that Lord Strange,* moving a common
adjournment to the following Monday, the Speaker said
the House must adjourn till Tuesday, for Monday would
be the 30th of January. Lord Strange laughed at such
a Saint's day, and divided the House, but found only
thirty-six persons of his opinion ; one hundred and three
were for observing the ridiculous fast. Fox was of the
majority, i/vho, very few years before, had been for putting
an end to that Jacobite holiday — a clear indication of the
principles of the new Court. Lord Strange causing that
' Only son of the Earl of Derby, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

KING GEORGE III. 191
part of the Act of Pariiuincnl, which ordains observance
of the i\:\y, to be read, and affirming that the words,
Neither I'drlianicnt nor I'coplc can jii'l.^c tlte King, were
contrary to the con.stitution ; i'"ox denied it, and main
tained thai the constitution h;i(l always held that language.
Rose l'"uller and Lord ,Sti;iii};e moved, .iiiothcr day, to.
abolish the oJiHervation of the iireteiuled martyrdom, but
il was overruled bythe Mouse; however, it iiroduced .1
vc:ry bold ;iii(l e.vtraonliiiiiry speech from Calvert; he
drew a picture of .t llelilioiiH family in .Surrey, whom he
called llic ,S'/(VC(^/;/.v, describing two old .Sti adys and a young
one; with a vi;ry iiarliciilar account of young Steady's
mother, and of her improper intimacy with a Scotch
gardeiKir- lie iiopiid tiie true friends of young .Steady
would advise him to recall his old friends, and turn away
the .Scotch [;ar(l(Mu;r. No reply was made, for none could
be iiiadi:, without earryiii}; the a])plicatioii too home.
Most of tlu; other transactions of liiis sessu)n were as
Iridiiig, ami deserve but little iiolicc. Sir John Philipps,
to iireserve a st:ml)lancc of patriotism, or instigatiKJ by
lUile lo inlhiiiilati; Ni;wcastle, moved for the accounts of
the nation. I'ox, who did not like any clue; that might
leiid to the mysteries of tiie iiay-oflici:, opposed it ; and
Lord (iianby, though sold to the t.!oiirt, warinly lU^feiuled
the Dulce of Newiaslli;'s iiitt-grity. Le^^e objected too,
.111(1 said he saw no end such a motion tended to ; it was
like aslciii); a countiy fellow the way — lu; always asks you
whence; you came ! Aislabii; ' reflected on I'"ox for not
passing his accounts, aiul the attack was recc:ivetl with
lond marks of a|)prol)ation ; but when neither the late
nor .icliial mini.steis encouraged the iii([uiiy, it was not
likely to be vtwy successful. Sir John I'hilipps acconl-
ingly desisted, and .Sir I'"rancis Dashwood i)iopo.sed to
name a selet:t toininillei; to examine any accounts that
had been brought in, which was agreed to ; and lists were
giveii out, from whence an ei|ual number being chosen of
' William Alslnbie, Aiidilor ofthe Impivsl, son of Mi. Ai;.litliic, who wa.s
I'cmcoriu'il In Ihc .Smilli Sen .Scheme in the ifinii of Geurn« 1.

192 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGX OF
the Court's and of Newcastle's friends, no more came of
this than of twenty such intended inquiries. Nor was
anything memorable in the outset, but that the Tories,
meeting in a body to consider the proposed lists, erased
the names of Fox's four chief friends ; still, so blind were
those dull men to their real interest, and still so much
addicted to be led by mere names, they even objected to
the large army proposed to be maintained; proof that
they had not one sensible man of their body. What
should a large arm}- achieve but the work of monarchy ?
or say the Tories were honest men and lovers of liberty ?
Could they love liberty and slavery both.' or did they
call themselves by a disgracefid name when they deserved
to wear an honourable one? In truth, all the sensible
Tories I ever knew were either Jacobites or became
Whigs ; those that remained Tories remained fools.
A scheme more laudable, more necessary*, and founded
on a crying e\'il, met with no fairer success than the
committee of accounts. I mean the committee to inspect
and redress the grievous abuses of madhouses.^ Charles
Townshend took great pains in that business, distinguished
himself, was content, and dropped it The lawyers raised
many objections, and removed none. Poor humanitj- !
how iU art thou treated by the human race ! W^e fire
at the relation of calamities, denounce vengeance on the
perpetrators, cry out for, set about reformation, and in
England, give us our due, lavish our money towards it ;
then grow cool, and never think of the woe afterwards.
Lawyers never suffer correction of abuses ; they defend
them even where they do not commit them.
When the accounts of the navy were brought into the
House, it appeared that one hundred and eighty-four
thousand seamen had been raised during the war. Of
these, one hundred and thirty thousand had been lost to
^ The Report of the Committee is given in the Parliamentary Debates, v<J.
XV. 12S3. It is a very interesting document, but the only fruit of it was a
Resolution, ' That it is the opimon of the House that the present state of
the madhouses in thi^ Idngdom requires the interposition of the Le^slatnre.'
— I^M.

KING GEORGE IIL 193
the nation ; and yet, scarce will it be believed, sixteen
hundred only had been killed!^ Many had deserted,
and had enlisted again ; others went into other services.
Most of the rest died of distempers, climates, hardships,
etc. But with the loss of sixteen hundred men we had
destroyed the navies of France and Spain. Glorious con
sideration ! could it be unmixed with the remembrance
of the other hundred and twenty-eight thousand ! But
glory must shed more tears of anguish than of joj', when
ever she turns accomptant. What if returns were made
of all the other lives lost in that war all over the face of
the globe 1 What did the peasants in Germany suffer ?
even heroism had its pangs. Did not the King of Prussia
see every general with whom he commenced that short
war perish before his eyes? I said he felt a pang — I
hope he did. It is an observation a little foreign to the
reflection with which I set out, but extensively victorious
as that war was to Britain, she did not see one famous
native general arise out of that war, except Wolfe, who
died in the cradle of his celebrity ; and unless we name
Lord Clive, who was more a statesman than general, and
in both respects not matched against equal rivals. I do
not mean to detract from his merits ; he was born to
shine in the Indies : at home he never stepped beyond
the common of mankind.
Charles Townshend, who had but just resigned, and
who had no sooner resigned than he opposed the opposi
tion, perceiving the weakness of that opposition, that Pitt
would not lead it, and afraid to lead it himself, struck in
again with the tide, and at the end of February kissed
hands for first Lord of Trade, with a nominal rank of
Cabinet Counsellor, but without being permitted to go
in to the King with state papers, except with those relat
ing to the Board of Trade. He had boasted of far greater
offers. Lord Sandys was removed to make room for him.
A promiscuous meeting being held at Sir Francis Dash
wood's, to consider what proportion of army should be
^ This does not include those who died of their wounds.
VOL. I. ^'

194 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
kept up. Ellis, Secretary at War, proposed eighteen thou
sand men for England, ten for America, and the usual
twelve thousand for Ireland ; but hinted at raising six
thousand more for the latter kingdom ; which Fox said
the King desired. Sir Charles Mordaunt, a chief Tory,
said he had great duty for the King, but could not consent
to that augmentation. Charles Townshend seconded his
refusal, and it was given up.
Lord Strange said the King must know what force was
wanting, and if necessary it must be granted ; but if the
King would give it up, it showed it was not necessary ;
and therefore himself should be for the lesser number.
Sir John Philipps, Lord George Sackville, and Rigby,
tried in Parliament to obtain the additional six thousand,
but could not carry the point, though they endeavoured
to prove that the King was not limited by the Act of
King William to but twelve thousand men in Ireland.

KING GEORGE III. 195

CHAPTER XVII
Mr. Pitt's opinion on the Army Reductions. — Address to the King. — Symp
toms of disunion among Ministers. — Fox's rage. — Apprehensive of
treachery, he seeks to propitiate his old connections. — Sir Francis Dash
wood's Budget. — Tax on Cider.— Discussion on Ways and Means. —
Pitt and George Grenville. — Ardent opposition to the Cider Tax. — Petition
from Newfoundland. — Humiliation of Fox. — Debate in the House of
Lords on the Cider Bill. — Passing of the Bill. — Lord Bute's alarm. —
His resignation. — Its effect on Fox. — George Grenville first Lord of the
Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Removal of Sir Francis
Dashwood. — Ministerial changes and promotions.
When the day came for voting the army, Mr. Pitt
attended. He approved the measure, he said, as far as it
went, but wished more troops were allotted to America.
That he had a very different opinion from many of the
peace ; thought it hollow and insecure, and that it would
not last ten years. He showed no acrimony to Fox, he
and Lord Temple both seeming more hostile to Lord
Bute ; but he dropped, that if anybody would point out
the right way to inquire what was the cause of so many
dismissions, he would second the motion. Beckford hav
ing wished the army more reduced, Pitt said such reduc
tions had hurt us formerly. After the peace of Ryswick
the army was lessened to seven thousand ; but war fol
lowed in three years. After the treaty of Utrecht but
eight thousand men were kept up, but that reduction
produced a rebellion and an army of fifteen thousand.
Charles Townshend, dreading the lash of Pitt on his late
inconsistencies, retired early in the debate ; but the Gen
eral, his brother, just arrived from Portugal, was lavish
in encomiums on the peace and peace-makers.

196 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
In a few days after, Beckford, seconded by Pitt, moved
to address the King to prefer officers on half-pay to those
whose commissions were fresher ; and though Fox and
the ministers objected, it was suffered to pass. Sir Henry
Erskine in the course of the debate frequently sounding
the King's name, Mr. Pitt severely reprimanded the
Speaker for not stopping him.
In the progress of these debates, it was observed that
at least the Favourite's faction, if not himself, were hostile
to Fox. On the committee of accounts, Elliot and Lord
North had been so personal to him, that he lost his
temper ; and Beckford desiring him to save appearances,
he replied, he never minded appearances, but — he was
going to say, realities, when a loud burst of laughter from
the whole House interrupted him. His rage was so great,
that, sitting down, he said to Onslow,^ though an enemy,
' Did you ever see a man so treated in my situation ? but,
by G — , I will have an explanation and ample submission,
or I will never set my foot in this House again.' Another
symptom of disunion was, that Lord Ravens worth ^ having
moved for the whole accounts of the war, Lord Hardwicke
said it was impossible to produce theni yet ; the pay
master had a deputy abroad who could not have made
them up. This being understood as a reflection on Fox,
Lord Hardwicke said, on the contrary, he had meant to
vindicate him. Lord Talbot concurred with this explana
tion : adding, ' Nobody can imagine that / want to screen
Mr. Fox ' ; an expression warmly taken up by Lord Hils-
borough, one of Fox's friends.
If Lord Bute countenanced these hostilities, it was but
consonant to the folly of his character. Fox had boldness
and wickedness enough to undertake whatever the Court
wished to compass. Fox seemed so apprehensive of
treachery, that he cast about to recover his old connec-
^ George Onslow, only son of the late Speaker.
2 Sir Henry Liddell, Lord Ravensworth, father of the Duchess of Grafton,
a connection to which he probably owed the favourable notice of him in the
author's Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. i. p. 303. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 197
tions. By Lord Albemarle, Lord Frederic Cavendish,^
and Lord Waldegrave, he laboured to be reconciled to
the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Devonshire.
He asked Lord Waldegrave if the former was still in
censed against him. The other replied, he had not heard
the Duke mention him of late, but supposed his Royal
Highness could not be ignorant how much he had been
abused by Murphj', known to write under Fox's direction.
' Formerly he did so,' said Fox, ' but I had not seen him
in a year and a half, till hearing how violent the
" Auditors " were, I sent for him and stopped them ' — an
excuse too weak/i?^ a sensible man to make to a sensible
man through a sensible man. Lord Waldegrave suspected
that Fox's views went deeper than reconciliation ; for
shortly after this conversation Rigby came to the Earl,
and sounded him whether he would not take the Treasury,
Lord Bute, he said, not being able to stand his ground.
As Lord Waldegrave had married my niece,^ I knew all
these intrigues from him, and was actually in his house
at the time of this overture, of which he immediately told
me with an expressive smile, which in him, who never
uttered a bitter word, conveyed the essence of sense and
satire. We must now quit Fox, to make room for a doughty
hero of more comic cast, the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer.^ Hitherto he had but just acted enough as
minister, to show that he neither was one nor was fit to be
one. The time was now come for opening the budget,
when it was incumbent on him to state the finances, debts,
and calls of Government ; and to chalk out a plan of
proper supplies. All this he performed so awkwardly,
with so little intelligence or clearness, in so vulgar a tone,
and in such mean language, that he, who had been
esteemed a plain country gentleman of good sense, said,
^ A Lord of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Cumberland and a brother of
William, fourth Duke of Devonshire. See infra. — E.
2 Maria, second daughter of Sir Edward Walpole.
3 Sir Francis Dashwood.

igS MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
himself afterwards, ' People will point at me, and cry.
There goes the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer that ever
appeared!' His famous measure was the tax on cider ; and
whoever would know more of his ability in conducting
that business, will find it amply detailed in the North
Britons ; a coarse and satiric picture, yet but little ex
aggerated. The tax itself deserves far more than the
author of it to live in the memory of English history, for
the crisis it occasioned or drove on.
In the discussion of these ways and means, George
Grenville complained that men objected to laying bur
thens on the sinking fund, and called rather for new taxes.
He wished gentlemen would show him where to lay them.
Repeating this question in his querulous, languid, fatiguing
tone, Pitt, who sat opposite to him, mimicking his accent
aloud, repeated these words of an old ditty — Gentle
Shepherd, tell me where ! and then rising, abused Gren
ville bitterly. He had no sooner finished than Grenville
started up in a transport of rage, and said, if gentlemen
were to be treated with that contempt — Pitt was walking
out of the House, but at that word tumed round, made a
sneering bow to Grenville, and departed. The latter had
provoked him by stating the profusions of the war. There
is use in recording this anecdote ; the appellation of The
Gentle ShepJierd long stuck by Grenville ; he is mentioned
by it in many of the writings on the Stamp Act, and in
other pamphlets and political prints of the time.
The tax on cider raised a great flame in the westem
counties, and by management, that flame was transported
to the metropolis. All the western memjiers, however,
attached to the Court could not avoid defending the
interests of their constituents ; and thus joining what
standing Opposition there was, the minority often divided
near 1 20 ; and as every step of the bill was ardently
fought, divisions happened frequently, and threw a kind of
vivacity into the session. In the City Sir William Baker
acted strenuously against the Court, and Wilkes's pen was
never idle.

KING GEORGE III 199
In the meantime Fox received another humiliation.
He had received a petition for relief from the sufferers at
Newfoundland. It was objected to from all quarters of
the House : general indemnification could not be made
to all the sufferers by the war, why then partial ? Sir
Francis Dashwood, Lord Barrington, and Nugent, sup
ported Fox faintly ; Ellis and Rigby warmly ; Lord
George Sackville with panegyric, for which he was re
proved by Lord Strange, who with G. Grenville, Stanley,
and Lord Frederic Campbell, treated Fox and his petition
harshly. During this altercation Lord Middleton, casting
his eye over the paper, observed that all the names to the
petition were signed by the same hand. This occasioned
such an uproar, that Fox was obliged to ask pardon, and
withdraw the petition, pleading that the paper had been
written out fair from the original, which had really been
signed by the petitioners. In private, he said that there
had been a paragraph not worded with sufficient respect
to the House, which occasioned his having the petition
copied out by a clerk, and there had not been time to get
it signed again ; but he stood so ill in the public eye, that
whatever he did received the worst construction.
March 28th. — The cider bill had now laboured through
the Commons, and was read for the second time by the
Lords. Lord Hardwicke spoke and voted against it ; but
was answered well, and with severity, by Lord March-
mont^ Lord Mansfield made a bad trimming speech,
but voted for the bill. Lord Lyttelton^ spoke well against
it Lord Pomfret heaped panegyrics on the Favourite,
whose own speech was languid and unargumentative.
' Hugh Hume, Earl of Marchmont ; called in his father's time Lord Pol-
warth, and a great friend of Pope. He generally succeeded best in reply,
for he could then best employ the fire and acrimony which formerly made
him shine in opposition. — L. M.
^ George, Lord Lyttelton, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the late reign ;
another firiend of Pope, and author of Dialogues of the Dead, Life of King
Henry IL, etc. [ KiVe Walpole's Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. i. pp.
202-3, f°'' '^'s character, and many particulars of his public Ufe, written in no
friendly spirit. — L. M.]

200 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The Tory Lords who belong chiefly to the westem
counties were most of them against the bill, as were
nine of the Bishops ; but the bill was committed by a
majority of 71 to 39.
It was read the third tim.e on the 30th, and was attacked
with energy by the Duke of Grafton ; by Lord Dartmouth 1
with decency and propriety ; by Lord Lyttelton, though
with censures on the political pamphlets of the time ; and
by the Duke of Newccistle, who complimented the rising
generation. It having been reported that, on hearing the
City would petition the King against the bill, as they had
both Houses, on the ground of the bill being calculated
to extend the excise, Lord Bute had sent word to the
leading men of the City, that if they would drop their
petition, the bill should be repealed the next session, he
thought it necessary to explain the foundation of that
report ; he had only sent word, he said, that if the bill
proved a bad one, which he did not believe it would, he
would try to get it repealed. This was one of his best
speeches, though not divested of pomp, and with much
affected contempt of popularity. Lord Ravensworth
expressed great scorn of the City assuming the dictatorial
tone. Lord Denbigh was still more bitter, and spoke
with so much wit and applause that in very few days he
was made a Lord of the Bedchamber. Lord Temple hav
ing in both debates been very personal to the Favourite,
and having declared in favour of excise, as Lord Bute
had against it. Lord Denbigh said he hoped the King, to
please the City, would remove the minister who was
against excise, and place that Lord who was for it at the
head of the Treasury. The bill was passed, sixty-two
lords being for it, thirty-eight against it. After the first
debate, the Lords Oxford, Foley, and Willoughby pro-
^ WilUam Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, nephew of Henry Legge ; and much
attached to the Methodist sect ; but of an exceUent character. — [Richardson,
when asked if he knew an original answerable to his portrait of Sir Charles
Grandison, is reported to have said that he might apply it to Dartmouth
'if he were not a Methodist.' — Southey's Life of Camper (1836), vol. i.
p. 243. He was afterwards Secretary of State  L. M.]

KING GEORGE III 201
tested ; the first and last of the King's Bedchamber. After
the second debate, the Duke of Bolton,^ Earl Temple, and
Lord Fortescue protested.
Immediately after the House rose the Sheriffs hurried
to St James's ; and, though at so unusual an hour, and
without having previously asked leave, presented to the
King a petition not to pass the bill ; but he passed it the
very next morning.
Few political clouds seemed less big with mischief than
this storm, unnaturally conjured up, and little likely to
last ; for what principle of union could there be in common
between the City of London and two or three distant
counties whose apples were to be taxed ? The spell,
excise, was pronounced, but had lost its terrors. They who
sounded loudest the alarm, neither were alarmed, nor
expected to breathe much dread into others. But there
was a frame of nerves more easily thrown into disorder ;
fear seized on the Favourite ; he said, ' We shall have
thirty thousand men come down to St. James's ! ' The
assault that had been made on him the first day of the
session had left a lasting impression ; and he had showed,
early in the reign, that fortitude was not a ruling ingredient
in his composition. He had appointed himself a guard of
bruisers the day of his attending the King into the City
in 1761, when Mr. Pitt made his insolent parade thither
at the same time. Now, bating the slight distemperature
occasioned by the cider-tax, England seemed to be
willingly, and submissively, prostrate at the Favourite's
feet Would she have rebelled for a partial tax, after
acquiescing in the peace ? Fear does not calculate, but
lumps apprehensions in the gross. The panic was taken,
and on the seventh of April, to the surprise of mankind, it
was notified that Lord Bute intended to resign the next
day, and to retire for his health, not being able to go
through the fatigue of business.
It is true, that he had at times declared, that as soon as
1 Charles Paulet, Duke of Bolton, K.B. He died without issue in
1765. — L. M.

202 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
he had made the peace, he would quit his post ; but few
had heard the declaration, and fewer believed it. The
ministers knew nothing of his intention till the day before
it was publicly notified ; and Fox was so entirely out of
the secret that he reproached the Earl bitterly for leaving
him in that ignorance and dilemma, — the Favourite's own
speeches in Parliament expressing a wish of retirement
had rather confirmed men in the opinion that he had no
thoughts of it. No one act had had the least air of his
giving up his power, nor had any measures been taken
to replace him or carry on the present system ; but the
best comment on his behaviour at that moment was his
subsequent conduct. The fondness he retained for power,
his intrigues to preserve it, the confusion he helped to
throw into almost every succeeding system, and his
impotent and dark attempts to hang on the wheels of
Government, which he only clogged, and to which he
dreaded even being suspected of recommending drivers,
all proved that neither virtue nor philosophy had the
honour of dictating his retreat ; but that fear, and fear
only, was the immediate, inconsiderate, and precipitate
cause of his resignation.^
Yet let me not be thought to lament this weak man's
pusillanimity. I am condemning his want of policy, but
rejoice at it. Had he been firm to himself, there was an
end of the constitution ! The hearts of Englishmen were
corrupt and sold, and the best heads amongst them toiled
in the cause of Despotism. A happy panic blew up the
system of absolute power when it had lasted but five
months ; and a trifling Opposition overturned in a fort-
^ The best defence of his resignation is given by Mr. Adolphus, vol. i.
p. 115, from private information. It by no means exculpates him from the
charges in the text, and is also at variance with the statement of a writer who
lived on terms of the closest intimacy with the Bute family. M. Dutens
says, that 'he resigned, because he was disgusted with the bustle of business,
indignant at the behaviour of those who endeavoured to obtain his favour, at
the baseness of some, and the duplicity of others.' — Memoirs of a Traveller
now in Retirement (1808), vol. iv. p. 181. This corresponds with all that
has transpired of Lord Bute's character. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 203
night the work of that majority which a fortnight had
purchased. Yet the struggle was not over. The rod fell
into abler and more resolute hands ; the mercenaries were
not disbanded, though the commander-in-chief ran away.
Fortunately he became incompatible with his successors ;
and liberty owed its salvation, not to its friends, but to
discord among the conspirators.
I have mentioned how utterly Fox was disconcerted at
this unexpected resignation. His first movement was to
press Lord Bute to retain the Treasury, at least for six
months. That attempt was fruitless. His next step was
to secure his own peerage. Again was he astonished to
be told that he had agreed to cede the Pay-office on going
into the House of Lords. This he peremptorily denied.
But he had dealt with a worthy pupil of his own. Lord
Shelburne, who had negotiated between him and Lord
Bute, when Fox undertook the conduct of the House of
Commons, had told the Earl that Fox would quit the
Pay-office for a peerage ; but Fox had only stipulated to
give his support for that reward. He now broke out
against his scholar, reproached him for concealing Lord
Bute's intention of retiring, and spoke of Shelburne to
everybody as a perfidious and infamous liar ; those were
his usual words. The probability was, that Shelburne
intended to slip into the Pay-office himself The
Favourite, who would have declared Fox his successor,
excused Lord Shelburne to him, and, in his pedantic
style, called the secrecy he had observed a pious fraud ;
for Fox, he said, he knew would not have engaged in the
management of the Parliament, had he been apprised that
he (Bute) intended to retire, and it had been necessary to
the King's affairs that Fox should carry them through the
session. This very offer of the Treasuiy to Fox showed
how little the Favourite had taken any measures for
carrying on his master's business for the future, and cor
roborates the presumption that a sudden panic was the
immediate cause of his retreat
Fox refusing to accept them, the post of First Lord of

204 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
the Treasury and the Seals of Chancellor of the Ex
chequer were, on April 8, the very day on which the
Favourite resigned, bestowed on George Grenville. Sir
Francis Dashwood was removed to the Great Wardrobe ;
and the barony of Despencer, then in abeyance be
tween him and his nephew, Sir Thomas Stapleton, was
granted to him : the one to repair, the other to decorate,
his fall.
Some other promotions were made of the Favourite's
and Fox's adherents ; and, to strengthen the new system,
many favours were heaped on the Duke of Bedford's
dependants. Of the first sorts was the preferment of
Oswald to be Vice-Treasurer of Ireland ; of Hunter ^ and
Harris to the Treasury ; of Lord Digby^ to the Admiralty;
to which board were added, by Grenville, Lord Howe,*
and young Thomas Pitt* The Earl of Northumberland
was named to the chief government of Ireland, which had
been offered to, and refused by, Lord Granby, who, as I
hinted before, was now appointed Master of the Ordnance;
from which old Marshal Ligonier was by force removed,
but softened with a pension, which he refused to accept
till accompanied with an English peerage. General
Townshend,^ though only a Major-General, was made
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance; Lord Harcourt*
replaced Lord Northumberland as Chamberlain to the
Queen ; and, in the room of the former. Lord Weymouth
was made her Master of the Horse. The Duke of
Queensberry ' succeeded the deceased Lord Tweeddale as
Justice-General of Scotland : the Seal was given to the
Duke of Athol,* and the Privy Seal to Mr. Mackenzie,
' Thomas Orby Hunter. " Henry, Lord Digby, nephew of Mr. Fox.
' Richard, Viscount Howe.
* Thomas Pitt of Boconnock, nephew of Mr. WiUiam Pitt, with whom he
was at variance.
^ General George Townshend, afterwards Viscount.
" Simon, Lord Harcourt, who had been Governor to the King.
' Charles Douglas, Duke of Queensberry ; he had been Lord of the Bed
chamber to the late Prince of Wales.
* James, Duke of Athol.

cDi/r ^yrcMxci/i )2JJa&Tvmom£

KING GEORGE III. ' 205
the Favourite's brother. John Pitt^ was turned out to
make room for Sir Edmund Thomas.^ Lord March" and
Lord Cathcart * obtained green ribands.
' A friend of Mr. William I'ill.
' He had been (jraom ofthe Bedchamber to the late Prince.
' JameK DouglaK, Earl of March and Ruglen. [See supra, p. 23.]
* Charles Shaw, tori Cathcart, had been one of the hostages to France,
and l^ircl of the Bedchamber to William, Duke of Cumberland ; he was
afterwards Ambassador in Kussia. [lie died 14th August 1776. — E.]

206 » MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XVIII
The Bedford Faction. — Ambition of the Duchess of Bedford. — The Dukes of
Marlborough and Rutland. — Lord Gower. — Fox raised to the Peerage. —
Ingratitude of his friends, particularly of Calcraft and Rigby. — Mr.
(afterwards Sir Charles) Bunbury. — Lord Hertford and Mr. Conway. —
Charles Townshend's presumption. — Reversions granted by Lord Bute. —
Walpole's feelings towards that Minister. — His Political acts. — Death of
Lord Waldegrave. — His character.
The Bedford faction were not to be contented with
empty honours or slight emoluments. They sent for their
Duke from France, who, to grasp the more by seeming
moderation, resigned the Privy Seal, as most men thought,
with views on the Treasury itself ; at least, his squadron
vaunted that they had two or three administrations in
readiness before the King should be obliged to employ
the Opposition. The Favourite, from the first moment of
his power, had made it a point to gratify, nay, to outrun,
the Duke of Bedford's largest wishes. Nothing he had
asked, nothing his creatures were immodest enough to
demand, had been denied ; yet Lord Bute was balked in
his hopes of purchasing the attachment of that connection
— not from their usual perfidy ; he had lost them before
they suspected the smallest diminution of his omnipotence.
He had not gratified the ambition of the Duchess.^ She
had marked for herself the first post in the Queen's
family ; but with more attention to her pride than to her
interest, had forborne to ask it, concluding it must be
offered to her. The Princess and Lord Bute, either not
suspecting, or glad to be ignorant of, her views, were far
enough from seeking to place so dangerous a woman in
the very heart of the palace. This neglect the Duchess
^ Gertrude Leveson, Duchess of Bedford.

KING GEORGE III. 207
deeply resented, and never forgave. She was even so
weak as to declare that inveteracy in a letter to her sister.
Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave, from Paris ; which Lord
Bute intercepting, there first learned what an aspic was
lodged near his bosom.
But though the Favourite, persuaded of the Duchess's
implacability, dropped all correspondence with that fac
tion, he was far from checking the stream of the Crown's
graces towards them. The King begged the support of
the Duke of Marlborough,^ and offered to make him
Master of the Horse, if the Duke of Rutland^ could be
induced to part with it. The latter consented to exchange
it for Lord Chamberlain ; but that post the Duke of
Bedford insisted upon for Lord Gower." After a warm
struggle Lord Gower obtained the Chamberlain's staff";
the Duke of Rutland remained in his old situation ; and
the Duke of Marlborough, though so very young, was
appointed Lord Privy Seal ; and his brother. Lord
Charles Spencer, was made Comptroller of the House
hold. Fox obtained his barony,* and retained his place, but
not without experiencing such a scene of ingratitude as
could scarce happen but to a man who had selected his
friends more for their utility than their merit. In the
discussion, and during the defending and proving what
he had or had not said relative to the cession of the
Paymaster's place, Calcraft,^ his own creature, his cousin
1 George Spencer, Duke of Marlborough.
' John Manners, Duke of Rutland, father of Lord Granby.
^ Granville Leveson Gower, Earl Gower, brother of the Duchess of
Bedford. * Henry Fox was created Baron Holland of Foxley, in the County of Wilts,
on i6th April 1763.— E.
" John Calcraft began with being clerk in the War Ofiice at ;^40 a
year. [Calcraft held the lucrative post of Deputy Commissary General of
the Musters, and was subsequently described by Junius as rioting 'in the
plunder of the army.' — Letters (lin), vol. ii. p. 357. He had deserted his
old patron for Pitt, whom he attempted to reconcile with the Duke of Bed
ford. — Correspondence of John, fourth Duke of Bedford (1846), vol. iii. p.
236.-E.]

2o8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
raised from extreme indigence and obscurity to enormous
wealth, to opulence so excessive that the vast number
of regiments to which he was agent, and the outrageous
plurality of places he held, were universally believed to
be deposited with him only for Fox's use,^ took part
with Lord Shelburne, and witnessed to the latter's tale.
Fox ordered Calcraft to make up his accounts, dismissed
him worth near ;£'300,ooo, and, though so rich himself,
grew almost justified ; and, though so hated, grew almost
pitied ; but this was not all. The man he most loved
was Rigby ; and though Fox had not crammed him with
wealth in the same lavish guise with which he had en
riched Calcraft, he had assisted in Rigby's promotions,
and wished to push him forwards, and to be strictly con
nected with him in every political walk. In the height
of his quarrel with Shelburne and Calcraft, Fox, walking
along St James's Street, met and stopped Rigby's chariot,
and, leaning on the door of it, began to vent his com
plaints ; when the other unprovoked and unconcerned in
the dispute, interrupted the other with these stunning
sounds, ' You tell your story of Shelburne ; he has a
damned one to tell of you; I do not trouble myself which
is the truth ' ; and, pushing him aside, ordered his coach
man to drive away. From that moment Rigby became
the enemy of Fox.^ The necessity of relating this story
will appear hereafter.
The Earl of Hertford was named to succeed the Duke
' This charge is entirely unfounded. Had there been any truth in it, the
connection between Mr. Fox and Mr. Calcraft would not have been so easily
dissolved. — L. M.
^ It is in reference to Mr. Rigby's conduct that Lord Holland probably
alludes to the following passage of a letter to Mr. Selwyn of October 5, 1763 :
' I drop all poUtics that may not go by the post till I see you, when I wiU tell
you all I know of them, with the trait I mentioned. Had it been from a
political friend only, I should be ashamed to be hurt by it. No politics
will or can mortify me ; I thought this man's friendship had not been only
political. I loved him ; and whether to feel or not to feel, to despise or
grieve, on such an occasion, be most worthy of a man, I won't dispute ; but
the fact is that I have been and still am, whenever I think of it, very un
happy.' — George Selwyn aiid his Contemporaries, vol. i. p. 267. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 209
of Bedford at Paris. Fox, in the midst of his quarrels
and mortifications, found leisure to think of his friends,
and to think of gratifying his hatred. He procured his
wife's brother-in-law, Mr. Bunbury, to be imposed on
Lord Hertford as secretary of the embassy, an affront
Lord Hertford was advised not to digest : but, though he
acquiesced in it, he treated Bunbury with such obstinate
coldness that the latter was glad to quit the employment.
I never knew why Fox was on all occasions the personal
enemy of Lord Hertford and Mr. Conway, neither of
them being hostile to him, and both most inoffensive
men. The elder brother was even a good courtier, and
never in union with Fox's enemies. Mr. Conway's char
acter was indeed a reproach to that of Fox, and antipathy
is as often the cause of enmity as offence is. The decorum
and piety of Lord Hertford occasioned men to wonder,
when, in the room of Bunbury, he chose for his secretary
the celebrated free-thinker David Hume, totally unknown
to him ; but this was the effect of recommendations from
other Scots, who had much weight with both Lord and
Lady Hertford.^
While the arrangement of the new drama was thus
settling, there was an important actor to be made easy ;
but it was one who, whenever he appeared of most conse
quence, was sure of rendering himself insignificant. This
was Charles Townshend. After his usual fluctuation, he
accepted the post of First Lord of the Admiralty, and
actually went to St. James's to kiss hands for it. Pre
suming that nothing would or could be refused to him,
without asking it, without even naming it to any minister,
and as if the seats of his colleagues at that Board were in
the nomination of the First Commissioner, he carried to
court with him a Mr. Burrel, one of his followers, intending
the latter should kiss hands along with himself as another
Lord of the Admiralty. Thinking his honour engaged
to carry through this absurdity, he would not kiss the
King's hand unless Burrel was admitted too. It was flatly
' Lady Isabella Fitzroy, second daughter of Charles, Duke of Grafton.
VOL. I. O

2IO MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
refused, and Townshend was told that the King had
no further occasion for his service. Lord Shelburne
was immediately named to succeed him at the head of
the Board of Trade, and Lord Sandwich to fill up
the place destined to Townshend at the head of the
Admiralty. These were all the public promotions calculated to oil
the new springs of Government But the Favourite did
not close the scene of his administration without con
ferring still more solid marks of his power and friendship
on his family and intimate dependants. The reversion of
Auditor^ of the Imprest was obtained for his own son
Lord Mount-Stewart My place of Usher of the Ex
chequer was granted in reversion to Samuel Martin,^ and
a place " in the Custom-house, held by my brother, but
the far greater share of which had been bequeathed to me
by my father for my brother's life, was also granted in
reversion to Jenkinson.* I was, I confess, much provoked
at this last grant, and took occasion of fomenting the
ill-humour against the Favourite, who thus excluded me
from the possibility of obtaining the continuance of that
place to myself in case of my brother's death ; but in
truth, except in the want of that attention, I had no
reason to complain. I had refused to accept the grant*
from Fox, and I had in terms told Lord Bute that I
would accept no favour from him, though with great
civility, and without acting in any shape as hostile to
him. Thus my resentment kept no deep root : and I can
say with the utmost truth, that as I afterwards, though
1 Then held by Mr. Aislabie for life.
^ Secretary to the Treasury. [M.P. for Camelford from July 1747 to
March 1768, for Hastings from March 1768 to September 1774. He died on
20th November 1788, and consequently derived no benefit from this appoint
ment. 'Ssee supra, ^. 157. — E.]
^ Collector of the Customs. Sir Robert Walpole held it for his own life
and for the lives of his two eldest sons, with power of bequeathing it for their
lives to any child he pleased.
* Charles Jenkinson, private secretary to Lord Bute [afterwards Earl of
Liverpool.— L. M.]
° It was again offered to me afterwards, and I again refiised it.

KING GEORGE III. 211
never connected with him, was on many occasions friendly
to that great favourite, so no word in these Memoirs
to his prejudice has been dictated by a vindictive spirit,
but the whole narrative is faithfully the representation
of what I knew and heard of him. Infinite ill has he
occasioned to this country, in which light only it is my
intention to pass sentence on his character. In other
respects, the meanness of his abilities and the poorness
of his spirit place him below resentment His private
virtues, the long and bitter persecution he has undergone,
and many domestic misfortunes, would extract every
sting which exact or necessary justice did not sharpen.
The last transaction I am going to mention flowing
notoriously from his dispensation was of a nature not to
be palliated or forgotten. To see it in its full force of
indignity offered to so mighty a country, the reader must
place himself at the moment when England, triumphant
over France and Spain, had annihilated their navies and
sat sole arbitress of peace and war, absolutely secure that
Europe combined could not wrench her conquests from
her, and sure of proving her moderation by consenting to
peace on almost whatever terms she should please to
dictate. At that moment did a pusillanimous favourite not only
make peace, relinquishing the greater and most valuable
part of our acquisitions, but (what never entered into the
imagination of distress and slavery itself) he purchased
that scandalous peace of the envoy of a little prince who
was not even a party in the war ! In short, it now came
out that a pension on Ireland of one thousand pounds a
year for thirty-one years to Count Virri,i the Sardinian
^ This was not the only favour that the Count owed to the EngUsh Govem
ment, for they prevented his recall soon after the King's accession ; and it
was entirely at their instance that he obtained permission to give up liis em
bassy to his son. He had also received a portrait set in diamonds, and a
suite of Gobelin hangings from the King of France. Upon his resignation he
retired to his estates in Savoy, where he intrigued until he had succeeded in
replacing the Count de St. Germaine as first Minister of Savoy. — Memoirs
of a Traveller (1808), vol. u. pp. 65-6. — L. M.

212 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Minister, through whose hands the real negotiation ^ had
passed, was the price and tribute of that shame which
Lord Bute, by the treaty of Paris, heaped on Great
Britain !
The very day on which the Favourite resigned the
reins of government died the man who, of all England,
would perhaps have rejoiced the most to behold that event.
James, Earl Waldegrave, was carried off" by the small-pox,
April Sth. With unbounded benevolence, and of the
most flowing courtesy to all men. Lord Waldegrave, whose
penetration no weakness could escape nor art impose
upon, though vice he overlooked, and only abstained
sometimes from connecting with black and bad men, —
Lord Waldegrave, I say, had been so thoroughly fatigued
with the insipidity of his pupil the King, and so harassed
and unworthily treated by the Princess and Lord Bute,
that no one of the most inflammable vengeance, or of the
coolest resentment, could harbour more bitter hatred and
contempt than he did for the King's mother and favourite.
This aversion carried him to what I scarce believed my
eyes when he first showed me — severe satires against them.
He has left behind him, too, some Memoirs^ of the ie^
years in which he was governor to the Prince, that will
corroborate many things I have asserted, and will not
tend to make these Anecdotes be reckoned unjust and
unmerciful. Lord Waldegrave died most unseasonably for his own
honour. He stood so high in the esteem of mankind for
probity, abilities, and temper, that, if any man could, he
¦^ The negotiation was conducted by Count Virri, Envoy in England, and
by the Bailli de Solar, the Sardinian Minister at Paris, the intimate firiend of
the Duchess de Choiseul ; and that convenience was probably a reason why
Lord Bute yielded to the treaty being settled at Paris, though the King of
France had offered to treat here vis-h-vis du Roi de la Grande Britagne.
[Vide notes pp. 123 and 126 supra, for more details respecting the part
taken by these Sardinian Ministers in the negotiation. — L. M.]
^ These Memoirs from 1754 to 1758 were published in 1821 with an intro
duction by the third Lord Holland, and were reviewed by John AUen in the
Edinburgh Review for June 1822. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 213
might have accomplished a coalition of parties, or thrown
sense into that party, which, though acting for the cause
of liberty, rather wounded than served it, so ill were they
formed for counsel or conduct. Had he lived still longer
he must, by the deaths of the chiefs, have been placed in
contestably at the head of that party himself. Indeed,
but just before his illness, he was much looked up to by
very diff"erent sets. Lord Bute himself had thought of
him for a considerable share on his own retreat ; and, but
the day before Lord Waldegrave was seized with the
small-pox, he had been offered the Embassy to France
or Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, both of which he per
emptorily declined. And yet, after his death, the Court
boasted they had gained him, — a report much resented
and eagerly contradicted by his friend the Duke of Cum
berland. But let us now tum to the opening of the new
Administration.

214 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XIX
Lord Bute's pretended abdication of business. — The 'Triumvirate' (Mr.
GrenviUe, Lord Egremont, and Lord Halifax) who succeeded him. —
Character of those personages. — Grenville's ingratitude to Lord Bute. —
The memorable Forty-fifth Number ofthe North Briton. — Wilkes appre
hended on a General Warrant. — Committed close prisoner to the Tower.
— His spirit and wit. — His bad character. — He is taken by Habeas
Corpus to the Court of Common Pleas. — His Speech. — He is discharged
from confinement. — Chief Justice Pratt. — Triumph of Wilkes. — His
endeavour to obtain Warrants against the Secretaries of State. — Lord
Temple. — Discontent in the Cider counties. — Mortifications of the Court.
— Wilkes challenged by Forbes. — Sudden death of Lord Egremont.
The Parliament had risen on April 19th, everything
being then outwardly settled. The Favourite, to give
some colour to his pretended illness and to his still more
pretended abdication of business, went to drink the waters
at Harrowgate ; having first protested that he would
neither meddle nor off'er to intercept or direct the channel
of the King's favours. Trusting to this declaration, there
started up a triumvirate, who not only seemed to be, but
who really thought themselves, possessed of the whole
power of government. They seemed, too, to have divided
amongst themselves the whole portion of the Favourite's
pride. These were Mr. Grenville, his brother-in-law. Lord
Egremont, and Lord Halifax : the two latter Secretaries
of State.
Mr. Grenville^ had hitherto been known but as a
fatiguing orator and indefatigable drudge, more likely to
disgust than to off"end. Beneath this useful unpromising
outside lay lurking great abilities : courage so confounded
' George GrenviUe, next brother of Richard, Earl Temple. He married
EUzabeth, daughter of Sir WUliam Windham, aud sister of Charles, Earl of
Egremont, and of Percy Windham Obrien, Earl of Thomond.

KING GEORGE III. 215
with obstinacy that there was no drawing the line betwixt
them ; good intentions to the public, without one great
view ; much economy for that public, which in truth was
the whole amount of his good intentions ; excessive
rapaciousness and parsimony in himself; infinite self-
conceit, which produced impossibility of instructing, con
vincing, or setting him right ; implacability in his temper
and a total want of principles in his political conduct ;
for, having long professed himself uncommonly bigoted
to the doctrines of liberty, he became the staunchest
champion of unwarrantable power. As all his passions
were expressed by one livid smile, he never blushed at
the variations in his behaviour. His ingratitude to his
benefactor. Lord Bute, and his reproaching Mr. Pitt with
the profusion of a war which he had sometimes actively
supported, and always tacitly approved, while holding a
beneficial place,^ were but too often paralleled by the
crimes of other men ; but scarce any man ever wore in
his face such outward and visible marks of the hollow,
cruel, and rotten heart within.
Lord Egremont ^ was a composition of pride, ill-nature,
avarice, and strict good-breeding ; with such infirmity in
his frame, that he could not speak truth on the most
trivial occasion. He had humour, and did not want sense,
but had neither knowledge of business, nor the smallest
share of parliamentary abilities.^
' Treasurer of the Navy.
- Sir Charles Windham, Earl of Egremont, eldest son of the celebrated
orator, Sir William Windham, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the four last
years of Queen Anne, and of Lady Catherine Seymour, daughter of Charles,
Duke of Somerset, the proudest man of his age.
s Had Lord Egremont been a liar of the ' monstrous magnitude ' stated in
the text, he certainly would never have had the opportunity of refusing the
offer of being Secretary of State from a man of such strict honour and integrity
as Lord Waldegrave ; an offer, be it observed, which Walpole notices in his
Memoirs of George the Second without censure. It was to his refiisal of that
offer, and to his subsequent connection with Mr. GremHUe, that Lord Egre
mont owed this severe imputation. He was proud, obstinate, and hot-
tempered ; but that he was not without talent is proved by his answer to the
Spanish memorial, a State paper of acknowledged merit. Bishop Newton,

216 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Of the three. Lord Halifax ^ was by far the weakest,
and at the same time the most amiable man. His pride,
like Lord Egremont's, taught him much civihty. He
spoke readily and agreeably, and only wanted matter and
argument. His profusion in building, planting, and on a
favourite mistress, had brought him into great straits,
from which he sought to extricate himself by discredit
able means. He aimed at virtues he could not support,
and was rather carried away by his vices than sensible of
them. I have mentioned Mr. Grenville's ingratitude to Lord
Bute, which implies preceding obligation. He had owed
solely and entirely to Lord Bute the rich reversion of
a Tellership of the Exchequer for his son. Lord Bute
perhaps thought it was no light additional favour to have
made over his power into Mr. Grenville's hands. But
the latter had not forgotten how contemptuously he had
who knew him well, says, that if he ' had entered earUer into business, he
might have made as considerable a figure as his father. He had seldom
occasion to speak in ParUament, but whenever he did speak, it was vrith
great clearness, force, and energy ; and he was thought very much to resemble
his father in manner as well as in good matter, having a little catch and im
pediment in his voice, as Sir William Wyndham Ukewise had.' — Newton's
Works, 1782, vol. i. p. 68.— L. M.
' Many interesting anecdotes of Lord HaUfax are given in the Memoirs of
Richard Cumberland, who had been his private secretary for many years.
He describes him thus : ' I am persuaded he was formed to be a good man,
he might also have been a great one : his mind was large, his spirit active,
his ambition honourable ; he had a carriage noble and imposing ; his first
approach attracted notice ; his consequent address ensured respect : if his
talents were not quite so solid as some, nor altogether so deep as others, yet
they were brilliant, popular, and made to glitter in the eyes of men : splendour
was his passion ; his good-fortune threw opportunities in his way to have
supported it ; his ill-fortune blasted all these energies which should have been
reserved for the crisis of his public fame ; the first offices of the State, the
highest honours which his Sovereign could bestow, were showered upon him
when the spring of his mind was broken ; and his genius like a vessel over
loaded with treasure, but far gone in decay, was only precipitated to ruin by
the very freight that, in its better days, would have crowned it with prosperity
and riches ' (1807), vol i. p. 247. This is a generous portrait, considering that
Cumberland had certainly been unkindly treated by Lord Halifax ; and, had
he always felt thus, he would not have furnished Sheridan with the model of
Sir Fretful Plagiary.— L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 217
been set aside the last year ; and, i.s Lord Bute by no
means observed his promise of abstaining from exerting
his influence at Court, it is but candid to allow that Lord
Bute diminished the favour by not adhering to the terms on
which he bestowed it. Be that how it would, Grenville
had not sat a month at the Treasury before, remembering
the affront and forgetting the reversion, he set himself by
all manner of means to lessen the profits of the other
reversion which Lord Bute had procured for his own son.
Thus auspiciously commenced the new administration !
As soon as it was known that Lord Bute intended to
quit, Wilkes had forborne to publish his North Britons ;
waiting to see the consequences of the change. The tone
he had given did not, however, stop. In the City they
toasted to Wit, Beauty, Virtue, and Honour, ironic
designations of the King, Queen, Princess Dowager, and
Lord Bute. The North Briton, too, was soon resumed,
and on the 23rd of April was published the memorable
forty-fifth number, which occasioned so much trouble to
the author, procured so essential a correction of loose and,
till then, undefined power, and produced so many silly
conundrums and wretched witticisms on the number
itselfi This famous paper gave a flat lie to the King
himself, for having, by the Favourite's suggestion, assumed
the honour of obtaining peace for the King of Prussia.^
Nothing could be more just than the satire, nothing
more bold than the unmeasured liberty with which it was
uttered.* The Prussian monarch must have read with
^ The figures 45 became the hieroglyphics of Wilkes's party.
^ Queen Anne's speech on the Treaty of Utrecht told a similar lie ; so
exactly was the parallel maintained throughout.
' The following passages are those to which the text refers : ' This week
has given the public the most abandoned instance of official effrontery ever
attempted to be imposed on mankind. The minister's speech last Tuesday
is not to be paralleled in the annals of this country. I am in doubt whether
the imposition is greater on the Sovereign or on the nation. Every friend
of his country must lament that a Prince of so many great and amiable quaU
ties, whom England truly reveres, can be brought to give the sanction of his
name to the most odious measures, and to the most unjustifiable public
doctrines, from a throne ever renowned for truth, honour, and unsullied virtue.

2i8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
scorn, and Europe with laughter, so absurd a boast as our
vaunting to have saved an ally whom we had betrayed
and abandoned. Ridicule might have handled this vain
glorious falsehood with full severity and full security,
without passing the bounds which law allows. But when
Parliament had connived at the treachery, could it be
supposed that it would suffer a private hand to wield the
bolt which had slept in the custody of so many corrupt
representatives ? The lie given in print to the Crown, by
an obscure man, was an unparalleled licence. If the King
had a particle of power left, or his servants, or his magis
trates, of spirit, such an insult could not be passed over.
The rashness of his servants contrived to involve the
Crown and themselves in inextricable difficulties, and
to make the unwarrantable behaviour of Wilkes appear
innocent, when compared with the excesses they com
mitted themselves.
I do not mean to lead the reader through the maze of
vague and barbarous law-proceedings, which sprang out
of this transaction. It did but lay open the undefined
or unmeaning magazine of terms which the chicanery
or contradictions of ages had heaped together, and it
proved that the Crown and the subject might be justified
I am sure all foreigners, especially the King of Prussia, will hold the minister
in contempt and abhorrence. He has made our Sovereign declare. My
expectations have been fully answered by the happy effects which the several
allies of my crown have de-rived from this salutary measure ofthe definitive
treaty. The powers at war with my good brother, the King of Prussia, have
been induced to agree to such terms of accommodation as that great Prince has
approved, and the success which has attended my negotiation has necessarily and
immediately diffused the blessings of peace through every part of Europe. The
infamous fallacy of this whole sentence is apparent to all mankind ; for it is
known that the King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely dictated
as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No advantage of any kind
has accrued to that magnanimous Prince from our negotiation ; but he was
basely deserted by the Scottish Prime Minister of England. He was known
by every Court in Europe to be scarcely on better terms here than at Vienna,
and he was betrayed by us in the treaty of peace. What a strain of insolence,
therefore, is it in a minister to lay claim to what he is conscious all his efforts
tended to prevent, and meanly to arrogate to himself a share in the fame and
glory of one of the greatest Princes the world has ever seen. ' — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 219
in almost any excesses. The right hand of Nonsense
armed the King, and her left defended the subject. The
lawyers on either side were employed in discovering
springes or loop-holes.
After a week's deliberation Wilkes was seized, April
30th, by three messengers, on a general warrant, signed
by Lord Halifax. They had been ordered to apprehend
him at midnight, but abstained till noon of the 30th.
Churchill, his friend, then with him, slipped out of the
house, either to secure himself or to give the alarm. Mr.
Wood.i the Under-Secretary, and Philip Carteret Webbe,^
a most villanous tool and agent in any iniquity, seized
his papers, though he had received intimation time enough
to convey away the most material. He was conducted to
Lord Halifax's, where he behaved with much firmness
and confidence, and grievously wounded the haughty
dignity attempted to be assumed by Lord Egremont
They committed him close prisoner to the Tower ; a
severity rarely, and never fit to be, practised but in cases
of most dangerous treason. This treatment served but
to increase Wilkes's spirit and wit. He desired to be
confined in the same room where Sir William Windham,
Lord Egremont's father, had been kept on a charge of
Jacobitism ; and said he hoped, if there could be found
such a chamber in the Tower, that he might not be
lodged where any Scotchman had been prisoner.
About the same time, being told of the reasons alleged
' Robert Wood, author of the accounts of Balbec and Palmyra, and Under-
Secretary of State. He had been so made by Lord Chatham, but had
deserted him. [' Palmyra ' Wood resigned office in September 1763. See
Chatham Correspondence, ii. p. 246. He died in Gibbon's old house at
Putney on gth Seplember 1771, and was buried in the New Cemetery,
Upper Richmond Road, where a monument was erected with an inscription
to his memory written by Horace Walpole. — E.]
^ PhiUp Carteret Webbe, M.P. for Haslemere, and SoUcitor to the
Treasury. The part he took in the proceedings against Wilkes savoured too
much of the practice of the Old Bailey, and made him very unpopular. His
character otherwise was unexceptionable. He pubUshed various tracts on
law and antiquities, and was a great collector of books and medals. He
died in 1770, aged seventy. — L. M.

220 ' MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
by the King of Spain ^ for setting aside his eldest son, two
of which were, that the Prince squinted, and did not
believe the mysteries of our holy religion ; then said
Wilkes, ' I can never be King of Spain, for I squint, and
believe none of those mysteries.'
The rigour of the commitment gave serious alarm ; but,
the very day on which it happened, Wilkes's friends ap
plied to the Court of Common Pleas for his habeas corpus,
expecting it from Lord Chief Justice Pratt, and scorning
or despairing of it from Lord Mansfield.
Lord Temple instantly resorted to the Tower, but was
denied admittance to the prisoner ; a restraint the ministers
found the very next day they must take off". Lord
Temple then returned to visit Wilkes, as did the Duke of
Grafton and some few others of rank ; but, in general, the
prisoner's character was so bad, and his conduct so rash
and unguarded, that few who were either decent or cautious
cared to be concerned with him.
The habeas corpus being granted, Wilkes was carried
to the Court of Common Pleas, May 3rd. He spoke for
an hour, said ' attempts had been made to corrupt him,
now to persecute him ; he had been worse treated than
any rebel Scot' The crowd in Westminster Hall gave a
great shout ; the Chief Justice, with great dignity, reproved
them. The judges took time to deliberate. The people
were profuse of their acclamations to the sufferer.
On the sth, he wrote a letter to his daughter (a child
whom he had placed in a convent in France for her
education), and sent it open to Lord Halifax ; it congratu
lated her on living in a free country. He was the same
day turned out of his commission in the militia.
On the 6th, being again conveyed from the Tower to
Westminster Hall, Pratt and the other judges of the
Common Pleas unanimously discharged him from his con
finement ; the Chief Justice delivering their opinions, and
^ When Charles, King of Naples, on the death of his brother, King Fer
dinand, succeeded to the crown of Spain, he set aside his eldest son as an
idiot, made the second Prince of Asturias, and the third King of Naples.

KING GEORGE IH. iii
dismissing him on his parliamentary privilege, 'because,
though privilege of Parliament does not hold against a
breach of the peace, it does against what only tends to a
breach of the peace. The case of the seven bishops was
quoted ; the judges Wright, Holloway, and Allibone had
been against them. Allibone, said Pratt, was a Papist;
Wright and Holloway had been appointed for the occa
sion ; but Powel, an honest man, had declared for the
bishops. On the other hand, he quoted a recent case of
Lord Tankerville, who having been arrested on a prosecu
tion for bribery in the election for Windsor, the Lords had
declared it a breach of privilege ' — we shall find how much
less tender the Commons were of their privileges.
The Chief Justice had no sooner granted the enlarge
ment of Wilkes, than two ofthe King's sergeants presented
letters to the Court, from the Attorney and Solicitor
Generals, demanding to be admitted into the Court, as the
case concerned the King's interest. The Attomey, it is
said, has a right of interfering in any Court where the
King's interest is agitated ; it is doubted whether the
Solicitor has the same prerogative. To both Pratt an
swered that they had applied too late. Now did the Court
feel the consequence of having forced Pratt to be Chief
Justice against his will.
This triumph quite overset the little discretion of which
Wilkes had been master. He seemed to put himself into
the situation of a King, who, not content with the out
works with which the law has surrounded his person,
attempts to employ the law as offensive artillery. Aff'ect-
ing to have been robbed of moveables when his papers
were seized, Wilkes entered into a virulent controversy,
by letter, with the Secretaries qf State ; and even en
deavoured, though in vain, to obtain warrants for search
ing their houses. This wild conduct did not help his
cause. His next step fell more perniciously on his own
head. He erected a printing-press in his own house ;
and, against the remonstrances of Lord Temple, who never
wanted fear where there was room for it, and who had no

222 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
taste for anything that did not lead directly home to
faction, indulged himself in realizing those sallies of his
humour and intemperance, which are scarcely excusable
when transient and confined to the jollity of intoxicated
moments at table. The Court regarding Lord Temple
as the instigator, not as the Socrates, of this Alcibiades,
removed him from the Lord- Lieutenancy of the county of
Buckingham. The printers, who had been vexed in their
business by the orders of the Secretaries of State, and
encouraged by the victory of Wilkes, prosecuted the
messengers, and obtained damages to the value of £lfiO.
The same spirit spread into the west. In the cider
counties they dressed up a figure in Scotch plaid, with a
blue riband, to represent the Favourite, and this figure
seemed to lead by the nose an ass royally crowned. At
the same time they voted instructions to their members to
try to obtain a repeal of the Act. The circumstance of
the Act being passed under so unpopular an administration
was most unfortunate. It had taken thirty years to open the
eyes of mankind to the benefits of excise : the only, at
least the best, method of improving the revenue without
imposing new burthens. Being started at so ungracious a
moment, the old prejudices were industriously revived.
The Court at the same time met with some mortifica
tions in their pursuit of congratulatory addresses on the
peace, which they sedulously promoted. One, Judge
Perrot,^ was so servile as to recommend it from the
bench on the circuit. The Duke of Newcastle and Lord
Hardwicke, the one Chancellor, the other High Steward
of the University of Cambridge, refused to go to St.
James's with the address of that body. Allen,^ the
' George Perrot, the second son of the Rev. Thomas Perrot, Prebendary of
Ripon, was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer in January 1763. He
retired from the bench in May 1776, and died on 28th January 1780, aged
sixty-nine. There is a monument to his memory in Laleham Church. He
was never knighted. — E.
* Ralph Allen of Prior Park, near Bath, Master of the Cross-posts. [Hurd
states that Warburton married ' Miss Gertrude Tucker, Mr. Allen's favourite
niece.' — Warburton's Works(\%i\), vol. i. p. 41. ^E.]

KING GEORGE IIL 223
ostentatious patron of Pope and Warburton, the latter of
whom had married his natural daughter, prevailed on the
city of Bath to thank the King for the adequate'^ peace,
and had himself the insolence or folly to send that address,
so profligately worded, to Mr. Pitt, with whom he had
maintained a mutual intercourse of flattery. Mr. Pitt
disdained to present their compliment to the King, and
even declared he would represent their city no more.
Wilkes, in the meantime, had gone to France to visit
his daughter. There he received a challenge from one
Forbes,^ an outlawed Scot in the French service, who
could not digest the torrents of abuse which Wilkes had
poured forth on his country. Alexander Murray, brother
of Lord Elibank, and an outlaw too since the Westminster
Election in 1751," was the go-between in this quarrel, not
without being suspected of inflaming it Wilkes accepted
the defiance for the next morning, but, when Forbes
called on him, affected to laugh it off", saying, he was
' Mr. I'itt had openly pronounced the peace inadequate, and it seemed to
be personally levelled at him, that the address affected to call it adequate.
[Bishop Warburton insists on Allen's ignorance of Mr. Pitt having applied
the term ' inadequate ' to the peace, and disclaims any concern in it himself;
though he admits having drawn up, promoted, and advised a sinular address
from the clergy of Gloucester, whose interference, on this occasion, ' had the
fate,' Mr. I'itt observed, ' not to be imitated by any other episcopal see in the
kingdom.' Allen, who was now an old man, felt Mr. Pitt's resentment
acutely, and immediately withdrew from this corporation. He died on the
agth June of the following year, having bequeathed to Mr. Pitt a legacy of
^1000. Mr. Pitt's letter of condolence to his widow shows, that whatever
coolness the address might have produced in their intercourse was short
lived. The correspondence between Mr. Pitt and Allen is in the .4nnuai
Register for 1763, p. 206; and in the Chatham Co)Tf.<poii,iciifC, vol. ii.
p. 223 ; see also pp. 253-250. — L. M.]
' Captain Forbes, of Ogilby's regiment, in the French service. He was of
good family in Scotland, and of some merit in his profession, as may be
infonod from his subsequently attaining the rank of General in Portugal,
whore, in common with other Scotch exiles, he was employed and trusted. —
L.M.
' Vide Memoirs of the year 1751, [vol. i. p. 17 et seq. He was at that
time residing at Paris under the name of Count Murray. In 1771 he was
recalled by letter under the King's privy seal, and he died shortly afterwards.
— L. M.]

224 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
bound to fight Lord Egremont by preference before any
other man. When that excuse availed not, he asked
Forbes if he had provided a second ; to which the other
replied, such preparation was too dangerous in France.
Altercations thickened, till at last the lieutenant de police
was sent for, who obliged Forbes to promise not to
proceed any farther.
Had the duel with Lord Egremont been seriously
intended, from that too would Wilkes have been delivered ;
for the earl, who was of a sanguine and apoplectic
complexion, of which he had felt attacks, and though
warned in vain to moderate the indulgence of his palate,
to which he was ungovernably prone, died suddenly on
the 2 1st of August, and put an end to a triumvirate which
had involved their master and themselves in such a
labyrinth of knotty and undecided questions.

KING GEORGE III. 225

CHAPTER XX
Perplexity of the 'Triumvirate.' — Lord Bute's unsuccessful Manoeuvres.—
Lord HaUfax and Mr. Grenville remonstrate with the King. — The
Duchess of Bedford's animosity to Lord Bute and the Princess of Wales.
— Schemes of the Bedford Faction. Mr. Pitt sent for by the King. —
Negotiation with the former. — The Treaty broken off. — Causes of the
Rupture. — The King's Account of his Interviews with Pitt.— Pitt's
Proposals. — Proscriptions. — Machinations of Lord Sandwich. — Ministerial
Arrangements. — Grenville's Power. — Lord Temple's Conduct.
But it was not the affair of Wilkes which had alone
perplexed the Triumvirate. They found they were by no
means in the confidence of the King. He was continually
suggesting new measures to them, which plainly came
from a hidden quarter. A fortnight before the death of
Lord Egremont, his Majesty had hinted to Grenville
that he wished to prevail on Lord Hardwicke to return,
if not to his service, at least to his councils. Whether
the blow received from the Common Pleas had alarmed
the Favourite (who had made but a very short stay at
Harrowgate), and had warned him to look out for more
support ; or whether he thought the three ministers
insufficient ; or whether, which is most likely, he wished
already to get rid of them, especially having detected the
underhand practices of Grenville against his son's patent ;
— in short, whatever was the motive, Grenville could not
be ignorant who was author of the advice, and only
replied, it would not do. The King insisted, and the
overture was made ; Hardwicke rejected it, and said he
would not abandon Newcastle. The King then com
manded the same trial to be made on Newcastle, but
with exclusion of Mr. Pitt; an early proof of those
crooked councils of division with which the Favourite
VOL. I. P

226 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
was afterwards so often charged, and which were so
agreeable to the King's natural insincerity. Newcastle
haughtily refused the off'ers made to him. Still were the
King's discourses dark and ambiguous ; and, though
affecting to call out for new strength by extending
preferments, he had refused, at Grenville's recommenda
tion, to make the Duke of Leeds ^ President of the
Council, and Lord Hyde ^ Chief Justice in Eyre.
On this behaviour the three ministers had determined
to bring his Majesty to an explanation. Lord Halifax
broke the ice ; complained of their not having his
countenance, and concluded with telling him that he had
but three options : to support them ; to try a coalition of
parties, which was impracticable ; or to surrender him
self, bound hand and foot, to Mr. Pitt. Mr. Grenville
went much farther ; reproached him with violating the
assurances he had given them that Lord Bute should
meddle no more, and with abandoning the ministers he
had himself chosen. The King renewed his professions,
and promised to be firm to them. Grenville said he
should go into the country for a fortnight, and begged
the King to take his final resolution against that time.
At Grenville's return the King had renewed his pro
testations, and, the very day before Lord Egremont
died, Grenville had been to assure him of the King's
promise to be true to them ; but, on the 25th, Grenville,
through great professions to him, perceived that his
Majesty was not without a disposition of recalling Pitt,
against which Grenville made a warm, not to say
indecent, remonstrance and protest.
' Thomas Osbome, fourth Duke of Leeds.
2 Thomas Villiers, Baron Hyde, brother of WUliam, Earl of Jersey. [He
aad been Minister at Berlin in the reign of George the Second, and received
various honours from Frederick the Great, whose preference of him to such
men as Mr. Legge and Mr. Fox, and even to Sir Andrew Mitchell, probably
arose from the same reasons that induced Napoleon to bestow the warmest
praise on such of his enemy's generals as he most wished to have as
opponents. Lord Hyde was an amiable nobleman, of very comely person,
and graceful deportment ; he married one of the coheiresses of Lord
Clarendon, was elevated to that earldom in 1776, and died in 1786. — L. M.]

KING GEORGE III. 227
The Bedfords in the interim had totally renounced
Bute. The Duchess had carried her animosity still
higher, and would not, on her return from the French
embassy, be prevailed on to pay her duty to the Princess
of Wales. Casting about for allies (for Grenville and
Lord Halifax they despised), the Bedford faction had
not been without views of connecting with the Duke of
Cumberland and Newcastle ; and his Royal Highness
had at this very juncture been invited to Woburn. The
death of Lord Egremont seeming to dissolve that ministry,
a bolder stroke was struck ; and the Bedfords, hoping
under him to get possession of the government, deter
mined to attempt making Mr. Pitt minister. With this
view, Rigby, in the most private and mysterious manner,
went down to Woodstock, and sent for the Duke of
Bedford, who was then at Blenheim, and persuaded him
to go directly to town to the King, and advise him to
send for Mr. Pitt.^ Lord Shelburne, who in his separate
department had affected to act minister too, had assured
them that this would not be opposed by Lord Bute ; but
had not trusted them, or was not trusted himself, with
Lord Bute's real disposition that way. Rigby had no
sooner lighted the match than he left the mine to take
fire, and retired to his own house in the country ; while
the Duke of Bedford posted to the King, and told him
that, as he had made peace abroad, he must now make it
at home, and that could only be effected by sending for
Mr. Pitt
Lord Bute, hearing this measure had been prescribed
by the Duke of Bedford, thought it wiser to have the
merit of it himself Mr. Pitt, though trusting to the
clamour of party for support, had seldom openly courted
it ; and, since he had had such eminent services to boast,
had aff'ected to despise it He had kept clear of all
^ Mr. Grenville was deeply offended at this interference of the Duke of
Bedford ; and his friends, in^consequence, took no pains to defend the Duke
when the current of popular feeUng afterwards turned so strongly against
his Grace. — L. M.

228 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
transactions with Wilkes, and had condemned Lord
Temple's connection with him, and, yet more, his visits
to that incendiary in the Tower. Mr. Pitt's amity
might reconcile the people, and no man was so accom
modating a partner in power ; Pitt having few or no
dependants, and scorning to meddle in the distribution
of common places and preferments. On these grounds
the Favourite, through the intervention of Alderman
Beckford, entered into a negotiation with Mr. Pitt, and,
finding facilities there beyond his most sanguine hopes,
induced the King to send for that formidable dictator.
It was on the 28th of August that Mr. Grenville,
arriving at Buckingham House, was struck with the
apparition of Mr. Pitt's chair and servants in the Court
This was the first notice he or the public received of a
phenomenon so little expected, at least by the latter.
Let it be remarked here, that I do not pretend to give
a perfect and entire account of the following negotiation.
No transaction was ever involved in more contradictions
and mystery ; for, though the retainers of both sides
spoke out, and amply, their narratives disagreed materially,
and the exact truth was never fully known. From all I
could collect then or since, and from explanations which
I have gathered by commenting on the subsequent
behaviour of the actors, I believe the ensuing relation is
pretty near the truth.
The Bedfords had sent Calcraft to Hayes ^ to sound
how Mr. Pitt stood affected to them, and Calcraft
returned with a most favourable account. On this
assurance had the Duke of Bedford pushed on the
measure of advising the recall of Mr. Pitt Lord Bute
had not been less encouraged by the report of Alderman
Beckford, for Mr. Pitt had determined, if ever he should
return to Court, not to make himself unwelcome there.
The Favourite, therefore, saw him privately at his house
in Jermyn Street before he saw the King, and advised
him not to propose Lord Temple for the Treasury, which
^ Mr. Pitt's villa at Hayes, near Bromley, in Kent.

KING GEORGE III. 229
would break off the negotiation. Pitt thanked him, but
did not take his advice, — and on this rock undoubtedly
did the treaty split ; for all the variations I have hinted
at were but circumstances artfully seized or feigned to
colour the rupture, or misrepresent it.
The Favourite deceived, or deceiving himself, brought
about the interview, as I have said, between the King
and Mr. Pitt It lasted three hours, and the bargain was
universally thought concluded. But the King had not
only been revolted at Mr. Pitt's terms, though without
owning it, but Mr. Pitt had had the sagacity to discover
his Majesty's repugnance ; and therefore not only carried
on the farce of returning to Court the next day, but was
so dexterous as to see the Duke of Newcastle, with whose
interests he had by no means clogged his first demands ;
and assuring his Grace of his zeal for his service, went back
to the King with a schedule of terms extremely enlarged.
These were peremptorily rejected, and the treaty broke
off", on pretences which the one had not meaned to ask,
nor the other cared whether he granted or refused. The
Treasury for Lord Temple was the real stone of offence.^
But no sooner was the rupture known, than all tongues
were let loose to inquire, guess, invent, or assign causes.
The King detailed his conversation with Mr. Pitt to all
that came about him — and almost all added to it, as their
interest or malice su|;gested. Mr. Pitt saw very few, and
^ Walpole is mistaken in this supposition ; for the King himself proposed
Lord Temple for the Treasury. — Lord Hardvricke's letter to Lord Royston.
An impartial narrative of this transaction is given by Mr. Adolphus (vol. i.
p. 127), with a reference to the contemporary authorities, of which the most
important are Lord Hardwicke's letter, and the letters in the Chatham
Correspondence (vol. U. p. 236). The ' dexterity ' and finesse ascribed in the
text to Mr. Pitt hardly belong to his character, and certainly were not
exhibited on this occasion. His private correspondence proves, as he told
the King, that he felt throughout the impossibility of his making a ministry,
unless it rested on ' the great families who have supported the Revolution
Government, and other great persons, of whose abiUty and integrity the
country have had experience, and who have weight and credit in the nation.'
This would necessarily have involved gieater changes than the King then
contemplated, though not greater than his Majesty subsequently found
inevitable. — L. M.

230 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
to fewer would disclose any circumstances. He soon
found that he could not speak without flatly contradicting
what his Majesty had said, or was reported to have said.
No wonder the transaction came forth loaded with un
certainties and inconsistence !
The substance reported was, that Mr. Pitt had proscribed
almost all the ministry then existing, and yet had been
very cool in recommendations of the Opposition. The
first part was not very credible, for though his haughtiness
rendered him indifferent to those who affected to call
themselves his party, his nature, on the other hand, was
not vindictive : and it was true, that he had not been
worse treated by the one set than by the other. On his
second audience, I believe it might be true to a good
degree that he had been dictatorial ; but at first he had
been far more moderate. However, it was given out that
he proscribed all who had made, or had voted for, the
peace: whereas he had spoken tenderly of some of the
negotiators ; and had said of the treaty itself, that he
would take it, and make the best he could of it
The King himself, relating the two conversations, took
care to dwell on any circumstances that would most affect
the persons to whom he made the confidence. Thus, to
Lord Hertford, at that time Lord of the Bedchamber in
waiting, the King said, 'Mr. Pitt proscribed several,
particularly your friend Lord Powis i^ I told him,' con
tinued his Majesty, ' that he might restore Lord George
Cavendish ;^ but Lord Powis had stuck by me, and I
never would abandon him." I will stand by those who
have stood by me. He said little,' continued the King,
'of Legge' (another of Lord Hertford's friends, consequently
the King intended Legge should be informed), 'only, having
recommended Lord Temple for the Treasury, Mr. Pitt
said, Mr. Legge may be his Chancellor of the Exchequer,
if he pleases — if not, Lord Temple will name another. He
^ Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis.
'' He had been succeeded as Treasurer of the Household by Lord Powis.
" His Majesty did not give him up in less than two years on the next change.

KING GEORGE IH. 231
surprised me,' pursued the King to Lord Hertford, ¦ with
saying still less of your relation the Duke of Grafton ; and
more, with crying up to me for one of the first men of
business in the kingdom, Lord Rockingham,^ whom he
intended for First Lord of the Admiralty. I thought,'
said his Majesty, ' I had not two men in my bedchamber
of less parts than Lord Rockingham.' The King spoke
handsomely of both the Dukes of Grafton and Devonshire,
and laid his treatment of the latter on passion, that Duke
not having made the least excuse for not coming to
council when he had been summoned. Knowing that
Lord Hertford was not well with Fox, the King affirmed
that he had taken the latter last winter against his inclina
tion ; and he told Lord Hertford that the Duke ot New
castle had urged the Duke of Bedford to make a worse
peace than Mr. Pitt had projected, and had promised to
defend it : and that the Duke of Devonshire had recom
mended to the Duke of Bedford to make any peace ; and
then, fearing to be reproached with that advice, always
avoided conversation with that Duke. ' When he took
leave of me,' added the King, ' Mr. Pitt said to me, Sir,
the House of Commons will not force me upon your
Majesty, and I will never come into your service against
your consent' 'You see,' said Lord Hertford, when he
repeated this conversation to me, 'that if they did not
shut the King up, he would talk enough to anybody!' —
but if they sometimes debarred him from talking, hc was
now instructed to talk — and every grain hc sowed brought
forth an hundred-fold.
I must observe that his Majesty had told Lady Holland,
in the drawing-room, that he should never forget Mr. Fox's
undertaking the House of Commons and the Peace in the
last winter. It is certain that in this interview with
Mr. Pitt, the King proposed to take the Paymaster's place
from Fox, and bestow it on George Grenville.
Of the persons really proscribed, the chief was Lord
Mansfield. 'He is a Jacobite,' said Pitt, 'and means, sir,
I Charles Watson Wentworth, Marciuis of Rockingham.

232 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
to ruin your family.' He recommended Pratt for a peer
age, and in future for the Chancellor's Seals : would have
saved the Duke of Marlborough, as a young man misled ;
Elliot, for having tried to preserve union between him and
Lord Bute ; and of Lord Halifax he had said, ' that he was
a pretty man, and, as in bad circumstances, might be Groom
of the Stole or Paymaster.' ' The Duke of Newcastle,' he
said, 'would take any place not of business.' Charles
Townshend he proposed for Secretary of State with him
self The Secretary at War should not be of consequence,
as it was now under Ellis,^ that clerk of Fox the Paymaster,
but should depend on him whom his Majesty should think
proper to command his army. ' Then,' said the King, ' we
shall agree in Lord Granby ' ; ' or,' said Pitt, ' in Lord
Albemarle.'^ This was the sole approach he seemed to
make towards the Duke of Cumberland ; but never would
his Majesty have trusted his army with a creature of his
uncle. Of Lord Gower Pitt spoke not favourably, having pro
bably discovered that it was the way to make his court to
the Favourite, who, having perceived that that Lord aimed
at being a favourite himself, had taken care to alienate the
King's mind from him. Rigby was not excepted for mercy,"
and Lord Sandwich much less. Of the Duke of Bedford
Mr. Pitt spoke properly, as of a man well-intentioned, but
shamefully misguided, and who might hereafter, if in proper
hands, be useful to Government But nothing harsh did
Pitt utter against the peace : he would try to meliorate it
Should a national spirit of inquiry arise, he would not resist
it. He had held the same language formerly on the loss
of Minorca : they were specious words then and now, but
with no sanguinary intentions.
1 Welbore EUis, Esq.
"^ George Keppel, third Earl of Albemarle.
= Walpole is in error here. Wood informed Mr. Pitt of the report that he
had proscribed Lord Gower, Rigby, and others of the Bedford party ; and
Mr. Pitt's reply, though it has not been preserved, may be inferred, from
Wood's acknowledgment of it, to have amounted to a positive denial of the
charge. — Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 249. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 233
When Calcraft was reproached by the Bedford faction
with havuig deceived them on Pitt's disposition towards
them, he could not evade the charge. A breach ensued,
and he remained attached to Mr. Pitt
Sandwich, finding himself proscribed by Pitt, made
advantage of the moment, and exerting all his invention
and industry, of which no man possessed a larger receipt,
he set himself to persuade men of all denominations that
they had been marked in black letters in the dictator's
catalc^e of pains and penalties. He even drew every
man's character to himself, and selecting their faults or
deficiencies, ascribed to Mr. Pitt both the recapitulation
and imaginary sentence that followed it Grenville and
Lord Halifax caught the righteous flame, and diffused it :
Grenville even assembling the Commissioners ofthe several
boards, and assuring them, one and all, that they had been
condemned by Mr. Pitt to be cashiered. To Woburn,
where the Duke of Bedford was at this anxious moment
detained by his royal visitor, the Duke of Cumberland,
Lord Sandwich wrote inflammatory letters, telling Bedford
that he was proscribed, and his peace to be attacked. The
warm little Duke caught fire ; but Rigby, to whom Sand
wich had made the same report, doubted, and came to
town, where he was either duped into, or persuaded to
join in, the imposition.
Grenville was pressed by the King to remain minister,
and did not want to be pressed. The Duke of Bedford, in
the hot fit of zeal and resentment, accepted the post of
President ; and Shelburne, who had shuffled round the
compass with so ill success, and lost the favour of Lord
Bute, choosing now to adhere to Pitt, and resigning the
seals, they were bestowed on the only man who could
replace, or excel him. Lord Sandwich. It was fortunate
for Grenville and union, that the faction did not wish to
place the Duke of Bedford at the head of the Treasury, —
but they could not trust his warmth and absurdities. In
Ireland he had disgusted everybody, and had gone so far
as to tell the Irish themselves that theirs was no Parlia-

234 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF ¦
ment. The Court had wished to have Charles Townshend
Secretary of State with Lord Halifax ; but he too, for that
time, stuck to Mr. Pitt, and refused.
Thus, from a strange concurrence of jarring causes,
there sprung up out of great weakness a strong and
cemented ministry, who all acquiesced in the predominant
power of Grenville. The Favourite hated, had tried to
shake him off", and he knew it How much must his
brother Temple have been detested at Court, when, under
all these humiliating aspects, it was thought preferable to
retain Grenville !
In truth, nothing could be more offensive than Lord
Temple's conduct, whether considered in a public or
private light Opposition to his factious views seemed
to let him loose from all ties, all restraint of principles. Of
the truth of this assertion he, at the tim'e I am describing,
gave a convincing proof His brother George was at that
moment the object of his jealousy and resentment He
had, however, been prevailed upon by his family, or rather
by considerations of family, to suffer Mr. Grenville to be
rechosen for Buckingham ; but on this sole condition, that
Mr. Grenville should give up a paper formerly received
from him. When Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle,^ who
had negotiated this treaty, gave him the paper, he said,
after reading it : 'It is true, I am bound in honour and
by promise to make a firm entail of my estate, — I will ;
but it shall be on my brother James.' ^ The case was
this : it had been discovered during the life of their uncle,
the late Lord Cobham, that he had made a flaw in the
settlement of his estate. A meeting of his nephews was
held in the presence of his sister," and their mother, the
^ Dr. Charles Lyttelton, brother of George, Lord Lyttelton. They were
sons of Christian, sister of Richard, Lord Cobham, consequently first cousins
of Lord Temple.
' James Grenville, the third brother.
' Richard Temple, Lord Cobham, had four sisters, Maria, Hester,
Christian, and Penelope. Maria, widow of Sir John Langham, offended him
by marrying Mr. West, a clergyman, on which he set her aside, and settled
his estate, and obtained his peerage to be settled, on Hester, the second sister.

KING GEORGE IIL 235
late Lady Temple. She said, ' My son Richard is ill with
my brother ; if we tell my brother of this flaw, he may
make a new settlement, and give his fortune from my
eldest son.' George Grenville consented to keep the
secret, provided his brother gave him the most solemn
promise in writing to resettle the estate when he should
come to it Insensible to such a tie, and filled with
rancour, he had the mortification of seeing that very
brother preserved in power merely to his exclusion.
Other persons preferred on the new settlement were
Lord Egmont to the head of the Admiralty, and Lord
Hyde to be joint-Postmaster.
and her issue, who, by Mr. Grenville, her husband, were Richard, George,
James, Henry, Thomas, and Hester, the wife of Mr. Pitt. [Maria Temple,
by her first husband, Dr. Richard West, Archdeacon of Berks, was the mother
of Gilbert West, the author ofthe treatise on the Resurrection]. — E.

236 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XXI
Secret power of Lord Bute. — His rupture with Pitt. — The late Prince of
Wales's character of Bute. — Extraordinary Anecdote. — Mr. Legge's impru
dent Manoeuvre. — Unanimous attempt to destroy Wilkes. — Govemor
Johnstone. — General Wall. — The Comte de Guerchy. — His character. —
Madame de Guerchy. — The Duke de Nivernois, and the Chevalier
d'Eon. — Death of Augustus the Third of Saxony. — The Pope invites the
Duke of York to Rome. — Humiliation ofthe helpless Line of Stuart. —
Charles Vorke resigns the Attorney-Generalship. — Trimming conduct of
the Yorke Family. — Unfavourable Commencement of the new Lord Lieu
tenant's power in Ireland.
Still did the same grievance remain, the favour and
secret power of Lord Bute. Grenville and Lord Halifax
insisted that he should go abroad ; and it was said to be
promised. At least his refusal, or breach of promise, was
made the pretence for depriving him of the custody of
the King's Privy-purse, an office he yet retained. The
nomination of a successor showed how little the ministers
had gained, and how vainly they endeavoured to destroy
his credit, the Purse being immediately given to Sir
William Breton,^ who was groom of the Bedchamber to
the King, as he had been to the King's father, and who
was a most devoted tool of the Princess and her favourite.
A stronger proof of the latter's confidence in his own
power was given by himself George Grenville having
written a very voluminous letter to Sir John Philipps,
giving an account of the negotiation with Mr. Pitt and its
miscarriage, of which letter the King had seen and
approved every paragraph. Sir John wrote a warm
expostulation to Lord Bute (who he did not know had
1 Breton was knighted on 2lst September 1761. He died on 8th
February 1773. — E.

KING GEORGE IH. 237
been concerned in that treaty), blaming the timidity of
sending for Mr. Pitt Lord Bute returned a Jiaughty
answer, in which he said, whatever the ministers might
think, they sliould find he himself was minister still. A
memorable sentence, confirmed by facts, and of which the
contrary assertion was vainly attempted afterwards to be
imposed upon the world.
The mysteries of this man's conduct, and the reserve
and eccentric starts of Mr. Pitt, have made any lights
valuable that can be thrown on this part of our history.
Mr. Pitt's was the character suited to support and colour
over the pusillanimity of the Favourite, but his jealousy
and their mutual pride threw them at a distance. The
affair of George Sackville, who was attached to Lord Bute,
and proscribed by Pitt in compliment to Prince Ferdinand,
had given the finishing stroke to their rupture ; hastened,
too, by that very attachment of Mr. Pitt to the foreign
house of Brunswick. Nor, with all the disposition of Pitt
to forgive the Favourite's offences, could they meet again
while Lord Temple hung upon his brother-in-law, and was
the sine qud non of Mr. Pitt's return to Court On every
occasion of moment appeared the justness of the character
drawn of Lord Bute by the late Prince of Wales, who did
not want parts, nor ill-nature to sharpen those parts, nor
insolence to utter what either of them dictated. Growing
tired of Lord Bute a little before his death, he said to him,
' Bute, you would make an excellent ambassador in some
proud little Court where there is nothing to do.' It had
been happy for England, and for Lord Bute too, if the
Prince could have made that destination of him — I mean,
without living to execute it himself
I shall relate another very extraordinary anecdote,
which will not be mentioned improperly in this place,
though I do not know the precise time in which it
happened. The Princess Dowager dreamed that she was
in the palace of Saxe Gotha : the window was open, and
the moon, level to it, shook with a tremulous motion
before her eyes, to her great disquiet She bade Lord

238 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Bute try to fix it Extending his arms to stop its motion,
it burst in his hand into ten thousand fiery splinters ; on
which, turning to the Princess, he said reproachfully, ' See,
Madam, to what you have brought me!' This dream was
the Princess so weak as to repeat the'next morning to
some of her women ; one of whom, I guess the wife of
Velters Cornwall, told it to Lady Suffolk,^ who trusted it
to me. She did not name her authority, but said she
heard it from one of the Princess's bedchamber ; and Mrs.
Cornwall I know was the one with whom Lady Suffolk
was the most connected. I repeat this vision, not as
prophetic or divine, but as a strong picture of what passed
in the mind on which it painted itself
Before I close this account of the negotiation, I ought
to assign the reason why Mr. Pitt had so slightingly or
off"ensively mentioned Mr. Legge, the second in opposi
tion, and long the second to Mr. Pitt himself With all
his abilities, Legge was of a creeping underhand nature,
and aspired to the lion's place by the manceuvre of the
mole. While yet connected with Mr. Pitt, and before he
had lost favour at Leicester House,^ he had, before the
late King's death, brought about a secret interview with
Newcastle ; but with so much circumspection that, meeting
' Henrietta Hobart, sister of the first Earl of Buckinghamshire, widow of
the Earl of Suffolk, and afterwards of George Berkeley, brother of the Earl
of Berkeley, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline, and mistress of King
George the Second. The author Uved in great friendship with her the last
years of her life ; her house at Marble HUl, Twickenham, and his at Straw
berry Hill, near the same viUage, were within a mile of each other, and he
passed three or four evenings every week with her, when they were in the
country. She died July 26, 1767, aged seventy-nine, and was remarkable for
her strict and minute veracity and memory, which she retained to the last,
as well as eyesight, teeth, and the elegance of her person. [Her Letters were
edited by J. W. Croker in 1824, London, Svo. — E.]
- Leicester House, in Leicester Fields, the residence of the Sydneys, Earls
of Leicester, was hired and inhabited by King George and Queen Caroline,
when Prince and Princess of Wales, on their quarrel with George the First ;
as it was afterwards, on a similar occasion, by Frederick, Prince of Wales,
whose widow, Augusta, also dwelt there till after the accession of her son
to the Crown. George the Third, after his father's death, lived at Saville
House, the next door to her.

KING GEORGE III.

239

him at Lord Dupplin's, Legge had insisted the conversa
tion should pass without candles and in the dark. The
Duke was charmed with the mystery, and with the pleasure
of betraying it to Mr. Pitt Mr. Elliot, as he told me him
self, discovered it too, and acquainted Lord Bute — and
thus with both was Legge ruined. I now return to the
common occurrences of the year.
In one point the P^avourite and his rivals agreed ; that
is, in the destruction of Wilkes. The rashness and
despotic conduct of the triumvirate had made them
parties in the same cause ; they pursuing him with what
they called Law, and the Scotch without attention to any
law. Johnstone, one of Lord Bute's American governors,^
had the same view with Forbes, but took a looser plan.
Having been reflected on in a North Briton — I think then
no longer written by Wilkes — he challenged the author,
whoever it was ; and, to be sure of provoking at least one
person, threw out in his challenge, printed in the news
paper, severe sarcasms on Lord Temple's want of spirit
About this time General Wall," a true friend to the
union of England and Spain, finding the French interest
daily making greater progress at Madrid, desired leave
I The names of four Scotchmen appear in the same Gazette to appointments,
or as governors in the American colonies, George Johnstone being one of
them. He was the third son of Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall ; he was
of a hot and most pugnacious temperament, as he showed some years later
by his duel with Lord George Germaine. He died in 1787. — L. M.
2 Don Richard Wall, of Irish extraction, was Ambassador here from Spain
in the reign of George the Second. He was a most artfiil, agreeable man,
of much wit, and a great favourite at this Court. At his return to Madrid,
he had been made Secretary of State in 1754 [upon the downfall of Ensenada.
Sir Benjamin Keene, by his advice and influence, materially contributed to
this event, which proved highly favourable to the British interests at Madrid.
The intrigues in the Spanish Court and the financial difficulties of the country
made WaU's post a very irksome one. He discharged its duties at least as
ably as either his predecessor or his successor. The King was unwilling to
part with him, and made his retirement honourable by many marks of dis
tinction. He passed the remaining years of his life chiefly at Soto de Roma,
a royal castle, in the lovely valley of Grenada, where he maintained a splendid
hospitality. Mr. Swinburne visited him there, and has given a very agreeable
account of him. He died 1778.— L. M.]

240 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
to resign on pretence of failure of his eyesight. Grimaldi ^
was immediately ordered home from Paris to succeed
him ; a man devoted to France. To that Court Lord
Hertford set out on the 13th of October, and Monsieur
de Guerchy arrived thence. The Comte de Guerchy^
was an amiable soldier ; not to be named for parts, but
far better qualified for his situation than his own Court
believed, having a good knowledge of the world, a per
petual attention to his employment, consummate discretion,
much natural ease in his behaviour, with either no imper
tinence, or with thorough mastery of it, and a complaisance
so properly applied, that he was agreeable to all parties,
and yet always well with the reigning ministry here. It
gave him a ridicule at home, that he was enslaved to a
penurious and deformed wife ; but that dominion of Madame
de Guerchy was his greatest felicity. She had an excel
lent understanding, and a talent for learning the tempers,
humours, and connections of England ; her constant appli
cation to which, and the necessary curiosity in consequence,
were concealed by the natural coldness and reserve of her
disposition. Nor did her attention to their fortune ever
disgrace her husband, nor throw even an air of economy
^ Grimaldi was a Genoese. He had been educated for the Church, and
always retained the soft and insinuating manners of an Italian ecclesiastic It
was to his address, rather than to his talents, that he was indebted for the high
situations he filled. In negotiating the celebrated Treaty of Paris, he appears
to have been overmatched by Choiseul, and the loss of the Havannah, and
the other misfortunes of the war, were the immediate fruits of his eagerness
for a French alliance. His administration in Spain was neither popular nor
successful. It ended with the failure of the expedition to Algiers. His chief
merit lay in the encouragement he gave to literature, his patronage of the
arts, his love of justice, and the mildness and generosity of his disposition.
On his resignation, in 1777, ^^ was created a Duke, and a Grandee of Spain.
Having been allowed to nominate his successor, he was at his own request
appointed Ambassador at Rome. — Coxe's Kings of Spain, vol. iii. ; and
Memoirs of a Traveller now in Retiretnent (1808), vol. iv. pp. 106-109. —
L. M.
- He had particularly distinguished himself in the command of his regiment
at Fontenoy, where his valour and good fortune are noticed by Voltaire
(CEuvres completes de Voltaire, xii. p. 231) : —
^G-iierchiiCestpasJrappS, la vertu peut te plaire.' —L.M.

KING GEORGE IIL 241
on his table. At Paris her devotion and domestic retire
ment had passed for insipid virtues that prevented her
good sen.se from being so much as suspected. At the
Count's first audience, he told the King, with pleasant
candour, that it was a proof of his mastet's intentions to
preserve the peace, that he was sent over, who was no man
of talents or intrigue.
Thus formed to succeed and never to offiend, no man
was more unfortunate than this ambassador ; and it re
quired not only dexterity, but the simplicity of his conduct,
to surmount the mo.st cruel and disagreeable idea.s, fir.st
carelessly dropped, and then maliciously dispersed to his
prejudice. The Due de Nivernois had brought over and
left here, to manage the affairs of their Court till M. de
Guerchy's arrival, the Chevalier D'Eon,i a military man,
but who had been much employed in secret negotiations
in Russia, for which he had been largely praised and very
ill paid. The man had notable parts, great appearance
of ba.shful merit, and learning enough to charm the super
ficial pedantry of the Duke, who had treated him with a
fondness and intimacy that was ridiculous ; and that, by
being over kind, proved cruel : for having to serve him
made iJ'Mon the courier of the peace, the Duke went
farther, and procured him to be styled plenipotentiary
during the absence of the ambassador. Vigils and vanity
turned the poor young man's head, which was by no
means ballasted by a good heart. He mistook the road
of fortune for fortune itself, and thought that high-sound
ing titles lifted him to a level with those that conferred
them. Hc forgot his modesty, and learned to talk loftily,
or, as his masters thought, arrogantly. Under this un
happy intoxication he was thunderstruck with a declara
tion from the Due de Nivernois, that on the ambassador's
arrival hc was to sink into his pristine insignificance. To
laugh this off, the Duke had familiarly pictured him to
himself as sometimes a plenipotentiary and sometimes
a tool of ofiice. Other accidents concurred to aggravate
' See an account of him in the Notes, infra. — L. M.
VOL. I. Q

242 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
this mortifying notice. He could obtain no arrears ; and
having made free with the remittances of his new master
to give dignity to his own mission, he received a very
humiliating reprimand from Monsieur de Guerchy. To
crown all, Wilkes's writings had breathed a spirit of inde
pendence into a poor brain born to crouch at a desk
or to rise by servility. The ambassador was no sooner
arrived, than the Chevalier behaved in a manner to which
French ministers are little accustomed from their inferiors.
At the same time D'Eon took it into his fancy that one
Treyssac de Vergy,^ an adventurer, was brought over to
assassinate him ; and on this belief broke out so out
rageously against the Count after dinner at Lord Halifax's,
that the Earl, at M. de Guerchy's desire, was obliged to
send for Justice Fielding, and put D'Eon under arrest ;
and next day Vergy swore the peace ^ against him. The
consequences of this adventure will be related hereafter.
Augustus the Third" having enjoyed but for a few
months the cessation of war, and of those misfortunes
which a vain and impertinent favourite * had drawn down
upon him, died about this time, leaving Poland at liberty
to get rid of a family who had sacrificed their religion for
a crown, without obtaining essential benefits for them
selves, or conferring any on subjects so dearly purchased.
^ This Vergy was a French spy. In 1771, I heard Mr. Phelps, secretary
to Lord Sandwich, relate that Vergy had offered him to act, too, as a spy on
Guerchy, of which Mr. Phelps gave the ambassador warning. Vergy re
mained here several years, and wrote pamphlets and novels for a livelihood.
" When they talked to D'Eon of a breach of the peace, he understood
English so imperfectly that he thought Lord HaUfax threatened to break the
peace between the two nations, of which he, D'Eon, had been the messenger,
and that inflamed his madness.
' Augustus the Third, a weak and unfortunate monarch, whose reign forms
one of the most melancholy epochs in the annals of Saxony. His incapacity
was more remarkable from his being opposed to Frederick the Great and
Catherine the Second. He died in 1763, and with him ended the independ
ence of Poland — his successor, Stanislaus, being merely the nominee of
Russia. — L. M.
* Count. Bruhl. — [This worthless courtier, who exercised for many years
an arbitrary sway over Saxony and Poland, and inflicted irreparable injuries
on both countries, died in October 1 764.] — L. M.

KING GEORGE IIL 243
The new Elector of Saxony, his son, was infirm in mind
and body, and survived his father not a year.
We, on whom an empty favourite had heaped little
less disgrace by peace than Count Bruhl had inflicted on
Saxony by war, had occasion to feel how wide the terror
of our arms had extended our influence. The Duke of
York, making the tour of the Mediterranean, and being
expected at Florence, the Pope ^ ordered Cardinal Albani
to inform Sir Horace Mann, the King's Minister in Tus
cany, that his Royal Highness, if he pleased to visit Rome,
would be received there with all the honours due to his
birth. The nuncio at Florence was commanded too to
wait on the Prince, and repeat the same ; to invite him
to Rome and to assure him of all safety, honours, and
amusements. His Royal Highness accepted the invita
tion ; and the son of James the Second, and his grandson,
a cardinal of that very Church, had the mortification of
being forced to retire to Albano, where they had a villa,
lest they should see a heretic Duke of York courted and
treated in that holy city whence the thunders of the
Vatican had been hurled against the great Elizabeth.
But this was not the last nor least humiliation which the
wretched and helpless line of Stuart received from the
hands of their Pontiff, and from that Church for which
they had sacrificed themselves, their crowns, and their
posterity. On the 3rd of November- Charles Yorke resigned the
post of Attorney General, alleging to Mr. Grenville that
his father and the Duke of Newcastle had insisted upon
it. Yorke, on the trial of the printers, had made a warm
speech against Wilkes, and was to carry on the pro
secution. ' The father and the sons were certainly in their
hearts inclined to prerogative ; but interest so swayed
their actions, and it was so much the point of the whole
¦^ Rezzonico, Pope by the name of Clement the Thirteenth [filled the Papal
Chair from 1758 to 1769, when he died in his seventy-sixth year. His Ufe
was decent, and his intentions appear to have been honest, but his policy was
unenlightened and vaciUating, and is strikingly contrasted by that of his
iUustrious successor. — L. M.]

244 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
family that Charles Yorke should be Chancellor, that we
shall find one perpetual stream of dubitation and trimming
run through their conduct The father, indeed, more
soured, and with pride more affronted, towards the close
of his life, grew more settled in his asperity towards the
Court. Nor was he the only instrument of prerogative
whom the Court lost because it could not reward all its
devotees up to their ambition.
In Ireland the scene commenced unfavourably. The
new Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Northumberland,^ lost
a question the first day in the House of Commons there
by so considerable a number as forty, who would not
suffer the word adequate to be applied to the Peace in the
address. ^ Sir Hugh Smithson, who assumed the name of Percy on marrying
Lady Elizabeth Seymour, daughter of Algernon, Duke of Somerset, and
heiress of the house of Percy by her grandmother. They were created Earl
and Countess of Northumberland. [This note is inaccurate. Sir Hugh
Smithson married Lady Elizabeth Seymour on l6th July 1740, and succeeded
his father-in-law as second Earl of Northumberland on 7th February 1750.
He took the name of Percy on 12th April following, and on 22nd October
1766 was created Duke of Northumberland. — E.J

KING GEORGE IIL 245

CHAPTER XXII
Opening of ParUament. — Lord Gower and Lord Temple. — Wilkes's Essay
on Woman laid before the House of Lords. — Hypocrisy of Lord
Sandwich. — Bishop Warburton. — Kidgell. — Persecution of Wilkes. — He
complains in the House of Commons of a breach of privilege in the
seizure of himself and his papers. — Warm Debate on the question. — Mr.
Pitt's Speech. — Arguments of Lord North and others. — Wilkes wounded
in a duel by Martin. — The King's Speech read to the Commons. — Pitt's
obscure Speech. — Speech of Grenville. — Postponement of the farther
hearing on Wilkes. — Bestowal of the Bishoprick of Osnabrugh.
But in the Parliament of England lay the chief seat
of the war ; and with very extraordinary scenes did the
campaign open. The Houses met November 1 5th : Lord
Hilsborough and Lord Suffolk moved the Address of the
Peers. Lord Temple censured the Peace ; and the Duke
of Bedford defended it with temper. Lord Gower
attacked Lord Temple for his disrespect to the King.
He denied that he had ever shown any disrespect ; and
said that he and his family had been attached to this
royal family _/"«// «j long a.s his lordship's family had (who
were very recent converts from Jacobitism).
As soon as the Address was voted. Lord Sandwich
produced a poem, called an Essay on Woman} with notes
^ No authentic copy of this ' Essay ' is known to exist, though Mr. Dyce
was ' inclined to think ' that his copy, which is now preserved in the South
Kensington Museum (Dyce Catalogue, No. 10,598), was 'really the original
edition of the poem. ' Wilkes, in his letter to the electors of Aylesbury,
stated that, ' Not quite a fourth part of the volume had been printed at my
own private press. The work had been discontinued for several months . . .
of that fourth part only twelve copies were worked off, and 1 never gave one
of those copies to any friend' (Gentleman's Magazine, 1764, p. 583) ; whUe
Curry, in his evidence before the House of Lords, said that there were
thirteen copies printed. — (Journals of the House of Lords, xxx. 416. See
Allibone, s. n. Wilkes, John, and Notes and Queries, 2nd series, iv. 121, Sth
series, vii. 409). — E.

246 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
pretended to be written by Bishop Warburton. It was a
performance bawdy and blasphemous to the last degree,
being a parody of Pope's Essay on Man, and of other
pieces, adapted to the grossest ideas, or to the most
profane. Wilkes and Potter,^ son of the late Archbishop
of Canterbury, had formerly composed this indecent
patchwork in some of their bacchanalian hours ; and
Wilkes, not content with provoking the vengeance of the
King, of the Princess, of the Favourite, of twenty
subaltern ministers, and of the whole Scottish nation,
had, for the amusement of his idle hours, consigned this
innocent rhapsody to his own printing-press — a folly
unparalleled, though he had intended to restrain the
edition to twelve copies. However, as he could not
commit a wanton imprudence without giving birth to
some villany or tyranny in others, this very poem was
now laid before the House of Lords in consequence of a
train of both kinds. One of the copies had been seized
among his papers by. Philip Carteret Webbe. Still was
even that ministry ashamed to accuse Wilkes on evidence
which had fallen into their hands by such illegal means —
unanswerable proof that they were conscious of their guilt,
and knew they could not justify their proceedings. But
the bloodhounds having thus fallen on the scent, were
not to be turned aside by delicacies. Could they procure
another copy the business would be effected — and effected
^ Thomas Potter — see more of him in the preceding reign. [Walpole's
Memoirs of George II. (1847), vol. i. p. 69. He was the second son of
Archbishop Potter, whose fortune he inherited, owing to his elder brother
having disobliged his father by an imprudent marriage. In 1748 he had
been appointed secretary to the Prince of Wales, then the patron of all the
talent in the House opposed to the Govemment, and from that time he took
an active part in the political contests of the day. He was a clever and
impressive speaker, and, with appUcation and steadiness of conduct, might
have become one of the leaders of his party. Unfortunately, he had
contracted, in early life, habits of dissipation, under which his constitution
sunk, just as his ambitious hopes bade fair to be realized. He died Vice-
Treasurer of Ireland in June I7S9- Some interesting letters from him to
Mr. Pitt are given in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. i. — L. M.] Potter
was probably the sole author of the ' essay.' See Notes and Queries, 2nd
series, vol. iv. p. 41, and the Dyce Catalogue before referred to. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 247
it was. Carteret Webbe set his tools to work, for even
hangmen have deputies. There was one Kidgell, a
dainty priggish parson, much in vogue among the old
ladies for his gossiping and quaint sermons, and chaplain
to the Scotch 1 Earl of March. This fellow got at a
proof-sheet; and by the treachery of one of Wilkes's
printers,^ who thought himself ill-used, and by the
encouragement of his patron, who consulted Lord Bute
and Lord Sandwich, and was egged on by them to
proceed, Kidgell and Webbe purchased the whole poem :
and now did Sandwich, who had hugged this mischief for
months in his breast, lay open the precious poem before
his brother Lords in strains of more hypocrisy* than
would have been tolerable even in a professed Methodist.
Parts of it were read, most coarsely and disgustingly
blasphemous. Lord Lyttelton groaned in spirit, and
begged they might hear no more. Bishop Warburton,
who had not the luck, like Lord Lyttelton, to have his
conversion believed by any one, foamed with the violence
of a Saint Dominic ; vaunted that he had combated
infidelity, and laid it under his feet ; and said, the
blackest fiends in hell would not keep company with
Wilkes, and then begged Satan's pardon for comparing
them together.
Lord Temple had got no intelligence of this bomb, and
knew little what to say ; but concluding, justly, that the
' James Douglas, Earl of March and Ruglen, Lord of the Bedchamber to
the King. See p. 30, supra.
^ The London Chronicle for 14th August 1778 contains the foUowing
notice : — ' Lately died at his lodgings in Norwich, aged 56, Michael Curry,
printer, well known for his information against the printer and publisher of
the Essay on Woman.' — E.
s Lord Despencer said he never heard the devil preach before. Yet
Lord Sandwich had a precedent in a great Reformer of the Church : ' Calvin
eut par trahison les feuilles d'un ouvrage que Servet feusait imprimer
secrfetement. II les envoya k Lyon avec les lettres qu'il avait rejues de lui :
action qui servirait pour le deshonorer k jamais dans la Societe. . . . Calvin fit
accuser Servet par un emissaire. Quel role pour un Ap&tre ! '• — Voltaire.
lEssai sur les Mceurs et V Esprit des Nations. CEuvres computes de Voltaire
(178s), xviii. p. 191.— E.]

248 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
piece had been found among Wilkes's papers, condemned
the means by which it was obtained. It was instantly
voted blasphemous, and a breach of privilege against the
person of the Bishop of Gloucester. Lord Sandwich
then moved that Wilkes should be voted the author ; but
even Lord Mansfield condemned so hasty and arbitrary
a course, and said it was previously necessary to hear
the accused person in his own defence : on which the
proceeding was adjourned to the next day but one. I
was in a division in the lobby of the House of Commons,
when I heard what w£is passing in the other House, and
immediately informed Mr. Pitt He replied with indigna
tion, ' Why do not they search the Bishop of Gloucester's
study for heresy ? '
Events now thickened so fast that, to avoid confusion,
I will here say a little more on this head. The plot so
hopefully laid to blow up Wilkes, and ruin him in the
estimation of all the decent and grave, had, at least in the
latter respect, scarce any effect at all. The treachery was
so gross and scandalous, so revengeful, and so totally
unconnected with the political conduct of Wilkes, and
the instruments so despicable, odious, or in whom any
pretensions to decency, sanctimony, or faith were so
preposterous that, losing all sight of the scandal contained
in the poem, the whole world almost united in crying
out against the informers. Sandwich, in opening the
discovery, had canted till his own friends could not keep
their countenances. Sir Francis Dashwood was not
more notorious for singing profane and lewd catches ; and
what aggravated the hypocrisy, scarce a fortnight had
passed since this holy Secretary of State himself had
been present with Wilkes at a weekly club to which both
belonged, held at the top of Covent Garden Theatre, and
composed of players and the loosest revellers of the age.
Warburton's part was only ridiculous, and was heightened
by its being known that Potter, his wife's gallant, had
had the chief hand in the composition of the verses.
However, an intimacy commenced between the Bishop

KING GEORGE III. 249
and Sandwich, and some jovial dinners and libations of
champagne cemented their friendship. Kidgell, the
jackall, published so precise, affected, and hypocritic an
account of the transaction, that he, who might have
escaped in the gloom of the treachery, completely blasted
his own reputation ; and falling into debt, was, according
to the fate of inferior tools, abandoned by his masters,
and forced to fly his country. Though the rank and
fortune of Sandwich saved him from disgrace of that
kind, he had little reason to exult in his machination.
He brought a stigma on himself that counterworked
many of his own views and arts ; and Churchill the poet
has branded his name on this account with lasting
colours. The public indignation went so far, that the
Beggar's Opera beini; performed at Covent Garden
Theatre soon after this event, the whole audience, when
Macheath says, ' That Jemmy Twitcher should peach m.e, I
own surprises me', burst out into an applause of appli
cation ; and the nick-name of Jemmy Twitcher stuck
by the Earl so as almost to occasion the disuse of his
title. While the destruction of the character and fortune of
Wilkes was thus prosecuted in one chamber of Parlia
ment, a plot against his life was hatching in the other ;
his enemies not being satisfied with all the severities they
could wring from the law to oppress him. Nor were
several servants of the Crown sorry to make his outrages
a handle for curtailing liberty itself The House was no
sooner met, than Wilkes rose to make his complaint of
the breach of privilege in the seizure of himself and his
papers. The Speaker interrupted him, and said the
session was not yet open, the silly form of reading a bill
not having been gone through. Grenville, too, urged that
there was a message from the Crown that ought to be
received before any other business. Beckford and Onslow
pleaded that privilege ought to take place of every other
consideration. A long and warm debate ensued. Mr.
Pitt strenuously supported the precedence of privilege.

250 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
though affecting to offer to take privilege and message
together. Elliot moved to have a bill read. Pitt replied
admirably, and said, if they were not yet a House, no
member could have been sworn ; nor was it necessary to
have some nonsense read to which nobody would attend.
Suppose it should have been forgotten, and the House
had entered on some arduous business, some fool of
form might have started up and told them, — 'Lord
bless us! it is all a nullity that we have been doing!'
Privilege waived would really nullify the proceedings.
The House would be a company of men put under force.
The man who would waive privilege ought to have a
question moved on him. Lord North, Nugent, and Dyson,
argued against privilege, and war/n words passed between
Pitt on one side, Grenville and "Norton on the other.
Yorke said, that if they did not begin regularly with a
bill, Westminster Hall would not know how to' date the
commencement of the session, unless the two Houses
started together. Pitt replied, that if the House should
sit till three in the morning, it would still be deemed the
15th of November. The House divided at six in the
evening, and it was carried by 300 to iii, that a bill
should first be read. Grenville then delivered the message
from the Crown, acquainting the House with the im
prisonment that had been made of one of their members ;
for which message Lord North moved the thanks of the
House ; together with an assurance that they would forth
with go into the consideration of the offence. Wilkes then
made his complaint. Mr. Pitt approved of Lord North's
motion of thanks, but spoke against precipitation. Wilkes's
case, he said, was not to be paralleled. He desired to be
tried by his peers, — and if he did not, said Pitt, I would
force him. The North Briton, No. 45, was then read ; and
two printers being examined, one said he had received it
from Wilkes in his own handwriting ; the other, that
Wilkes and Churchill were the authors of that periodic
paper in general. Lord North, who had undertaken the
conduct of the parliamentary prosecution against Wilkes,

KING GEORGE III. 251
held forth on the sedition of those papers, and of No. 45
in particular. Wilkes, replied his Lordship, however, had
not proved that it contained any falsehoods. Mr. Pitt said
it was a scandalous, licentious paper, and false ; but always
distinguishing between the criminal and the illegal pro
ceedings of the ministers. The House, he said, was not a
proper place for trying a libel ; nor did this tend to excite
traitorous insurrections. Was the motion calculated, by
inserting the word traitorous, to justify what the ministers
had done? He himself could never learn exactly what
was a libel. Whoever was the patron of these doctrines,
fcenum habet in cornu. Norton said he did think the paper
tended to excite insurrections. Scandalous reflections on
private men or magistrates were a libel. Opposing law
was treason. Pitt replied, a libel could not be treason.
It might, said North, tend to excite treason. Pitt moved
to omit the epithet traitorous, but the Ministry upholding
it, the House divided at eleven at night, and the ministerial
phrase was carried by 273 against iii ; Sir Alexander
Gilmour and Murray, two Scots, and the only two of that
nation in opposition, voting with the rest of their country
men on that occasion. Lord North then moved to have
the paper burned by the hangman, which was ordered.
Lord North affirmed next, that privilege did not extend to
libels, nor to stay justice ; which Pitt said was the boldest
assertion and attempt ever made without consulting pre
cedents or appointing a committee. He lamented the
King was so ill served as to run aground on the liberties
of Parliament. He would die, he said, if a day were not
appointed for hearing Wilkes. Norton took this up hotly,
and said he was called upon by insult and abuse. Pitt
replied that he had said the King had been ill served by
lawyers and others ; and he proposed to take the case of
privilege into consideration the next day, and on the
following day to hear the complaint of Wilkes, which was
agreed to at one in the morning.
The next day, when I went down to the House, I found
all the members standing on the floor in great hubbub.

252 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
questioning, hearing, and eagerly discussing I knew not
what I soon learned that Wilkes about two hours before
had been dangerously wounded by Martin in a duel. In
the foregoing spring, Wilkes, in one of his North Britons,
had pointed out Martin by name as a low fellow, and
dirty tool of power. Martin had stomached, not digested
this ; but in the debate on No. 45 the day before, he had
risen and called the author of that paper on himself a
cowardly, scandalous, and malignant scoundrel, and had
repeated the words twice, trembling with rage. Wilkes
took no notice ; and as he did not, the House did not
interfere, as is usual, when personalities happen, and seem
to threaten a duel. The next morning Wilkes wrote to
Martin, to ask if the words used the day before were meant
to be addressed to him as the supposed author of the paper
in which Martin had been abused. If Martin had thus
intended to point the words, Wilkes owned he had written
that paper. Martin replied he had meant him, Wilkes ;
and as the latter had avowed himself the author, he should
not deny, added Martin, what he had said before five
hundred people, and gave him a challenge. About noon
they went into Hyde Park ; Martin alone ; Wilkes with
Humphrey Cotes ^ in a post-chaise, knowing if he killed
Martin that he should have no chance of pardon. Cotes
waited at a distance. They changed pistols, both fired,
and both missed. Martin fired a second time, and lodged
a ball in Wilkes's side, who was going to fire, but dropped
his pistol. The wound, though not mortal, proved a bad
one. It was thought an ill symptom of Martin's heroism, that
he had smothered the affront for so many months, nor had
given vent to his resentment, till the affair with Forbes
had left a doubt on Wilkes's courage. If Martin got rid
of this imputation, it was but at the expense of a worse
charge. It came out, nor could he deny it, that his neigh
bours in the country had observed him practising to fire
' A broken wine-merchant, brother of Admiral Cotes, an intimate of
Wilkes.

KING GEORGE IIL 253
at a target for the whole summer. I shall not be thought
to have used too hard an expression, when I called this
a plot against the life of Wilkes. Churchill wrote The
Duellist, one of his finest satires, on this occasion.
On the 1 6th, the King's speech was read to the
Commons, when Lord Caernarvon^ and Lord Frederick
Campbell moved the address. Pitt made an obscure
speech, parts of which seemed to aim at explaining his
conduct in the late negotiation ; but all that could be
gathered from it was, that he had not excommunicated
the Peace-makers, nor the Tories ; that he had aimed most
at Lord Mansfield, and that he took up the Whigs, but
not as enemies to prerogative.^ He could not allow, he
said, the words safe and honourable Peace in the address ;
he did not think it was either ; it was durante bene placito
of France and Spain ; yet as the address precluded nobody
from speaking their sentiment afterwards, he should let
the words pass. For himself, no minister could know less
what to do with the Peace ; nor did any man more bid
adieu to the political world than he did. He was against
reviving party-names ; but if dissension arose on principles,
he must again become a party-man. Grenville taking
hold of Beckford's objecting to the proclamation for set
tling America, made artful advantage of the opportunity
to show the great pains taken by the Ministry to settle our
conquests and colonies, and to regulate the finances at
home. In one article they had struck off .£"250,000 of the
demands made from Germany. He then expatiated on
the profusion of the war, and attacked Pitt strongly with-
1 Only son of the Duke of Chandos. [He afterwards succeeded to the
Dukedom, and died in 1789, when his titles became extinct. — L. M.]
^ Mr. Pitt's speech had the very dubious merit of pleasing his opponents
rather than his friends. Lord Barrington, in a letter to Sir Andrew MitcheU,
says, that ' if fifty thousand pounds had been given for that speech, it would
have been well expended. It secures us a quiet session.' — Chatham Corre
spondence, vol. ii. p. 262, note, and Walpole's Letters, vol. iv. p. 127. In fact
Mr. Pitt's interviews with the King had necessarily blunted the edge of his
opposition, and he found it as difficult to give an intelligible defence of his
proceedings, as all succeeding ministers in the same predicament have ex
perienced since. — L. M.

254 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
out reserve or fear. The address was voted without a
negative. The farther hearing on Wilkes was deferred on account
of his wound.i After the debate Pitt had a meeting with
the Dukes of Newcastle, Devonshire, and their friends, and
insisted on their supporting Chief Justice Pratt's opinion
in behalf of privilege against Mr. Yorke, who had declared
that Wilkes's case was not within the pale of privilege.
During these transactions, the King, after keeping the
bishoprick of Osnabrugh open near three years, contrary
to the custom, which allows but six months, bestowed it
on his son, a new-born child,^ before it was christened.
The Duke of York ^ had thought it his due, and not with
out reason. It could not be conferred on the Prince of
Wales ; nor was there much equity in reserving it for a
son that might be born. The interest of the family and
of the Protestant cause, too, seemed to point out the Duke,
as an infant liable to so many accidents might, if born,
soon fail, and then the turn would revolve to the Papists ;
even a minor in possession was favourable too, to that
party, for of the revenue, which is about ;£'25,ooo a year,
only ;£^20oo belong to the Bishop till he is eighteen, and
the rest is divided amongst the Popish chapter. But the
Queen, who began to get weight with her husband in
German affairs, prevailed to reserve for, and then to grant
this great provision to, a child of her own ; and the Duke
of York's little reverence for his mother, and antipathy to
the Favourite, excluded him from a grace for which he had
so much occasion.
^ The Lords on the same account put off the hearing of Wilkes's defence on
the Essay oti Woman to the 22nd ; and then for a week longer.
^ Frederick, second son of George the Third.
^ Edward, Duke of York, next brother to the King.

KING GEORGE III. 255

CHAPTER XXIII
Important question as to the Privilege of Parliament. — Liberty of the
Press. — Scandalous Resignation of Privilege by the House of Com
mons. — Abandonment of General Warrants. — Debate on the proceedings
sigainst Wilkes. — The Moderator, a new scurrilous paper. — Lord Clive. —
Riot on the attempt to burn the North Briton. — Debate on this subject
in the House of Lords. — Triumph of Wilkes in his prosecution against
the Under-Secretary of State. — Dismissals by the Court. — The Chevalier
D'Eon. — Attempt to assassinate Wilkes. — The East India Company and
Lord Clive. — Wilkes and the Parliament. — Outlawry against Wilkes.
On the 23rd of November came on the important
question whether the Privilege of Parliament preserved
the members from being taken up for writing and pub
lishing libels. At first sight a disinterested person would
perhaps think it strange that it should be a question
whether a seat in the Legislature should not secure the
Legislators from the penalty of breaking the laws, for
publishing a libel is undoubtedly illegal ; but to those
acquainted with our Constitution, it will perhaps appear
more extraordinary that a House of Commons should
suffer such a question to be proposed to them, and that
they should condescend to agitate it Will our posterity
believe that a House of Commons gave it up? but it was
that House of Commons that had sold itself to approve
the late Peace. Still it is to be admired that this cessa
tion of their privileges should be wrung from them after
the Court of Common Pleas had declared that Privilege
held against everything but treason, felony, and breach of
the peace. A libel, at most, but tended to a breach of the
peace. The Legislature consists of the three branches of King,
Lords, and Commons. Together they form our invaluable

256 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Constitution, and each is a check on the other two. But
it must be remembered, at the same time, that while any
two are checking, the third is naturally aiming at ex
tending and aggrandizing its power. The House of
Commons has not seldom made this attempt, like the
rest. The Lords, as a permanent and as a proud body,
more constantly aim at it : the Crown always. Of liberty
a chief and material engine is the liberty of the Press ; a
privilege for ever sought to be stifled and annihilated by
the Crown. The ministers of the Crown and its lawyers
must misrepresent the liberty of the Press before they
can presume to request the suppression of it Every
grievance set forth in print is misnamed a libel ; and
grave laws necessarily disapprove libels. If the Crown
can arrive at precluding Members of Parliament from
complaining in print of grievances, no doubt the Crown
could debar all other men, who are of less importance,
and whose persons are regarded by no sacred privilege.
Liberty of speech and liberty of writing are the two
instruments by which Englishmen call on one another
to defend their common rights. Liberty of speech is
communicated but a little way ; the Press gives wings to
that voice, and all men may read what all cannot hear.
Freedom of speech in Parliament is not so valuable as
freedom of writing. A man may hazard many necessary
truths in print when he may conceal his name which he
might not venture to utter in open Parliament. If dis
covered, his privilege used to be his security. Nor is this
a vindication of libels properly so called ; but a Court
will call a libel the most just censure of tyranny. Yet
could it not wrest from Members of Parliament the safety
of their persons without their own consent — and in what
instance did the Court ask this? — in what instance did
the House of Commons yield it? Mr. Wilkes, one of
their own members, had been taken up by a General
Warrant, in which his name had not so much as been
mentioned. Contrary to all precedent, he had been com
mitted close prisoner to the Tower — a proceeding so arbi-

KING GEORGE IH. 257
trary, that a Court of Law had set him free. The House
of Commons sacrificed him and their own privileges, and
yet shame — I mean disgrace, so soon overtook them, that
General Warrants, such as that on which Wilkes was
arrested, were given up, condemned, exploded — but half
the wound remains, for this scandalous vote was never
rescinded !
It is true that on the debate it did appear that there
were many and many precedents on both sides. Often
had privilege protected a member — often it had not ; but
how did that happen to be the case ? It happened be
cause there had been various cases in which the Crown
was not concerned, but where the contest had lain between
subject and subject ; and in those instances the House
had often determined different ways. But on the great
case of the seven Bishops in the reign of James the
Second, Privilege of Parliament had been vindicated and
secured. What would have become of those prelates
if the Court had had this precedent of Wilkes to justify its
violence ? Even allowing that privilege were not inherent
in members, but had been decided sometimes for, some
times against them, was this a time — was this an instance,
in which the House should have waived its pretensions ?
Was the blow it gave itself likely to be repaired? But
let the preceding and subsequent conduct of this ductile
and servile House of Commons tell its motives !
The debates were not brilliant, but serious and solemn
as the occasion required. Lord North ^ was the chief
manager for the Court, supported by Norton, George
Grenville, Morton,^ and Elliot Lord North's mouthing
and boisterous manner, his coarse figure, and rude un
tempered style, contributed to make the cause into which
he had unnecessarily thrust himself appear still more
' Frederick, Lord North, eldest son of the Earl of Guildford.
^ John Morton, Chief Justice of Chester. He represented Abingdon from
June 1747 to February 1770, when he was unseated upon petition; New
Romney from March 1770 to September 1774, and Wigan from May 1775
until his death in 1780. See infra.— 'E.
VOL. I. R

258 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
odious. Pitt, Beckford, Legge, Sir George Saville, Sir
William Baker, and James Grenville defended the Con
stitution. Much was said on the danger to which every
man's private papers were now exposed, and more on the
injustice of hurrying on this decision, when Wilkes could
not for his wound appear to defend himself, when he was
prosecuting both, the Secretaries of Stateand the messengers,
and when he was to be tried himself for the libel. What
court, what judge, what jury, but must be prejudiced by
a decision of the House of Commons against him ? This
plea was glaring, was crying. The lawyers themselves
many of them allowed it, and the debate took that turn ;
the Opposition endeavouring to stave off the question on
Privilege, the courtiers insisting to bring it on. Charles
Yorke begged for delay, but it was a delay of a few days ;
Eliab Harvey, though bred a Tory, pleaded for deferring
their decision. Forester, a Scot devoted to the Duke of
Bedford,^ and reckoned no squeamish lawyer, spoke for
procrastination, and voted against the Court. Wedder
burn, another Scot, argued for farther time ; and even old
Wilbraham,^ the Gamaliel of the Jacobites, could not
digest such indecent hurry, for which he was much com
mended by Pitt ; yet by seven in the evening the Court
bore down all obstruction, and carried their point by 243
to 166, though Sir John Philipps and Benjamin Bathurst,^
two high-prerogative men, were in the minority, with
^ Mr. Forester had been originally recommended by Alderman Beckford
to the Duke of Bedford (when the Alderman and his Grace acted together)
for a seat in ParUament, as a person ' whose steadiness, honour, and elocu
tion are not exceeded by many in these kingdoms. ' (Bedford Corresponde-nce,
vol. ii. p. 150). [Alexander Forester, M.P. for Oakhampton, was a barrister
in considerable practice. He appears to have aspired to the Speakership in
1761. See Bedford Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 54. — E.]
^ Randle Wilbraham, M. P. for Newton and Deputy Steward of the Uni
versity of Oxford. He was an eminent lawyer, whose politics, like those of
Mr. Fazakerly, prevented his attaining the honours of his profession. — Wal-
polis Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 135. — L. M.
' Benjamin Bathurst of Lydney, in Gloucestershire [and of Mixbury in
Oxfordsliire. M.P. for Monmouth Borough. He was the brother of AUen,
Lord Bathurst, and the father of Henry Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich. — E.]

KING GEORGE III. 259
Glover, and four general officers — Conway, Sir John
Griffin,^ A'Court,^ and Honeywood.^ It being, however,
too late to commence the regular debate, it was adjourned
till the next day.
The 24th, a letter from Wilkes was presented protesting
against their proceedings and promising on his honour to
attend in his place as soon as possible. To this no regard
was paid, Grenville moving for the orders of the day, and
Rigby saying that Wilkes could not have written that
letter but on misrepresentation of what had passed the
day before. Hussey, the Queen's Solicitor, a man of most
fair life, unambitious, uninterested, candid in his conduct,
and gracefully touching in his delivery, a great friend of
Pratt and lover of the Constitution, made an excellent
speech in behalf of privilege and liberty. Charles Yorke,
under the difficulties of disgusting his Whig friends and
of serving a Court with which he was dissatisfied, explored
all the sources of distinction and law subtleties, to defend
his opinion against privilege; and spoke for two hours
with great applause as excellent in that branch of his
profession. Pitt, near as long on the audaciousness of
the Crown's servants and their contempt of Parliament ;
declaring that this proceeding was making a surrender
from that day of every man's liberty in the House to the
discretion of the Secretary of State. Pitt was ill, and then
1 Sir John Griffin, an officer of some distinction. He had been severely
wounded at the battle of Campen, when fighting near the hereditary Prince
of Brunswick. He was M.P. for Andover from November 1749 to August
1784, when he succeeded to the ancient Barony of Howard de Walden ; in
1796 he became a Field Marshal ; and he died in 1797, having devised
Audley-End and his other estates to his kinsman, Richard Aldworth Neville,
who, at the same time, succeeded to the Barony of Braybrooke, which had
been limited over to him on the death of Lord Howard de Walden. — L. M.
[See supra, p. 157, Note 3.— E.]
^ See itifra.
s Lieutenant-General PhiUp Honey wood, of Mark's HaU, Essex, M.P. for
Appleby. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1777, and died on
20th February 1785. He is said to have ' received no less than twenty-three
broadsword wounds at the battle of Dettii^en,' as weU as 'two musket shots
which never were extracted to the day of his death.' — Gentleman's Magazine
for March 1785, p. 235.- E.

26o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
went away. Norton indecently quoted a prosecution for
perjury against Sir John Rushout,^ the most ancient mem
ber of the House, then sitting at the end of the same
bench. The old gentleman was stout and choleric : the
prosecution had been on a case of election, and he had
been acquitted. He rose with warmth, but with much
propriety told his story, showed the prosecution had been
instigated by Norton himself to serve an election purpose,
and, looking defiance at that attorney, said, ' It was all
owing to that honest gentleman ! — I hope I do not call
him out of his name ! ' The shout of the House did
justice on Norton.
This interlude, however, was decent and calm in com
parison of what followed. Rigby, looking at Lord Temple,
who was sitting at the end of the House to hear the
debate, as he constantly practised, drew a picture of
that incendiary peer, described him in his blue riband
encouraging mobs from windows of coffee-houses ; and
more particularly as the instigator of Wilkes. James
Grenville rose, in amazing heat, to defend his brother,
and vomited out a torrent of invectives on Rigby, telling
him of his interestedness and ignorance ; harangued on so
illiterate a man being a Master of the Rolls ; ^ and painted
his flying from Ireland to avoid being hanged by the
enraged populace. This philippic was uttered with every
vehemence of language and gesture ; the bitterest terms
flowing spontaneously from him who had ever been the
most obscure and unready speaker : and what added to
the outrage of the diction was, that, sitting on the bench
immediately above Rigby, and dashing about his arm in
the air, he seemed to aim blows at the latter, who was
forced to crouch lest he should receive them. Grenville
1 Sir John Rushout had taken an active part in the debates against Wal
pole's Excise BiU in 1733. He was made a Lord of the Treasury in 1742,
and in the foUowing year Treasurer of the Navy. He was strongly attached
to Pulteney, and had the sagacity to predict the consequences of that states
man's refusal to take office on the resignation of Walpole. He lived to the
great age of ninety-one, and died on the 2nd of March 1775. His son was
created Lord North wick. — L. M. 2 In Ireland.

KING GEORGE III. 261
had no sooner finished, than the Speaker interposed —
indeed of the latest. Rigby replied, with ease enough,
that in Ireland the Mastership of the Rolls was a sinecure,
and a man as ignorant as he was might execute the office.
The House then insisted on their giving their words that
this altercation should have no consequences. Grenville,
sitting obstinate and mute, Rigby gave his word it should
end there ; and then Grenville in like manner.
The candour of Wilbraham and Phillips on the preced
ing day had satisfied their consciences, and they both now
spoke, and voted with the majority. The House dividing
at one in the morning, 258 voted for relinquishing their
privilege; only 133 for maintaining it. Lord North then
moved to communicate their resolutions to the Lords,
which was agreed to.
A conference being accordingly demanded, and held
next day, the Lords though in a very thin House, and
though no important business is agitated there without
summoning the Peers [a respect their Lordships have often
paid even to a turnpike-bill], were precipitately proceeding
to pass the like votes with the Commons ; but the Duke
of Richmond, though acting with the Court, was struck
with the indecency, and on stating it, the House did agree
to summon the Lords for the'29th. Decency thus satisfied,
their Lordships on the 29th, in happy harmony with the
other House, made a parallel compliment of their privilege
to the Crown. One hundred and fourteen were thus loyal ;
the Duke of Cumberland and thirty-four more were the
minority. The Duke of Newcastle defended the warrant
of the Secretaries, but voted against the resolutions. The
Chancellor^ was very warm ; said he did not wish to see
the House unanimous : unanimity had cost the nation sixty
millions.^ Lord Temple disculpated himself from en
couraging the gener9.1 satire in the North Britons, and said
1 Henly, Earl of Northington. [Robert, Lord Henley had been appointed
Lord Chancellor on l6th January 1761 ; he was not created Earl of
Northington until 19th May 1764. — E.]
° Under Lord Chatham's administration in the war.

262 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
he had always condemned the attack on the Scotch and
on the Tories in that paper. He brought a protest, drawn,
as was supposed, by Lord Chief Justice Pratt, and the
longest on record, and signed it with fifteen other Lords.
At this very period that Court and Parliament were
raging so hotly against libels, a new paper, called the
Moderator, appeared. It was so scurrilous against the
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, that his court took up
the printer. The man owned directly that it was written
by Carteret Webbe, Solicitor of the Treasury, and by Dr.
Shebbeare, who, having been committed to Newgate by
the King's Bench in the late reign for abusing King
William and the House of Hanover, had been gratified
by a pension of .£^200 a year by Lord Bute ; and was a
proper champion of measures so dissonant from those of
King William, and from those to which the House of
Hanover owed the crown.
Lord Clive had last year been thrown out of his
directorship of the East India Company by the intrigues
of Fox; and the new directors had gone so far as to
deprive him of his jaghire, a revenue of ;^2S,ooo a year
conferred on him by the Nabob. This act had driven
Lord Clive, with five members brought into Parliament
by him, into Opposition. Grenville, to gain a man so
important, promised that vast revenue should be restored
to him, or an equivalent given ; but Walsh, one of the
five, said he could not in conscience vote with such iniqui
tous men, and offered to vacate his seat : Lord Clive
refusing to accept it, Walsh abstained from attendance
on the House.
The 3rd of December had been appointed for burning
the North Briton at the Royal Exchange ; but when
the magistrates were assembled for that purpose, and
the executioner began to perform the ceremony, a great
riot ensued, the paper was forced from the hangman, the
constables were pelted and beaten, and Mr. Harley,^ one
of the Sheriffs, had the glass of his coach broken, and
' Thomas Harley, a merchant, and brother of the Earl of Oxford.

KING GEO RUE Jll. 363
hlm.sclf was wounded in the face by a billot snatched from
the fire that was lighted to burn the prijicr, ;ind thrown
at him. The cry was, ' Wilkes and Liberty I ' A jack
boot and a petticoat — the mob's hieroglyphics for Lor3
Hiilf uiitl the Princess, were burned with great triumph
lind acclamations.
On the Oil) tlu; Duke of Bedford, who had moved that
the Commons niight Ik; desircil to permit Mr. ilariey,
member for tlu; C'.ity, to .ittcnil the House of Lonis,
ciilltul on liim, .iiid MIoiinl, tho other sheriff, to give an
account of the lale riot. They said the mob hail been
encourai;(!d by t;eiitlomeii from windows ami balconies,
particularly from the Union colToe-hoiise. One low man
had been taken into custody ; another had been rescued
by the rioters. One witness saiil the mob hail united two
respi;ctulilt; iiainoH in a cry of ap|)robation, those of liic
Duke of C'uniberlaiid and Lord Temple, and he had
joined ill th.it shout. The Dnke of Grafton .shrewiliy
tokl the inarslial's man he mu.st have .seen many iiuibs of
party ajjaiiist parly ; hail there appeared two [larties on
this occasion? 'No,' leplieil the fellow, ' all were of one
mind.' The Dnke of Heiifoid, spinltering with zeal and
imliscretion, broke forth a^^ainsl Hritlgen, the l.oril Mayor,
.md tho other magistrates, who, Ihoiigh within hearing,
had taken no pains lo quell Ihe mob. ' Such behaviour,'
he .saiil, ' in any siiialler town would have forfeited tlieir
franchises. The ("ominon Council hail long been setting
Ihoniselvcs up against the Parliament, and last year liati
taken on them to .-idvi.se the King to refu.se his assent to
a Iftw' that had [lassed through both Houses, lie hoped
their Lordships would resent this insult ami disrespect
to their orders.' The Chancellor, alarmed at this injudi
cious attack on the City, .said it would be right to proceed
without delay again.st the actors ami abettors of the riot ;
but, willioul further proofs, he would not believe the
magistrates of London guilty. He moved lo vote the
rioters pertiirbators of llie [leace. This was voted, and
' The \-.\\ on cyder.

264 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
thanks to the sheriffs for their behaviour. The Duke of
Richmond seconded the Duke of Bedford in his violence
against the City, and in a proposal of offering rewards for
discovery of the ringleaders, and for committees of inquiry.
Lord Mansfield and Lord Lyttelton interposed to discul
pate the magistrates, and obtained to adjourn ; the former
saying, that no doubt the magistrates were actually at
that time sifting to the bottom of the commotion. The
Lords then conferred with the House of Commons, where
Rigby tried to propagate his master's^ spirit, and to get
the Lord Mayor censured ; but, on reflection, the ministers
chose to pass over the insult, rather than quarrel seriously
with the City of London. They all, therefore, concurred
to excuse the magistracy ; and the affair was dropped in
an address to the King to order the offenders to be
brought to justice.^
The Common Council, neither intimidated nor imitating
the moderation of Parliament, put a negative on a motion
for thanking the sheriffs, and for prosecuting Franklin, the
fellow apprehended in the tumult.
Wilkes, in the meantime, went on triumphantly with
his prosecutions ; and on the 6th of December obtained a
verdict of j£^iooo damages, and costs of suit, against Mr.
Wood, the Under-Secretary of State.^
The Court was exerting its authority on the other hand.
Lord Shelburne was dismissed from being aide-de-camp to
the King ; Colonel Barrd from being adjutant-general and
governor of Stirling Castle ; and Calcraft lost some little
places, which served to provoke more than to hurt him.
The Chevalier D'Eon, the mimic of Wilkes, was less
fortunate. Being recalled by his Court, and refusing to
return, he was declared to be no longer employed here
in a public character, and was accordingly forbidden to
appear at St. James's.*
> The Duke of Bedford.
' Walpole's Letters, vol. iv. p. 145. — L. M.
* Vide Wilkes v. Wood. State Trials, vol. xix. 1153. — L. M.
^ Vide Mr. Croker's note in Walpole's Letters, vol. iv. p. 138. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 265
While the world was anxiously expecting the event of
Wilkes's affair, protracted by his wound, a new alarm was
given of an intention to murder him. Mr. Onslow on the
9th acquainted the House of Commons that one, Alex
ander Dun, a Scotchman, had on false pretences got into
Mr. Wilkes's house the night before, intending to assassin
ate him. A person who appeared, and made oath that
he had heard this Dun declare that he and twelve more
had made a vow to murder Wilkes, had given notice to
the latter of their design, on which he had prepared
persons to seize the assassin, which they had done. A
new penknife was found upon him, and he prevaricated
on the time and place of buying it The House the next
day examined witnesses on this accusation ; but it being
proved that Dun had been discharged from a ship as a
lunatic, he was dismissed out of custody. But the multi
tude were far from not continuing to believe the plot (nor
indeed was a madman an improper subject to be set on,
if there was such a design), and the animosity against the
Scotch was accordingly augmented. About the same
time the printers of the North Briton obtained, in the
Court of Common Pleas, damages to the amount of four
hundred pounds against the messengers of the Secretary's
office. The East India Company were untractable, too, and
came to a unanimous resolution of neither restoring his
jaghire to Lord Clive, nor of allowing him three hundred
thousand pounds, which the Ministry had engaged to
obtain for him in lieu of it. It occasioned much diversion
that his father, an old unfashioned man, who did not
understand how decently corruption was practised, and
how ridiculous it is to talk of what few are ashamed of
doing, being asked by the King in the drawing-room
where his son Lord Clive was, replied, with all the honesty '
of bargain and sale, ' He is coming to town. Sir, and then
your Majesty will have another vote.'
The House of Commons having ordered that Wilkes
should appear before them on the 24th, and suspecting

266 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
that his delays were affected, Lord North, George Gren
ville, and Rigby in a very thin house proposed that Dr.
Heberden, and Mr. Hawkins the surgeon, should be ordered
to attend him. This was warmly opposed ; and Charles
Townshend, who knew that Pitt was provoked at his late
silence, and who saw Grenville and North towering above
him, and perhaps offended too that the Court seemed to
despise him, broke out with much vehemence, turned Lord
North into ridicule, and being told by Grenville that it
would be wiser to submit to this motion, replied he should
Ciften differ with that gentleman, and hoped he should not
have more wisdom to encounter than he had met with
that day. The motion was carried by 71 to 30. Wilkes,
however, would not admit the parliamentary physician
and surgeon ; and, to add mockery to disobedience, sent
for Doctors Duncan and Middleton, two Scotchmen. He
had at first, at Martin's request, who fled to Calais till
Wilkes was out of danger, consulted both Hawkins and
Heberden. Being told that he must see little company
for fear of augmenting his fever, he said, ' I will not see so
much as my own wife.' I have mentioned that they were
parted. It was to the no small satisfaction of the Ministry that
on the 26th they heard- that Wilkes was privately gone off
to France. It was a sort of confession of guilt, disburthened
them of the odium of punishing him personally, and left
them at liberty to rage against him by outlawry and for
feitures. With a proper executioner they had just pro
vided themselves, having raised Norton to be Attorney
General. He was succeeded as Solicitor by De Grey,^ a
.man of a fair character and moderate principles.
^ WUliam de Grey, M. P. for Newport, ComwaU, third son of Thomas de
Grey of Merton, Norfolk. He became Attomey General in August 1766, and
in January 1771 succeeded Sir John Eardley Wilmot as Lord Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas. Having resigned his seat on the bench in June 1780, he
was created Baron Walsingham on 17th October following, and died 9th May
1781.— E.

KING GEORGE HI. 267

CHAPTER XXIV
Lord Sandwich's unpopularity. — He offerd himself for the High Stewardship
of Cambridge. — Animogity between him and Lr^rd Royston, the other
Candidate. — Lord Sandwich's 'Flying Pension.' — Disgraceful grant to
Count Virri, — Dismissal of General A'Court. Grenville, Walpole, and
General Conway.
The effects of Lord Sandwich's conduct began already
to be felt. He having, to thwart the Duke of Cumber
land, who espoused Mr. Luther, taken the opposite side
on the election for the county of Essex,^ the Court lost
the election by dint of Sandwich's unpopularity. He
himself, foreseeing the approaching death of Lord Hard
wicke, presented himself as candidate for the High
Stewardship of Cambridge, Nothing could occasion
greater ridicule than a character so flagitious off"ered to a
religious and learned society. It counter-worked even his
own indefatigable industry. Lord Royston,* son of Lord
Hardwicke, was the other candidate ; and the animosities
ran so high that the two parties preached against each
other. The sequel will appear hereafter. In the mean
time Sandwich obtained what was called 2, flying pension,
that is, it was to commence if he lost his place. The
grant was of ;^3000 a year on Ireland ; but when the
order went to Dublin, Lord Northumberland, having pro
mised that no addition should be made to the pension-list
' After a most expensive contest John Conyers, the Court candidate, was
defeated liy 209 votes. His successful opponent, John Luther of Ongar,
Essex, c<.>ntinued to represent the county until the dissolution in March 1784.
Luther died on 13th January 1786, leaving his old Cambridge tutor, Richard
Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, the sole executor of his will. See Anecdotes of
the Life of Richard Watson, 1807, pp. 10, 143-5.— E.
' Philip Yorke, Lord Royston, afterwards second Earl of Hardwicke. See
infra.

268 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
during his administration, was forced to represent so
strongly against what was granted to Lord Sandwich that
the Court was obliged to recall it. The Irish House of
Commons had just then set itself to examine the state of
pensions charged on that country, and it had been found,
as they published to the world in their votes, that since
the commencement of this reign, a period only of three
years, ;^ 17,000 a year had been added to that list. There
likewise appeared the disgraceful grant to Count "Virri,
the purchase of the peace. It stood in the name of one
Charles. The year concluded with the dismission of General
A'Court, whose regiment was taken from him for having
voted for the Privilege of Parliament. The man was
obscure and of no importance, had a large family and no
fortune ; ^ the tyranny therefore was the more flagrant,
but from those very circumstances made the less noise.
Lord Sandwich had carried in to the King a list of sixteen
officers who had dared to act with spirit and independence
against the arbitrary measures of the Court. The poor
man in question was selected for an example of terror ;
but, except in his ruin, the ministers found no cause to
exult. A much more considerable man had taken the same
part, of which it is necessary here to give some account.
I have said that General Conway,^ under pretence of
bringing home the troops, had been kept abroad till the
peace was voted, the ministers apprehending that they
should not be able to influence him to approve an event
so ruinous and shameful to his country. At his return,
no man being less factious, he had entered into no cabals,
^ Lieut. -General William A'Court, M.P. for Heytesbury, was dismissed
from the 2nd Foot Guards, ofwhich he was Lieut. -Colonel. He was, however,
appointed Colonel of the nth Foot in 1775, and subsequently inherited a
large estate and the borough of Heytesbury from his great-uncle, Edward Ashe,
whose surname he assumed in addition to his own. He became a General
in the army on igth March 1778, and died on 2nd August 1781. His grand
son was created Baron Heytesbury on 23rd of January 1828. — E.
^ General Henry Seymour Conway, only brother of Francis, Earl of
Hertford.

KING GEORGE III. 269
had attached himself to no party. His chief friendships
were with the Duke of Devonshire, with his own brother
the Earl of Hertford, and with me. The Duke, though
grievously insulted and provoked, was of so decent and
cautious a nature, that he was the last man on earth to
think of exciting his friends to violent measures ; and
indeed, after the first sally of passion, bore his affiront with
too much patience. Lord Hertford was a perfect courtier,
and more likely to dissuade his brother from, than incite
him to. Opposition. I, much more inclined to party-heat,
had been very seriously alarmed at the strides I had seen
made towards arbitrary power ; but having beheld the
cowardice of Lord Bute, and knowing that of Lord
Mansfield, and finding the nation delivered from the
influence of Fox, I had flattered myself the danger was
over. I had been pleased, too, that Grenville was become
the acting minister ; having (I confess my blindness)
entertained a most favourable opinion of his integrity.
He talked nothing but reformation — which, indeed, alone
would not have duped me — I had seen too much of patriot
hypocrisy ! but he went beyond myself in his principles
of liberty — I mean, in his discourse. I thought him a
grounded Republican ; had heard him harangue by the
hour against the despotic doctrines of Lord Mansfield.
Nor had his venal prostitution of himself to Lord Bute as
yet opened my eyes. But I was again roused by the
arbitrary treatment of Wilkes, committed close prisoner
to the Tower by an indefinite warrant. Lord Bute, I saw,
had left his cloak to his successors ; yet I could not
believe that my friend, Algernon Sydney (for Grenville
appeared to me as scarce a less Whig saint), was capable
of concurring in such measures. In tmth, when I saw
Saint Sandwich added to his rubric, I began to be startled.
I saw him lean, too, on the Bedfords : them I did not
love ; and nothing is a more sovereign cure for blindness
in friendship than a connection between one's friends and
one's enemies. I laboured by those most in Grenville's
confidence to detach him from so disreputable an union ;

270 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
but Grenville knew his interest better than I knew him.
Still I had not the most distant suspicion of what his
heart was capable of, nor any view of opposing his
administration. Thinking him as frank and candid as
myself, and thoroughly shocked at the use made of
General Warrants, I desired Mr. Thomas Pitt.i attached
to Mr. Grenville, and my own friend, to tell him fairly in
the summer, that I believed I should diff'er with him when
the point of General Warrants should be agitated in
Parliament But not content with opposing them myself,
I earnestly desired that Mr. Conway should take the same
step ; and in bringing that about, I by no means piqued
myself on the same frankness. Should Lord Hertford
conceive the least suspicion of my intentions, I knew how
sedulously he would labour to prevent his brother from
involving himself against the Court He might procure
Mr. Conway to be again sent aside on some honourable
commission, or contrive to have his gratitude dipped in
favours from the King, before he should be aware with
what view they were bestowed. I waited therefore in
silence and patience till Lord Hertford was set out on his
embassy to Paris, before I ever named the term General
Warrants in the presence of Mr. Conway. Then, indeed,
I asked him, as by accident, how hc intended to vote on
that business, telling him I should wish to act as he did.
I found he was disgusted at the Warrants ; and thence I
easily entered into agreement with him to oppose them, as
^ Thomas Pitt of Boconnock, only son of Thomas Pitt, elder brother of
the famous William Pitt, by the eldest sister of George, Lord Lyttelton.
[He was M.P. for Old Sarum from December 1761 to March 1768, for
Oakhampton from March 1768 to September 1774, and for Old Sarum again
from October 1774 to January 1784, when hc was created Baron Camelford.
He was a Lord of the Admiralty from April 1763 to December 1765, and
died at Florence on 19th January 1793. In 1804 Lord Grenville edited The
Letters written by the late Earl of Chatham to his nephew, Thomas I'itt, Esq.
(afterwards Lord Camelford), then at Cambridge' (London, Svo). The
nephew's replies as well as the uncle's letters are printed in the Chatham
Correspondence (vol. i. p. 57 et seq.). A number of Lord Camclford's letters
to Mr. Hardinge will be founrl in Nichols' Illustrations of the Literary
History of the iSth Century, vol. vi. pp. 74-139. — E.]

KING GEORGE III. 271
we did, no other person living having any previous
intimation of his intention. The Court was alarmed ;
and Grenville sent Mr. Thomas Pitt to me to sound me
on that head ; both of them believing that I had rather
been influenced by Conway, than he by me.
Pitt began with Mr. Grenville's concern at Mr. Conway's
behaviour, wished to know what had disgusted him, and
was ready to obtain for him whatever his warmest wishes
could aim at. I assured him he was thoroughly mistaken ;
that no disgust had taken possession of Mr. Conway ; that
no man was less ambitious ; and that I advised Mr.
Grenville, as a friend, not to think of treating Mr. Conway
as a man to be bought. That really would disgust him,
and might throw him into Opposition, of which I was sure
at present he had no thoughts — and thus far I really spoke
with good wishes to Mr. Grenville — but the scene soon
changed. Finding bribes rejected, Pitt altered his tone ;
said it could not be suffered to have men in the King's
service acting against him, — and then dropped this un
guarded expression, the King could not trust his arm,y in
such hands. I started ! ' Good God I ' said I, ' Mr. Pitt,
what are they going to do with the army ? to what use is
it to be put, if a man of Mr. Conway's virtue, and tried
loyalty and bravery, cannot be trusted with a regiment !
You alarm me ! ' He beat about backwards and forwards ;
sometimes it was offers and promises, sometimes threats ;
but I had taken my part, and had got hold of words I was
determined not to part with or forget. I would say no
more, but that I advised Mr. Grenville to have patience ;
that I knew Mr. Conway neither was in, nor was going
into, Opposition (for they were jealous of his connection
with the Duke of Devonshire), and that I was sure he
would never be influenced, would never act but from
principle ; and if they would leave him to himself, they
would have no reason to be dissatisfied — and I told them
the truth, if they had had sense enough to believe me.
Mr. Pitt then pressed me to talk it over with Mr. Grenville,
which I declined. I said I would certainly never give

272 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Mr. Conway any dishonourable advice ; would never try
to persuade him to be bribed or terrified ; nor would he
forgive me if I should. Pitt persisted. I said, ' Mr. Pitt, I
am persuaded Mr. Grenville will never report my con
versation differently from the truth ; but, though he may
not intend it, he may mistake me ; I may mistake him. I
will wait on him, upon condition a third person is present.
I do not desire it may be a friend of mine and not his ;
you are a friend of both ; and though justly much more
attached to him than to me, I am persuaded, if any
diffierence should arise between us in the relation of the
interview, you have too much honour not to do strict
justice to either. If you may be present, I will meet him,
— but remember I tell you, it will be to no purpose.' In
truth, after such a Star-chamber sentence as the King
cannot trust his army in the hands of a inan who votes in
Parliament against him, I was not disposed to labour in
cementing an union between my friend and a man of such
apostate degeneracy. From that hour all my prejudices
in Grenville's favour were dispelled. I saw how dangerous
he was : it was Fox with a fairer character.
Though I had given too little encouragement to ex
pect any alteration either in Mr. Conway's or my own
sentiments, Grenville persisted in the interview. I went
accordingly to Mr. Thomas Pitt's. It happened to be the
evening of the riot on burning the North Briton. Grenville
arrived in the most ridiculous and extraordinary disorder
I ever saw. He could scarce articulate for passion. One
would have thought the City had been taken by storm
and the guards cut to pieces. Yet this was not a panic.
It was rage to see authority set at nought while he was
minister. His subsequent conduct gave evidence that this
was his sensation : no man ever bore power with more
pride. For some time I could scarce learn what had
provoked him : the confusion of his ideas made him talk
as if Mr. Conway had raised a rebellion. Commanding
my laughter, and waiting with patience till the torrent
should have spent itself, but to no purpose, I was forced

KING GEORGE HI. rji
at last to ask what the riot had to do with Mr. Conway's
case ? This unfortunate question, like snatching a pebble
from amidst a cascade, did but make it dash at random on
all sides. From seven in the evening till ten at night, I
sat to hear his inundation of words, scarce uttering ten
myself; and we parted with as little fruit as might be
expected from a conversation so intemperate and dis
jointed ; the result of all I said being to repeat my request
that he would have patience, and assuring him that
he would not find Mr. Conway engaged in any regular
opposition. Whether it proceeded from his impatience of contra
diction, whether from eagerness to carry his point, or
whether privately instigated by the Bedfords to push on
an explanation which they hoped might drive Mr. Conway
into settled hostilities, or whether, which I think most
likely, they flattered themselves they should regain him
from my influence, Grenville desired an interview with
Conway himself He consulted me, and we agreed that
he should act as I had done, and insist on a third person
being present, proposing the Duke of Richmond,^ his
son-in-law, who however could not be exceptionable, as
he acted uniformly with the Court. This demand
produced a new scene of ridiculous distress. Though the
meeting had been proposed, and Mr. Conway's answer
sent by noon, it was not till ten at night that Mr. Grenville
could bring himself to any resolution ; being, as his
servant owned, shut up for the greatest part of the time
with his wife,^ a proud, ambitiou.s, and sensible woman,
and the only person to whom he would listen. She,
indeed, had full dominion over him. The precautions
taken both by Mr. Conway and me had put Grenville on
his guard ; not a word dropped from him intimating
1 Charles Lenox, third Duke of Richmond, had married Lady Mary Bruce,
daughter of the last Eari of Ailesbury by his third wife, Caroline Campbell,
afterwards married to General Conway.
'¦I Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir William Wyndham. [She was the
younger daughter of Sir William. Iter elder sister Katherine died of
smallpox on sglh April 1734, aged seventeen.— E.]
VOL. I. S

274 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
bribery. The meeting ended fruitlessly, as we had
foreseen. Conway was naturally cold, and Grenville far
from being master of ingratiating persuasion. Conway
adhered to the declaration that he was engaged in no
opposition. His subsequent behaviour amply confirmed
that assurance ; but a new measure of obedience was set
up, and my late republican friend was become as strict a
disciplinarian as the most arbitrary of his predecessors.

KING GEORGE IIL 275

CHAPTER XXV
Marriage of the Princess Augusta with the Hereditary Duke of Brunswick. —
His marked opposition to the wishes of the King. — Debates on WUkes's
complaint of breach of privilege. — Sir William Meredith and Sir George
Saville. — The Essay on Woman. — The Marriage Bill. — Debate on breach
of privilege. — Cases of Carteret Webbe and Wood.
So early as in the late reign there had been thoughts of
a double alliance with the ducal house of Brunswick ; but
when the jealousy of the Princess Dowager had prevented
the marriage of her son with a princess of that line, there
had remained no great propensity in the Court of
Brunswick to the other match between the hereditary
Prince and Lady Augusta.^ It had, however, been
treated of from time to time ; and in 1762 had been
agreed, but was abruptly broken off by the influence of
the King of Prussia. Lady Augusta was lively, and much
inclined to meddle in the private politics of the Court.
As none of her children but the King had, or had reason
to have, much affection for their mother, she justly
apprehended Lady Augusta's instilling their disgusts into
the Queen. She could not forbid her daughter's frequent
visits at Buckingham House, but to prevent any ill
consequence from them, often accompanied her thither.
This, however, was an attendance and constraint the
Princess of Wales could not support Her exceeding
indolence, her more excessive love of privacy, and the
subjection of being frequently with the Queen, whose
higher rank was a never-ceasing mortification, all concurred
to make her resolve at any rate to deliver herself from her
daughter. To attain this end, profusion of favours to the
^ Augusta, eldest daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales.

276 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
hated House of Brunswick was not thought too much.
The hereditary Prince was prevailed on to accept Lady
Augusta's hand, with fourscore thousand pounds, an
annuity of £^ooo a year on Ireland, and £yX)0 a year on
Hanover. Fourscore thousand pounds were given with
the late Princess Royal ^ to the Prince of Orange, but she
was a King's daughter. The Princess Mary ^ and Louisa
had but forty thousand each.
Lady Augusta was not handsome, but tall enough, and
not ill-made ; with the German whiteness of hair and
complexion, so remarkable in the Royal Family, and with
their precipitate, yet thick, Westphalian accent She had
little grace or softness in her manner: yet with more
attractions she might have failed to gain a heart that was
not inclined to part with its liberty, and least of all to one
of her family. The Prince arrived on the 12th of January ;
and, as if to prejudice him against his bride, the plan was
formed to disgust him as much in order to send him away
as soon as possible. He was lodged at Somerset House ?
no guards were stationed there. The Lord Steward chose
the company that should dine with him ; and every art
was used to prevent his seeing Mr. Pitt, or the chiefs of
the Opposition. At the wedding, which was on the i6th,
the servants of the King and Queen were ordered not to
appear in new clothes. But though these little artifices
had the desired eff'ect of aflfronting the Prince, they only
drew mortifications on the Court The people, enchanted
with novelty, and a hero, were unbounded in their ex
ultations wherever he appeared ; and, as the behaviour of
the Court got wind, took pleasure, when he attended
the King to the theatres, to mark their joy at the presence
' Anne, eldest daughter of King George the Second.
' Mary, fourth daughter of Geoi^e the Second, married to the Prince of
Hesse ; and Louisa, his fifth, married to the King of Denmark.
' This was the old palace of Protector Somerset. By an Act passed in
177s (Geo. III., xxxiu.), Buckingham House was settled npon the Queen in
Ueu of ' Denmark House, orwise Somerset House, orwise Shand House,'
which was thereupon puUed down, and the present bmlding was erected by
Sir WiUiam Chamt)ers on the old site. — E.

KING GEORGE IIL 277
of the Prince, and to show the coldest neglect of their
Sovereign. Nor was the Prince less assiduous to intimate
his dissatisfaction, even to ill-breeding, turning his back on
the King, as he stood over against him in the box at the
Opera ; and even going away during half the representa
tion. To the Duke of Newcastle, and others in disgrace,
he was full of attentions ; dined twice with the Duke of
Cumberland, and affectedly lingered there, though the
King and Queen waited for him to a ball ; and, as he
found that step would be the most offensive, though
indeed due from him to one so partial to his family, he
made a visit to Mr. Pitt, at Hayes.^ These little hostilities
were carried on with such vigour on both sides that, not
withstanding all his curiosity and desires expressed of a
longer stay, the King forced him and his bride to depart
on the 2Sth, — only thirteen days after his arrival. They
were overtaken in a great storm at sea, and in extreme
danger of being lost ; but escaped, not only with good
fortune to themselves, but to the Court of England, who
would have appeared as guilty to the people in driving
them out at such a season, as if they had raised the
tempest by sorcery.^
^ The Prince visited Mr. Pitt on the 22nd of January, and passed two hours
with him. On the 14th, the Prince had addressed him a very complimentary
letter. — Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 271, and note. — L. M.
' Charles WiUiam Ferdinand, Plereditary Prince of Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel,
succeeded to the dukedom on the deathjof his father in 1780, and for some
years after resided at Brunswick, where the Princess, who was throughout
life deservedly esteemed, made his Court very agreeable. In 1787 he com
manded the Prussian forces which took possession of Amsterdam, and put
down the republican party in Holland. His campaigns against the French
republicans were less successful, and his weU-known manifesto rendered his
failure more glaring. He was mortally wounded at Auerstadt, and expired
at Altona on the loth of November 1806, leaving behind him the reputation
of a bold and enterprising, rather than of an able general. His Duchess
took refuge in England, where she died at an advanced age. They were not
happy in their family : of their two daughters, the elder married Prince
Frederick William Charles, afterwards King of Wurtemburgh, and came to a
miserable end in Russia ; the younger was the unfortunate Queen Caroline.
Their elder son was of weak understanding, and the younger, ' Brunswick's
fated Chieftain,' a Prince of moderate abilities but signal courage, fell in
middle Ufe at Quatre Bras.— L. M.

278 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
The Parliament having reassembled on January i6th,
the House of Commons on the 19th proceeded on the
aff'air of Wilkes. He had given out that he would return
from Paris, and make his defence : and to carry on the
delusion, a dinner was bespoken, and company invited
to meet him ; but on the day destined for deciding his
fate, a letter from him was delivered to the Speaker,
accompanied by a certificate from two French surgeons,
attesting his incapacity of travelling, from the ill state of
his wound. The Court party objected even to the reading
of the certificates, but though they could not prevent it, so
eager was the curiosity of the House, they did frustrate a
motion for adjournment by 239 to 102 ; on which many
of the minority, finding their weakness, left the House.
Others battled for the criminal till near four in the morn
ing, but their numbers still dwindling away, Wilkes was
at last expelled with scarce a negative, the warmest
sticklers for him having been discountenanced and dis
couraged by the harsh epithets bestowed on him by Pitt
in one of the former debates.
The next day Sir William Meredith and Sir George
Saville moved to have Wilkes's complaint of breach of
privilege examined. George Grenville tried to evade it,
but was strongly attacked by Charles Townshend, and
reproached with the dismission of General A'Court, and
with the arbitrary influence exerted by the administration.
Sir John Griffin^ the day before had mentioned too the
case of A'Court, and said he himself would not be intimi
dated by the disgrace of ten more generals. The Court
at last yielded the point ; and the 26th was fixed for
hearing the complaint.
Sir William Meredith^ and Sir George Saville were both
men of character, and both singular in diff'erent ways.
^ A General officer. [See supra, p. 259. — E.]
^ Sir William Meredith, Bart., M.P. for Wigan from 1754 to 1761, for
Liverpool from 1761 to 1780. He was a Lord of the Admiralty from August
1765 to December 1766, and in March 1744 was appointed ComptroUer of
the Household and admitted to the Privy CouncU. He died at Lyons on
2nd January 1790, when the baronetcy became extinct. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 279
The first was a convert from Jacobitism ; inflexibly
serious, and of no clear head : yet practice formed him to
a manner of speaking that had weight and was worth
attending to by those who had patience for it. He was, I
believe, an honest man, though not without personal
views, which a little sharpened his scorn of those who had
unlike views, and were not equally honest
Sir George Saville had a head as acutely argumentative
as if it had been made by a German logician for a model.
Could ministers have been found acting by the advice
of casuists and confessors. Sir George would still have
started distinctions to hamper their consciences ; but
though they walked not in such ruled paths, his want of
ambition carried him so seldom to the House, that they
were not often troubled with his subtleties. He had a
large fortune, and a larger mind ; and though his reason
was sharp, his soul was candid, having none of the
acrimony or vengeance of party ; thence was he of greater
credit than service to that in which he listed.^
' This character of Sir George Savile is not less honourable to his memory
than Mr. Burke's well-known and brilliant panegyric at the Bristol election
in 1780. — Works of Edmund Burke , 181 5, iii. p. 392, Few public men received
more respect from their contemporaries — few, perhaps, have so well earned
it. He devoted his time, his talents, and his purse almost exclusively to the
public service. Neither the fashionable nor literary circles of London, nor
the pursuits of the country, had any charm for him ; he seldom resided at
Rufford, the splendid seat of his ancestors : business was his passion, and
whether in town or country, constituted his sole occupation ; fortunately, he
had abiUties to perform it creditably, and his generosity, which was scarcely
bounded by his great estate, had always usefulness for its object. The same
discernment appears in his selection of the Parliamentary questions with
which his name is identified, such as the Limitation of the Claims of the
Crown on Landed Estates ; the Relief of Roman CathoUcs as well as of Pro
testant Dissenters, and the Condemnation of General Warrants, and lastly,
the Improved Representation of the People ; all these he advocated with an
earnestness and singleness of purpose, and consistency of action, which
extorted the admiration even of his opponents. Though not an impressive
speaker, he was always sensible and very fluent, and he spared no pains to
understand his subject. His speeches, indeed, partook of one of the char
acteristics of his mind, which was a simplicity approaching to austerity, and
an exemption from party, or even popular prejudices. His life in all
respects strictly corresponded with'_his principles, and was unstained by vice,

28o MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
On the 23rd these two Baronets moved to put off" the
aff'air of Wilkes's complaint of breach of privilege to the
13th of February, as the material evidence, Wilkes's servant,
was in France with him. Sir George particularly attacked
Grenville with much spirit. Grenville, as usual, spoke too
long, though not ill, insinuating that this delay was cal
culated to keep up the flame. ' He had always,' he said,
' been averse to having this matter discussed, which had
better never be decided ; and that he had only given way
in order to vindicate Lord Halifax and Lord Egremont'
It was perhaps true, that in some cases it were better that
certain powers should not be defined. It might be of use
that traitors should think ministers have power of com
mitting by General Warrants even members of Parlia
ment ; and at the same time ministers ought not to have
that power absolutely bestowed on them. But when once
the case has happened, and that dormant or supposed
power has been abused, it must be inquired into and regu
lated ; or acquiescence constitutes the second evil hinted
at above. But in any case Grenville's argument was
faulty, for if it was desirable for the public that the case
should not be defined, the private vindication of two men
ought not to supersede that utility. However, though the
minority on putting the question were not loud for it, the
Ministry gave it up. Sir George Saville took occasion to
make it observed, that so bad was his opinion of Wilkes,
he had taken no part till, the man being expelled, nothing
but the cause of the House in point of privilege seemed
to remain. This, did honour to Sir George, but prejudiced
Wilkes and the cause of liberty. The former's character,
as I have said, was very fair: and indeed most of the
Opposition were unexceptionable in that light. Yet
Wilkes had, early in his warfare on the Court, told Rigby
or even by weakness of any kind ; his death was regarded as a pubUc loss.
He died in 1784, unmarried, aged fifty-seven, and with him ended this
illustrious Une of the family of Savile. He was a collateral descendant of the
Marquis of Halifax, to whose estates his father had succeeded. — L. M. [Savile
was M.P. for Yorkshire from January 1759 to December 1783. — E.]

KING GEORGE IH. 281
that he liked the ministers better than their opponents
(no great compliment to the first), and desired him to
apply to Fox to make him (Wilkes) Governor of Canada
— a proposal Fox rejected. It was not to be wondered
at that Wilkes, so libertine and jovial, should not be
captivated with the company of a set of young men who
were as free from the spirit and vivacity as from the
vices of their age. The chiefs were of eminent rank,
and besides losing the power they thought aff'ected to
their birth, had been wantonly insulted by the Court
But wanting parts to preserve their power, they equally
wanted them to recover it. Yet was the Court itself
alarmed at a club into which the Opposition formed
themselves, holding their weekly meetings at a tavem
erected on the occasion by one Wildman, in Albemarle
Street ^ — a circumstance I mention rather as an antiquary
than historian ; several pamphlets being published at this
time addressed to, or written in the name of, that society.
On the 24th, Dowdeswell proposed a Committee of
the whole House, to consider the Cider Bill. Grenville
opposed that motion, agreeing only to have a Committee
to examine the grievances occasioned by it, and to suggest
¦• This house, in which James, Earl Waldegrave died, has again become
remarkable by a club created there in 1769 by several ladies of first rank ;
the first public female club ever known, and which gave great offence, though
the ladies were almost all of distinguished virtue. Nor, though the age was
notorious for divorces, though most of the female members were of the greatest
beauty, and though most of the young men of fashion were of the club, did
any scandal happen from that society. Even gaming, which at that time
raged to so enormous a degree, went to no great lengths there. So that vice
and satire, which prevailed so exceedingly, did not always meet where they
deserved to meet. The King and Queen marked their disapprobation of the
club, while Lord Despenser, Lord Talbot, and Lord Pembroke were in place,
while Lady Berkeley was of the Bedchamber to the Princess Dowager, though
her husband, Lord Clare, had disavowed her last child, and while Miss Chud-
leigh had remained Maid of Honour to her, though she had owned her mar
riage with Captain Hervey to her Royal Highness, till she openly married
the Duke of Kingston, though Hervey was alive ; and was received by all the
Royal Family as Duchess, after having been publicly kept by the Duke as
his mistress. No wonder the sanctity of the Court passed for hypocrisy.
[See Notes and Queries, 6th series, vol. i. pp. 293, 357 ; 7th series, vol. v. pp.
127, 178.-E.]

282 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
corrections, but not with power to repeal the Bill. These
restrictions were carried by 167 to 125.'
The same day the House of Lords sat on the Essay
on Woman. Lord Sandwich moved to vote Wilkes the
author of it, and to order him to be taken into custody.
The Duke of Devonshire, and even the Duke of Rich
mond, though a courtier, spoke against this summary
proceeding ; and warm words passed between Lord
Temple and Lord Marchmont, the latter of whom said
that though Wilkes was gone, he had left his gang behind
him. At last both questions were formed into this one, —
that it appearing to the House that Wilkes was the author,
he should be taken into custody ; but, as he had with
drawn himself, a Committee was appointed to search for
precedents how to proceed.
On the 25th, Sir John Glynn, in a very thin House,
moved to reconsider the Marriage Act ; and a Committee
was appointed. Sir John Philipps, too, proposed to re
appoint the Committee of the last year for inspecting the
public accounts, and it was carried by 90 to 30 odd. Lord
Holland and the Duke of Newcastle had concurred to
bring that inquiry to nothing, contriving to have the time
wasted on the accounts of the ordnance.
On the 31st, Dowdeswell moved a question against
excise, though without naming it, in the Committee on
the Cider Bill, but it was thrown out by 172 to 152, seven
of the minority being shut out when the question was
putting : so near was the Court run by the minority,
though without leaders, and frequently obstructed and
distressed by the fluctuation of the family of Yorke, and
the duplicity of Charles Townshend, who oftener spoke
against than for them, and that generally when he had
given the most solemn assurances of his support.
On February 3rd, late in the day. Sir William Mere
dith moved for the evidence on which the Secretaries of
State had granted the warrant against Wilkes. The
' For an account of this debate, see Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p.
281.— L.M.

KING GEORGE IIL 283
Ministry complained of tlie lateness of the hour, and
Rigby moved to adjourn. Charles Townshend attacked
Grenville on it, and was even seconded by his brother,
the General ; but the adjournment was carried by 73 to 60.
On the 6th there was a good debate ^ on Wilkes's com
plaint of breach of privilege, when Sir W. Meredith and
Sir George Saville defended themselves against the im
putation of want of candour, in having made their motion
late in a thin House; the former proving that many
violent questions had been proposed seven hours later
than theirs had been. He moved for the warrant on
which Wilkes had been apprehended, and for the infor
mation on which it had been grounded. To avoid the
demand, Sir John Philipps moved the previous question,
declaring that he meant to discharge the complaint Lord
Strange was at first for having tlie warrant produced ; but
soon retracted, and said the complaint ought to be dis
charged, as the suit was depending at common law — an
argument that had been pressed on the ministers when
Wilkes's expulsion was agitated, and which they then had
refused to admit.
I have more than once, in the former part of these
Mevioirs, touched on the character of Lord Strange, as
a man acting on notions of his own, unwedded to any
faction, and above temptations of money. He had, how
ever, been gained by Fox to the Court, in the present
reign, by the off'er of the post of Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster, the county where his estate and interest lay.
The large number of places in the disposal of that officer
could gratify his passion for sway in his own province ;
so true was the maxim of Sir Robert Walpole, that every
man lias liis price ; - and so judiciously was this office held
out to Lord Strange ; for though he accepted the post
1 A graphical description of this debate is given by the author in a letter
to Lord Hertford, vol. iv. p. 179, of his Letters. — L. M.
^ Mr. John Morley asserts that Sir Robert W.ilpole ' never delivered him
self of that fomous slander on mankind,' but that, while mocking the declama
tory professions of certain patriots in opposition, Walpole declared that ' all
these men have their price.' — Twelve English Statesmen : WcUpole, p. 127.

284 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
on the views I have mentioned, he nobly refused to take
the annexed salary of £1200 a year. He seldom after
wards differed with the successive administrations, but
rarely attended Parliament.
Sir William Meredith consented to waive his demand
of the information, though Beckford protested that he
himself had never, as a justice of the peace, granted a
warrant without information on oath. Norton pleaded
that to grant it would instruct the accuser, Wilkes, in the
defence of the accused Secretaries and Under-Secretaries
of State ; but T. Townshend urged that it had already
appeared in the Court of Common Pleas, and in the
ordinary newspapers. George Grenville ^ said that pro
ducing the warrant would engage the House to pronounce
on the legality or illegality of it Would the House
declare that any papers might be seized ? Would it
declare that none might ? Sir Anthony Abdy,^ a lawyer
attached to the Duke of Devonshire, said a sight of the
warrant was demanded as much for the excuse of such
members of the House as had been concerned in it, as
for blame ; and General Conway added, that if the in
formation was the defence of Wood and the others, how
would it hurt them ? But, said he, this matter is treated
as too high for our inspection. I thought I lived in a free
country. We have already chosen to give up our owm
privilege, and now are afraid to inquire on what grounds
it is taken from us.^ Nugent, Morton, Elliot, Wilbra
ham, Dr. Hay, Wood himself. Lord Frederick Campbell,
Forester, Oswald,* Ellis, Lord North, and Sir John Glynn
' For an account of Mr. Grenville's speech, see James Grenville's letter to
Mr. Pitt, Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 285. — L. M.
2 Sir Anthony Thomas Abdy, Bart., of Albins, Essex, M.P. for Knares-
borough from February 1763 until his death, which occurred on 7'h April
1775. He became a King's Counsel in 1766. — E.
^ This speech of General Conway's appears to have made a great impres
sion on the House. See Walpole's Letters, iv. p. 179. — L. M.
* James Oswald of Dunnikier, represented the Kirkcaldy district of burghs
from June 1741 to June 1747, and May 1754 to March 1768; and Fifeshire
from July 1747 to AprU 1754. He successively filled the posts of Commis
sioner of the Navy, Lord of Trade and Plantations, Lord of the Treasury,

KING GEORGE IIL 285
debated the question for the Court, besides those I have
mentioned ; on the other side, Hewet,^ King's Sergeant,
Mawbey,^ Lord George Sackville, Dowdeswell, Fitzherbert,
Dempster, Charles Townshend, and Onslow ; but the pre
vious question was carried by 217 to 122.
The next day the Cider Bill was compromised, and
two shillings imposed instead of five.
On the 9th, the day appointed for considering the
Mcirriage Bill, Charles Yorke opposed going into Com
mittee, and said Sir John Glynn should have stated objec
tions, and proposed amendments ; wished to have a bill
brought in for that purpose. He talked of the wisdom
and temper with which it had been carried through before :
the truth of which may be seen in my former account of
that bill. Rigby was for going into the Committee, his
patron the Duke of Bedford having been, and continuing
to be, its warm adversary. Lord Strange ridiculed ecclesi
astical law, and frankly spoke of marriage as only legal
cohabitation. George Grenville stayed away, and Lord
Holland's friends were for repealing the bill. The Opposi
tion, to court the Yorkes, were against altering it ; but it
was carried by 157 to 79, for a Committee to re-examine
it. It was then proposed to go into the Committee on
that day sevennight : Charles Yorke and General Towns-
and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, and was sworn a member of the Privy Council.
He died on 24th March 1769. He was a soldier as well as a politician, and
%vas the friend of Hume, Lord Kames, and Adam Smith. His Correspond
ence was published in 1825 under the title of Memorials of the Public Life and
Character of the Right Hon. James Os-u-alJ, etc. (Edin., Svo).— E.
* James Hewitt, M.P. for Coventry, was appointed to a puisne judgeship
of the King's Bench in November 1766, and on 9th January 1768 became
Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was successively created Baron and Viscount
Lifford in the peerage of Ireland, and died at DubUn on 28th April 1789.
He is said to have been the first Lord ChanceUor of Ireland whose judgments
have been preserved. A coUecrion of them, ' edited from the original Notes
of the late John WalUs, K.C,,' by James Lyle, was pubUshed in 1839.— E.
* Joseph Mawtiey of Botleys, Surrey, malt distiUer and vinegar manufac
turer. He ^vas M.P. for Southwark from April 1761 to September 1774,
and for Surrey from June 1775 to June 179a He was created a Baronet on
30th July 1765. He died on i6th June 1798, and was buried at Chertsey.
See The RoUiad (179s), p. 296.— E.

286 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
hend for the Monday sevennight after. Charles Towns
hend, who had shone so brightly against the original bill,
kept away ; but it was carried for the Wednesday by 70
to 39.
On the 13th, the House of Commons entered seriously
on the great question of breach of privilege on Wilkes's
complaint, and the first day sat till midnight, four hundred
and fifty members being present. Sir William Meredith
opened the debate with calling for the three messengers
who had executed the warrant, and for Matthew Brown,
Wilkes's servant, who gave an account of what had passed
when his master was seized. I shall not recapitulate
these examinations, which may be found in the journals
of the House ; nor what was said by other witnesses.
Their depositions lasted till nine at night. Philip Carteret
Webbe then made his defence ; and it was so scurvy, that
he was reduced to plead inadvertence, and his being a
servant of the Secretary of State. He even had the
front to affirm that there had been no intention of making
Wilkes close prisoner. He then offered to produce his
evidence, but, it being late, G. Grenville asked if they
would proceed or not? Mr. Pitt said he thought they
ought not to stop till they knew whether they still had a
Constitution or not ? Lord Frederick Campbell, supported
by Rose Fuller and General Townshend, moved to adjourn.
Thomas Townshend the younger urged that the House
had voted the expulsion of a member at four o'clock in
the morning — would not they proceed to hear his com
plaint at eleven at night ? Mr. Pitt said it was deroga
tory from the honour of the House to adjourn. His
own first wish had been to crush foreign enemies ; now it
was to crush domestic. When that was done he should
die willingly. The question was then put, but the
ministers not caring to hazard their majority, when the
House seemed inclined to proceed, few of their party
went out in the division ; and thence it was carried by
379 to 3 1 to go on.
The record of the writ of Habeas Corpus, and the

KING GEORGE IIL 287
returns to it, were then read ; but so many of the members
had retired after the division, to eating-houses and coff"ee-
houses to refresh themselves, that the ministers objected
that evidence was not fairly heard on their side ; and Sir
James Lowther moving to adjourn, it was carried without
a division a quarter before twelve.
The next day was spent in hearing precedents of
general warrants, in which there appeared but too much
countenance for the practice, yet founded on no law.
The greater part had been issued against Jacobites, on
the accession of the present Royal Family, when their
establishment was new and precarious. The Lord Vis
count Townshend,^ a zealous, bold, and authoritative
minister, had made free with the practice. It had been
used even in cases of libels, but always in those of Jaco
bite tendency. Many in times of rebellion had been
issued by the Duke of Newcastle, and three by Mr. Pitt
himself, but against persons suspected of treasonable
practices. These documents had Carteret Webbe now
collected : he printed them, too, in his justification. But
the case of Wilkes was not only dissimilar, but was im
portant enough to call for redress of a power so obnoxious
and liable to abuse. At one in the morning Sir William
Meredith commenced the debate, and to what I have said
added the history of those warrants. Fifty persons, he
owned, had been taken up on such warrants ; and then
Wilkes on a like indefinite warrant His very pocket-
book had been seized to find evidence against him. The
gentlemen who apprehended him were mere ministerial
officers. The first warrant quoted was of 1662, for then
was passed the first act for licensing the press : and as
that act was temporary, and has not been revived, it is a
' Charles, Lord Viscount Townshend, minister at the Hague, and after
wards Secretary of State to the Kings George the First and Second. By his
eldest son, Charles, he was grandfather of General George Townshend, after
wards Viscount, and of the famous Charles Townshend. His second son,
Thomas, was father of another Thomas, often mentioned in these Memoirs.
WilUam, third son, was father of another Charles Townshend, called the Black
or Spanish Charles, from having been Secretary to the Embassy at Madrid.

288 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
proof that there is no law since to authorise such restraint
The warrants themselves have been found by the Court
of Common Pleas to be illegal. He then read the two
resolutions he proposed to move ; the first, that a general
warrant for seizing authors and papers is not law. The
second that seizing Members of Parliament by general
warrant is contrary to privilege. Breach of privilege he
added, might be committed in the manner, even where
there is no privilege. These warrants had never been
used but in times of danger, and then were followed by
Acts of Indemnity, and thence never came to be ques
tioned. They were suspended from 1675 to 1690, and
then were resumed to protect the Revolution. Again in
17 1 5 and 174s, the years ofthe Scottish rebellions. They
were now used for such a trifle as a libel that was in
every man's hand. The licentiousness of the people had
been checked : it was time now to quiet their minds by
checking the licentiousness of power.
Lord Frederick Campbell, with much warmth, called
on the House to vindicate Wood and Webbe, their
accused members. Wood said he had done his duty, and
hoped to be restored to the precise situation in which
he had stood before the accusation. Sir W. Meredith
said. Lord Chief Justice Keeling being accused, pleaded
he had acted by precedent. The practice was censured
before the person, as it is necessary to ascertain the crime
ere the criminal can be condemned. Charles Yorke said
he hoped to hear Keeling's case read another day, and then
moved to adjourn. Norton said he was willing to have
the general case adjourned, but not the particular one of
the accused. The debate took that turn of postponing the
case of the warrants, but the ministers insisted on disculp-
ating the accused, Grenville particularly declaring for dis
charging the complaint of breach of privilege. Pitt replied,
that if the second question should pass, it would be im
possible entirely to acquit the accused. They could not
be acquitted or condemned till the general question should
be affirmed or condemned. If the warrant should be

KING GEORGE III. 289
declared illegal, he would extenuate their behaviour as
having acted by precedent. To this Wood, with much
heat and arrogance, replied that he would not accept of
being excused.
Wood,^ originally a travelling tutor and excellent classic
scholar, is well known from those beautiful and simple
Essays prefixed to the additions of the Ruins of Balbec
and Palmyra ; ^ whither he had travelled with two * young
gentlemen of fortune and curiosity. His taste and in
genuity had recommended him to Mr. Pitt for his private
secretary when Minister ; but the observance required by
Pitt, and the pride, though dormant, of Wood, had been
far from cementing their connection. Wood had then
attached himself to the Duke of Bridgewater, and through
him to the Bedford faction ; but remaining in office when
Mr. Pitt quitted, had, with too much readiness, complied
with the orders of his new masters. His general behaviour
was decent, as became his dependent situation ; but his
nature was hot and veering to despotic.
Lord George Sackville told him that intentionally he
had done right, but was not ready to say that he had
done legally right. Lord Strange said he would not
consent to postpone the acquittal of the accused. General
Townshend desired to have the debate adjoumed to
Friday 17th, being obliged to give attendance on his
father, who was dying. His brother Charles, more
decently than the rest, said the questions were the same
and required the same discussion : he would not consent
to divide them. In truth there could be no thought of
separating them but in compliment to Wood, for few
could have any partiality for Webbe. Sir William
Meredith and Sir George Saville, botli candid men, had
wished to avoid naming persons, — a respect detrimental
in great national questions ; for not only tlie multitude
1 Robert Wood died in Septemljer 1771 ; he was writing Dissertations on
Homer, since published.
3 See what is said of them in the Advertisement prefixed to the first
volume of the Anecdotes of Ptint ing.
* Mr. Bouverie and Mr. Dawkins.
VOL. L T

290 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
will more easily be led by names than by speculation and
theory, but what Ministers will fear to offend, if censure
only touches their practice, not their persons > It is to
the honour of the persons who composed that Opposi
tion that their delicacy frequently, nay, constantly, hurt
their cause. Yet should that delicacy not be imitated.
When the freedom of a nation is at stake, what chance
has liberty, if opponents have scruples for Ministers who
have none ?
Charles Yorke and Dowdeswell then moved to adjourn
till Friday ; and General Conway observed justly, that if
the accused were acquitted first, the general question
would not be left entire ; for could the House vote that
general warrants were illegal, after it should have voted
that they who executed those warrants were blameless ?
Yet Wood continued loudly to demand his justification.
Mr. Pitt was for adjourning the whole debate ; and said,
if this was not agreed to, he would debate the whole.
Sir George Saville said Wood was guilty of impatience,
though an honest one ; and complained that he and Sir
William Meredith were not suffered to prove their whole
charge. At half an hour after four in the morning the House
divided, the Opposition being for adjourning the whole
matter ; and, to the great dismay of the courtiers, the
Ministerial party were but 207, and the opponents 197 —
a triumph in parliamentary cases little preferable to a de
feat ; so strong had been the alarm on seizing the papers,
and so evident was it that the Ministerial majority had
been the work of venality against conviction.
Dr. Hay then moved to discharge the complaint ; but
Pitt, roused by this swell of his party, and feeling the
weight of so large a minority, poured forth one of his
finest rhapsodies on liberty, though at that late hour, and
after the fatigue of so long an attendance and attention :
and he severely reprimanded Wood's insolence, telling
him that, if he would not accept excuse, he deserved
censure. Grenville asked why these persons were blamed,

KING GEORGE IIL 291
and not all their predecessors .' 1 Pitt, still rising in fire
and importance, took the whole debate on himself, asking
what he had done, but in a war which he was called upon
to invigorate ? He had never turned out officers ; he had
sought for merit in those who now held precarious
ctommissions, not by military service. They had not
only saved their country, but him who had been undone
if they had not saved their country.
Grenville, not losing courage on this turn of fortune,
replied ably and finely. He knew, he said, the nation was
left on the brink of ruin.^ The Ministers had had enough
to do without hunting in alleys for libels. He then
painted faction, first setting England against Scotland ;
then reviving party names, and drawing the line between
the Parliament and people. , Look ! said he, look at
Wilkes's letters, where he talks of rare combustibles !
Colonel^ Barre, rising to speak, and being pointed to by
the Speaker under that military appelation, thanked him,
but said he had no right to that title ; yet it gave him
occasion to ask why he had been dismissed? what had
his Majesty done on his accession? He looked out if
any man had been whispered out of the service, and did
him ample justice. (This alluded to Sir Henry Erskine,
dismissed in the late reign, and restored to his rank by
the present King ; a speaking instance against the change
of measures since adopted.) Himself, he said, was of
no consequence, but let Ministers take care how they
deprived the Crown of other faithful servants at the end
of a glorious war. Non de vectigalibus agitur, sed de
animS nostra res agitur. Precedents did not justify :
Charles the First had acted on precedents.
Onslow congratulated Grenville ironically on having
never given one vote for the last ruinous war, which he
' Pitt had issued two general warrants daring the war.
Alluding to the enormous debt contracted by the war.
* Being dependent on Lord Shelburne, Barr^ had, under him, connected
himself with Mr. Pitt, whom he had so savagely attacked not long before,
and had been dismissed from the army.

292 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
now so much condemned. And they, said he, who are
for acquitting these gentlemen, ought to remember who in
sisted on having their two names inserted, when Sir George
Saville and Sir W. Meredith would have omitted them.
In fact, the Ministers had got the names inserted with the
view of having them cleared by a vote of the House.
Mawbey then moved to adjourn, which was overruled
by 208 to 184, and then the complaint being discharged,
the House rose at half an hour after seven in the morning,
the longest sitting on record,^ exceeding that on the
Westminster Election, in 1742, and the last sitting on the
Militia Bill, in 17 — ; but this latter was less a debate
than the perseverance of a very few persons who sat till
six in the morning to perfect that bill.
The Court was strangely alarmed at this sudden rise
of the Opposition, and set them roundly to oppose its
progress, well knowing that when once the scale turns, it
is difficult to secure even the venal, who hurry over to the
side to which fortune seems inclining. Nor was much
time given them to rally their forces, the great question
coming on within four days.
' The longest sitting on record in the history of the House of Commons
was the adjourned debate on the motion for leave to bring in Mr. Forster's
Protection of Person and Property (Ireland) Bill in 1881. The House sat on
this occasion from Monday the 31st of January to half-past nine on Wednesday
morning : an unbroken sitting of 41 hours and a half. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 293

CHAPTER XXVI
Debates on the legaUty of General Warrants, and the conduct of Wilkes,
continued. — Treatise entitled Droit le Roi condemned by the Lords. —
Wilkes found guUty of being the author of the North Briton and the
Essay on Woman.
February 17th the House went into the debate on the
subject, that a general warrant for seizing the author,
printer, etc., of a seditious libel is not legal. Dr. Hay said
it was evident this had been the practice, nor had the
Courts below condemned it. He should, therefore,
propose an amendment, that the question might be
stated clearly and precisely. If that correction was
agreed to, he intended to offer others that should
condemn the whole practice of the secretary's office.
He then moved to add the word treasonable after
seditious ; and then he would propose, he said, to subjoin
the following sentence, though such warrant hath been
according to the practice of office, and has not been conde^mned
by any courts of justice in which such warrants have been
produced. He was seconded by Wedderburn, who argued
against taking up one particular warrant, half excusing
that in question by saying he would not affirm that
practice makes law. Pitt ridiculed the Doctor and the
Ministry for trying to perplex the question ; but owning
handsomely that he should like the question better if
spread over the whole practice, and not confined to the
single instance before them. If his own practice had
been faulty, he was willing to bear his share of public
blame. He called on the Ministers to show what was
really the subject-matter of the question: was it on
seditious libels? then do not cut and shuffle with our

294 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
liberties by an epithet. We had seen the day when an
epithet would defeat Magna Charta. Any other epithet
of four syllables would throw dust in the eyes of members,
as well as treasonable. But now, said he, they parry and
twist, and I like it the better. I am glad that all the
learned doctor's ^abilities could produce was an epithet
But keep separate things separate in their nature. Vote
the general question on seditions first We never desire
to alter the practice in cases of high treason. The
leamed gentleman, he supposed, would allow that there
might be seditious libels without treason in them. It
was shallow, the artifice of attempting to draw in gentle
men to condemn seditious warrants by coupling the word
treasonable to them, which aggravates the off'ence ; but by
not daring to let the question stand simply on its own
merits, on the case of a general warrant issued against a
seditious libel, not a treasonable one, they tacitly avowed
that the libel not being treasonable, their own conduct
had been illegal. But no general warrant to search
universally without specification of name or place was
allowable, even in case of treason. General warrants are
always wrong ; yet if this amendment left the House at
liberty to debate on the whole question, and not on that
amendment solely, he would not be against the stating
those words. Hay was hurt, and said he had nowhere
been accustomed to the manoeuvre of quibbles : he had
only affirmed that general warrants had been produced in
other courts: he had not said that those courts had
decided on them. Conway pursued Pitt's argument, and
showed how totally the original question and the proposed
alteration of it differed ; that if anything could authorise
a general warrant, it was treason. By inserting that
word, the Ministers betrayed the badness of their own
cause ; he feared they were a little tender ; that they
could not bear the last division. He honoured the lights
of the law, but feared the House had a little too much
of them : yet could those learned men prove that treason
and sedition were the same ? Why was it necessary, too.

KING GEORGE III. 295
to describe historically what had been the custom ? The
case was clear and simple, when a gentleman came and
slipped in a word that totally varied the argument: it
was white, he inserts the word black ; and thus would
vote that the Ministers had not done wrong by taking up
a man for a crime of which he had not been guilty. If a
general warrant is good against treason, and not against
sedition, and yet you couple them, and make them one
crime, are Ministers blameless for inflicting on sedition
the punishment only due to treason? Separate the
questions, and vote, if you can, that the warrant was legal.
Hussey ^ said he liked the amendment, because he dis
liked all general warrants ; for what was to follow, he did
not understand it. Did it mean to imply that the silence
of the King's Bench was affirmation? He feared some
such thing was meant ; but it would be a libel on the
judges that sit there. He did not, however, he said, mean
to extend his argument to high treason. He wished to
have general warrants condemned, because to some there
stood the names of men of virtue, which seemed to
authorise so bad a practice. Wedderburn said sharply,
that he had guarded himself by alleging that the practice
of the King's Bench could not make law ; but they had
been taunted with epithets ; the time was come when men
would no longer be led by epithets ^ and flowery declama
tion. It was hurting our country to study popularity by
vilifying the profession of the law. Was a definition
nothing but epithets ? The Opposition, he knew, would
be glad, if they could, to stand clear of epithets. Charles
Yorke was for adopting the amendments, and spoke for
temper. Treasonable corresponded with the evidence
given at the bar. The common warrants had that
description in them. He was for stating what had been
the common usage, and then for condemning it None of
> Richard Hussey, K.C., M.P. for St. Mawes, Attorney-General to the
Queen. He represented East Looe in the Parliament of 1768, and died in
August 1780.— E.
¦¦ Alluding to Mr. Pitt.

296 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
those warrants had come before the Courts below for
argument or consideration. Sir William Meredith said
he hoped this point would be decided by the spirit of
liberty, not by law ; and with some heat added, ' I never
passed my life with the vices of Wilkes.' This sentence,
provoked by what had fallen from Wedderburn, and sup
posed to be aimed, as it justly might have been, at Dr. Hay,
who, though so servile now, had been the intimate of
Wilkes,^ was levelled at Lord Sandwich. But Wedderburn
took it up, and said, if Sir William had meant anything
unparliamentary, he might have taken another place.
Dr. Hay, thinking it necessary to vindicate himself, did
not conciliate more favour. He had long, he said, known
the unhappy man, had received pleasure and instruction
from him, but with many good qualities he had grown
profligate ; did not know who incited him ; had advised him
against his excesses ; yet, said he, I am no hypocrite ; I
have told him he was grown the (9o^ of defamation from
keeping seditious company ; he had even attacked the
Crown, and the parent of the Crown ; for himself, he pitied
the poor devil. Some persons interposing to prevent a duel.
Sir W. Meredith said, he had every day been aspersed
as taking up this matter for the sake of Wilkes. This
he could not bear. Wedderburn had taken it up on tip
toe, though neither pointed at him nor Dr. Hay. Himself
would last year have stopped Wilkes's behaviour.
Hussey then proposed to insert the words in the Kin^s
Bench, where the warrants had never been condemned or
approved, whereas they had been condemned in the Court of
Common Pleas. To this Norton agreed, though he said
he would show that they had been approved in the King's
Bench. Prisoners are brought thither by Habeas Corpus,
' Wilkes subsequently published a very friendly letter, dated 26th March
1763, addressed to him by Mr. Legge, inviting him to meet Dr. Hay at
dinner. Indeed, the intimacy of Wilkes was a reproach shared at that time
with Dr. Hay by several of the most eminent persons in the kingdom. And
it was not till after the pubUcation of the forty-fifth number of the North
Briton, on the 23rd of April 1763, that their eyes were opened to the
enormity of his offences. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. zcyj
and the court is counsel for the prisoner. They examine
the legality ofthe commitment, and must remit him, or bail
him, or remand him. Remanding him, or requiring bail,
is approving the commitment Pitt proposed to add, ' in
which court (the King's Bench) it does not appear that the
validity of general warrants has been brought in question.'
Charles Yorke said he agreed with Pitt, but would have
the sentence run thus, ' although hath been frequently pro
duced to, and never been questioned by, the King's Bench.'
.Sir William said he could not agree to the amendment,
for the 1 louse had only heard evidence ex-parte for ex
culpation of the accused Ministers. Pitt objecting strongly
to the words, never questioned, Charles Yorke off'ered these,
' and the validity never debated.' Forrester approved this,
and asked, if the point had never been litigated, why
should those words be inserted? George Grenville pro
tested that nothing should make him say that all those
warrants were legal ; but with Norton he desired to add,
' though the parties have been remanded and bailed.' Pitt,
offended that the opinion of some Judges had been quoted
in defence of the warrant, said he was no judge, but sat
there to judge Judges. There had not been a violation of
the Constitution but had been sanctified by the greatest
Judges. Let Norton turn to evidence and prove such
prisoners had been remanded. If discharged, let the
House have that evidence also. Conway treated the
whole amendment as trifling ; and asked if they would
take no notice of the decision of the Common Pleas
against the legality of the warrant, and yet would take
notice of a no decision. He wished to have the whole re
ferred to a committee. Charles Yorke affirmed that none
liad been remanded ; but agreed with Norton that they
had been bailed. Charles Townshend asked, since the
lawyers allowed that bail might be given on an erroneous
warrant, why they would mention it. Norton owned that
hc meant from thence to argue for the legality. The
amendments were agreed to.
The Court having carried this point, Norton impudently

298 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
confessed this was what he had aimed at ; and as there
were so many causes connected with this depending in the
Courts below, he should move to put off' the question for
four months. The Ministers did not doubt but the legality
of the warrants would be condemned in Westminster Hall;
yet a previous censure in Parliament might not only ensure
that decision, but produce arraignment of the Administra
tion. They feared, from what had passed in the fore
going day, that they should never be able to carry an
approbation of the warrants, — and if they could, into what
confusion must the nation have fallen, if such warrants
were upheld by Parliament, and anathematised in the
other courts I Their plan, therefore, was to jockey : and
the Opposition had fallen into the snare. It had been
proposed that Lord Granby should move the adjourn
ment ; he refused, and yet spoke for it, — and was im
mediately rewarded with the Lieutenancy of Derbyshire,
which the Duke of Devonshire had resigned, and wished,
from the rivalship between their families in that county,
to see in any other hands.
Norton, continuing to triumph in the arts of attorney
ship, asked to what end the House should decide on the
point which was to be determined elsewhere. Let, he
said, a committee be appointed to draw up a bill. The
practice of a court does make law. For Secretaries of
State he demanded more power than for a common justice
of peace. The House sits to make laws, not to expound
them. He then dropped this sentence, so decent, yet so
worthy of the mouth it fell from, and so often flung in his
teeth, — If I was a Judge T should pay no m^re regard to
this resolution than to that of a drunken porter ; — a sentence
that would have made old Onslow ^ thunder forth indig
nation ; Norton then moved to adjourn the debate for
our months, as so many causes were depending on the
illegality. Charles Yorke made a very long speech against post
poning a present decision, as against the dignity of the
¦^ Arthur Onslow, Speaker in the reign of George the Second.

KING GEORGE lit. 299
House : and he scrupled not to pronounce the warrant
illegal, which he protested he had never seen till Wilkes
was taken up ; nor had any question been asked of the
Attorney or Solicitor Generals by the Administration.
Warrants dated from the Star Chamber. Himself had
always been for taking this matter up in Parliament, not
withstanding its pendency below. Previous questions, to
avoid debates, may be useful during foreign treaties, but
never in cases of privilege. In questions of this sort the
House ought to hold the balance between King and
people. It was a question in point of law impossible to
be deiyed. .Were he a Judge, he should pay regard to the
decision of the House of Commons. The question ought
to be determined for the sake of the Secretaries of State.
He must be for some law.
Notwithstanding Yorke disculpated himself of not
having seen the warrant, yet the Ministers protested that
after Wilkes was taken up, Yorke had given his opinion
that No. 45 was a libel, and had advised the commitment
of him ,to the Tower. This was advising a man to knock
down another, and then pleading that he had not seen the
bludgeon. Lord North said, if a law was necessary, a
partial resolution was trifling. By deferring this, they
meant to introduce something much better.
Lord George Sackville said, it would only alarm the
nation to fling over the question the thin parliamentary
veil of adjournment When could a question of liberty
be so properly taken up as under such a King ? It was
the time to lop such an excrescence. Lord North had
promised much, but would perform nothing. The House
of Commons singly cannot make law ; but can declare
upon it. He thanked God that on this question the whole
body of lawyers was not on the side of power : that
battery would be too much to stand. How came the
Secretaries of State by this practice, but from the Star
Chamber and Licensing Act ? It had never been abused
till now, for it had been exercised only against traitors.
A discretionary power must always be at the peril of the

300 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
Secretary that uses it But he would therefore declare it
illegal for a warning to them, and to show the people that
they had a watchful House of Commons.
Nugent said. Liberty rings round the House, and we
may all be unanimously in the wrong. We are not likely
to be unanimously wrong, replied Conway, nor rash, for
nothing was ever so fully debated. The Ministers had
narrowed the question to Wilkes, and then called it too
narrow. The previous question would in eff'ect be a
negative. Wood had called for immediate decision.
There had been issued but one warrant as extensive as
this down to the time of Lord Townshend, and that had
been in the reign of Charles the Second. He that gives a
power of tyranny gives tyranny. Hussey added, that the
Licensing Act had been dropped because the Peers would
not consent to let their houses be searched.
Lord Frederick Campbell said that in a fortnight's time
general warrants would be determined to be illegal ; and
then, what Secretary of State would dare to sign one.'
Lord Granby, declaring he thought them illegal be
cause Lord Chief Justice Pratt had thought so, said no
Secretary of State after that opinion would venture to
issue them.
Charles Townshend made a most capital speech, replete
with argument, history, and law, though severe on the
lawyers : a speech, like most of his, easier to be described
than detailed. How great, he said, must be the talents of
Norton, if the House heard him with patience, though
comparing them to a drunken porter. Whether in the
House or out of the House, Norton, he feared, would be
fatal to the cause. He then gave the history of the
Licensing Act, and read the resolution of the year 1675,
drawn by Mr. Locke, and the report of Lord Chief Justice
Vaughan of usage not constituting law. Had Norton
lived in the age of ship-money, how he would have argued
for putting off the decision of its being illegal ! But it
was become more necessary to alter this, because of the
many precedents in its favour. He then gave a descrip-

KING GEORGE IH. 301
tion of the warrant against Wilkes, and how long they
had been before they applied it to him. He abhorred
Wilkes, he said ; and drew a severe picture of him, and
another panegyrical of the great Whig Lords at the time
of the Revolution, and of those at the accession of the
present Royal Family. But it seems, continued he, we
are not to have a resolution, but a bill. The first time
was always the best time ; the natural mode the best
mode. One advantage had been derived from Wilkes ;
he had stopped a growing evil. Nobody could think what
thirty years more in abler hands would have done. This
warrant without description of person might take up any
man under any description of a libel. If the House did
not come to some resolution, what dissatisfaction it must
create ! Mankind would learn that the lawyers were
divided in their sentiments on the legality, and would be
clamorous to have settled a point so important to the
security of their persons, houses, and papers. But do not
be wheedled by promises ; who gives promises gives
deceit. He praised Mr. Pitt, and concluded with saying
that this warrant was like an experiment in anatomy,
which might be tried on a poor man. Wilkes is odious,
cry the Ministers ; commit him. If Parliament suffers it,
you may strike at higher objects.
After several other speeches, Pitt said this was not a
warrant, but a delegation of magistracy, which the Crown
could not give, and should Secretaries of State give it?
The debate had been carried on without heat — indeed
with too much coldness. Lawyers term this warrant
erroneous : — was that term harsh enough ? Hear the
language of Ministers and their agents : Carteret Webbe
said he had settled Wilkes comfortably in the Tower with
his shaving things ! Then, they say, you need not pro
nounce this illegal ; Secretaries of State will be sufficiently
frightened ; the Judges may or may not declare it illegal ;
and you shall have a law. I should be against such a
law ; it would be augmenting the power of the Crown by
law. What will our constituents say if we do not ascer-

302 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
tain their liberties? How do you know the Lords will
agree to the bill ? Not doing is doing.
He was answered by Grenville and Sir John Phillips ;
but Lord Howe,^ though a Lord of the Admiralty, spoke
against the adjournment. Elliot said, if there must be
a victim, they might have a hecatomb of Ministers who
had signed such warrants. These warrants, it seemed,
had stalked about unknown to Mr. Pitt, who had been
Secretary of State, and to Mr. Yorke, Attorney General.
Colonel Barr^ ridiculed Lord Barrington, Elliot, and
Grenville, with much humour. Lord Granby thinks,
added he, that no Secretary of State will venture on these
warrants after Pratt's opinion ; but Grenville says that
opinion was undue, erroneous, and precipitate. For him
self, he esteemed the professors of the law, but detested
the profession. Pratt he commended ; and said, shall
France deride our languor when her parhaments are
making such strides towards liberty ?
At five in the morning the House divided, and the
adjournment was carried by 232 against 218; a majority
of only 14. The world expected that the Ministers would
resign — at least endeavour to treat^
The offensive behaviour of Norton in the preceding
debate brought out a story very characteristic of his
unfeeling nature. When Dr. Hensey was condemned for
treason in the last reign, Lord Mansfield asked Pratt, the
Attorney General, when he would have him executed ?
Pratt, struck with compassion, could not bring himself to
fix the day. Lord Mansfield then asked Norton, who,
turning to the prisoner, said, ' Doctor, when will it be
agreeable to you to be executed ? ' *
' Lord Howe was then only an Irish peer. He had succeeded to the title
on the death of his elder brother at Ticonderoga in 1758. His great services
raised him to the English peerage in 1782 as Viscount Howe, and as Earl
Howe in 1788. He died in 1799. — L. M.
* This debate is described in the author's letters to Lord Hertford. — Letters,
vol. iv. p. 189. — L. M.
' This statement is probably much exaggerated. There is no doubt that
Pratt applied to the Court, according to the usual practice, to appoint a day

KING GEORGE 111. 303
While mankind expected that the Opposition would
vigorously juirsue the advantage of so large an increase of
their numbers, day after day, and week after week sliiipcd
;iwiiy without their exerting one symptom of spirit or
activity. No motion.s were made, no in([uiries set on foot,
no zeal expressed to kceii u|) the [lassions and ho[ics of
tht! parly. Withoiit-doors all hearts were with them, and
reudy lo .second their attempts with clamour and ap[)lausc.
At first they seemed to ex[icct that the Ministers would
come and lay their places at their feet The dreain itself
was over before an elTort was niatle to realise it. Not a
piiinphlet was written, not a meeting was held, to concert
farther nitiasures. A Hupiiieiiess unparalleled I but to be
aecountt!d for from the coiniiosilioii of lliat minority.
i'itt iilTectetl to be eoiirtetl to discouiitenanct! party, and
to be jilaced at the head of cvcrylliing without seeming to
desire it. He des|)ised Ncwcaslle, ami resented the
manner in whioh he had been treated by that Dnke, by
Devonshire, by Hardwicke, and the Yorkes. Charies
YorUe wus, besides, incoimiatible with Pitt's friend, the
Chief Justice Prall, as the ('Imncellor's seal w.is equally
the object of both. Lord Temple, Ihe stnil of faction, was
detesteil by the whole parly, e\t:epl by his own small
connection, t'harles Townshend was altaehetl to nobody,
und trtisled by nobody, l-egjie'was iiuhislriou.s, but not
.spiriltiil : he eonUl negotiate for himself, but not for a
parly. Conway had singly meant to arraign the warrants,
and hud no thought of dipping in faction. Some were
too fair, anil olliers too dirty, to take the general steps
that might lend to the good of the whole party ; and thus,
for llc'iiNcy'H cxt'ciiliou. Lord Mnn.sliold doHiivil liiin lo niimc the diiy, and
1111 lioUNpy'H solioilor nuking llml il niii^lil not be mi c-nrly dny, rnill .snid he
WUH rcmly In kIvo ai) loiiu a diiy ii« mlnlil he pro|K>r. M Insl Ihe Court iinrocd
(Imt it Iliiilil Iw 11 m(mlli."-/"'«i'*'. l^eforts, vol. 1. \\ O.-ii, Ki'x. v. Ilciisey.
The KOnliincmltiUty imiuilod to I'vntl coi'tninly fonnod no purl othts cliiiniolcr ;
and IM Uic Blory In willioul ipicNlion iiwcoiuivio, wc miiy liiirly doulil whether
Niirlon Wft« Kuilly of xo curiims n piece of brulnlity. 1 lonscy wius re.spilcd on
Ul« vpry morning lluit he wti« goinu' Ui oxoculion, unil subsoiiucntly obliiinod
ft full |»ardon.— L.M.

304 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
where there was no concert, and in truth but few able
men, there could be no consequences but inactivity and
defeat. That defeat fell heavy on the most conscientious,
who, having offended the Court by their opposition, were
thus exposed a sacrifice to its resentments.
Nor was this conduct, I doubt, solely founded on
inability and outward disunion. Pitt might expect to be
again sent for by Lord Bute, and was unwiUing to be
clogged with numerous dependants, odious to the Favourite,
and distasteful to himself He and Lord Temple had far
more rancour against their brother, George Grenville, than
against Lord Bute ; and Pitt, at least, had never been
personal against the Favourite, who, with all his resentment
to Lord Temple, as the instigator of Wilkes, had received
more recent stabs from George Grenville. Whether during
this suspension of hostilities any negotiation was renewed,
I do not pretend to say ; nor is it important, as it certainly
had no effect, unless that material one of cooling the
growing party.
The Ministers, on the other hand, wore a good counten
ance, and were as alert as their adversaries were supine
and lifeless. To procure votes, to work underground, to
write letters, despatch messengers, and collect all possible
forces — this was the fort and excellence of Sandwich's
genius. He and Rigby were desperate, and Grenville
little less so. They soon perceived the want of discipline
in the enemy's troops, and the insuflSciency of their com
manders. With some address of their own, and with the
defect of it in their opponents, they weathered the session,
obtained full power, and showed that they dared to make
use of it despotically.
On the very day of the last great debate in the House
of Commons, Lord Lyttelton, seconded by the Duke of
Grafton, acquainted the Lords that on the following
Tuesday he should lay a complaint before them against a
new book called Droit le Roi. This pestilent treatise was
a collection from old statutes and obsolete customs of the
darkest and most arbitrary ages of whatever tended, or

KING GEORGE III. 305
had tended, to show and uphold the prerogative of the
Crown. The fulsome flattery and servility of ancient
lawyers in every reign were amassed together, and shoved
upon the worid as the standing law of England ; no retro
spect had to all the immunities obtained since by the
Civil War, by the Revolution, and by various other
struggles of Pariiaments with the Crown. Such a code
obtruded on the Crown, as a codicil to the stretch of
General Warrants, spoke for itself It was incense laid
on an altar erected to power on which human sacrifices
had already been off'ered. Without metaphor, such a
compilation proved that prerogative must have been the
object of the Court before such gross adulation could dare
to step forth in the face of both Houses of Parliament
The author was one Brecknock, a retainer of the law, and
a hackney writer. As no attempt was made to prove
whether he wrote by instigation, it remained problematic.
Certain it is, that he soon afterwards attached himself to
the Earl of Northumberland.^
On the 2 1st, Lord Lyttelton made his complaint, and
moved for a censure of the book as Jacobitical, and
violating the Bill of Rights and the Revolution. Ministers,
he said, ought to have taken notice of it ; but they who
had fallen so severely on seditious pamphlets had over
looked this tract, so subversive of all liberty. Lord
Dartmouth treated the book with still more severity.
Lord Halifax aff'ected to go farther, but complained of
Lord Lyttelton for not acquainting him with his intention.
Lord Marchmont to the censure proposed to tack a com
pliment to the King on his love of liberty ; for so servile
are some men, that they cannot condemn flattery without
^ Hugh Smithson Percy, Earl of Northumberland. His eldest son married
a daughter of Lord Bute. Both the Earl and Brecknock afterwards, finding
their expectations not answered, turned against the Court. Brecknock wsis
hanged twenty years after in Ireland, for being accessory to an atrocious
murder perpetrated by Mr. Fitzgerald, who suffered with him. [Timothy
Brecknock was hanged outside Castlebar Gaol on 12th June 1786. See
G. J. Browne's account of The Trials of George Robert Fitzgerald, etc.
(I786).-E.] VOL. I. U

3o6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
making use of it.^ The book, thus attacked on one side
and given up on the other, was sentenced to be burnt, and
the author ordered to be taken into custody. The latter
part of the sentence nobody took any pains to execute.
On the 24th, the Lords communicated their resolutions
to the other House, who concurred in the same judgment
On February the 21st, Sir John Philipps, as he had
before acquainted the House he would, moved for leave
to bring in a bill to ascertain the power of Secretaries of
State in granting warrants — a line almost impossible to
draw. Treason was to be kept in awe on one side ; the
Ministers themselves on the other. Nor could this boon
to liberty but be suspicious when offered by a hand so
rankly Jacobite ! The Ministers had made their use of
the idea, and desired no such bill : and the Opposition
were not forward to let them draw such a bill. It was
therefore dropped with scorn by both sides of the House ;
and yet the Court afterwards aff'ected to talk of this bill
as a tender made to liberty, and rejected by its advocates.
The same day was Wilkes found guilty in the King's
Bench of being author of the North Briton, and of the
Essay on Woman.
The City of London, to honour the steadiness and
services of Mr. Pratt, the other Chief Justice, presented
him with the freedom of the City, and thanked their own
representatives for their behaviour on the question of the
warrants. On the 6th of March, it was agreed to amend the
Marriage Bill by another bill, as Mr. Yorke had proposed :
and the same day died his father, and the father of the
bill, Philip, Earl of Hardwicke ; a man who, during his
power, had coloured over very confined parts, and very
few virtues, with a gravity that was construed into both,
as it served the purpose of himself or his dependants.
' The compliment was not insincere, for the King probably entertained
more enlarged views of constitutional liberty than Lord Marchmont. His
Lordship clung to his Jacobite principles to the last, though he changed their
object. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 307
Pride, revenge, and avarice were his true features ; and
whatever pictures shall be drawn of him where those lines
do not predominate, will be unlike, false, and flattering.
To conceal all knowledge of his vast wealth, his sons did
not prove his will till the memory of him was faded away.^
1 Lord Holland has justly observed, ' that wherever that great magistrate
(Lord Hardwicke) is mentioned, Lord Orford's resentments blind his judg
ment and disfigure his narrative.' — Mem. of the Reign of George II. (1847),
vol. i. p. 160, note. He certainly has in this instance drawn a caricature,
of which there is no merit in the execution to compensate for the faults of
the design. Lord Chesterfield, though also a political opponent, has done
Lord Hardwicke more justice. — See Letters, 1845, vol. ii. p. 461. Admitting
many of his eminent qualities, he elegantly says of his avarice, that though it
was his ' ruling passion, he \vas never in the least suspected of any kind of
corruption ; a rare and meritorious instance of virtue and self-denial, under
the influence of such a craving, insatiable, and increasing passion. — See also
Lord Mahon's Hist., vol. iii. p. 200. The Editor has only further to
observe, that none but a lawyer who has practised in the Court where Lord
Hardwicke so long presided, can correctly appreciate his discharge of the
duties of that high office. His judgments maintain their authority to the
present hour, and fvimish the earliest and clearest exposition of the principles
of the Equity Jurisdiction of this country. And whoever may have had the
opportunity of examining his Lordship's note-books, will see the patient
attention and indefatigable research that distinguished every part of his
judicial career. — L. JI.

3o8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF

CHAPTER XXVII
The Earl of Egmont. — The Budget. — Taxation of the American Colonies.—
New Bridge at Blackfriars. — Appearance of the Lettres, Memoires, et
Negotiations du Chevalier D'Eon, etc. — Lord Clive appointed Governor-
General of India. — Contest at Cambridge. — PhiUp, Earl of Hardwicke.—
Jeremiah Dyson.
While men were taken up with the politics of the age,
there was a Minister so smitten with the exploded usages
of barbarous times, that he thought of nothing less than
reviving the feudal system. This was the Earl of Egmont,^
who had actually drawn up a plan for establishing that
absurd kind of government in the island of St John.^
He printed several copies of his scheme, and sent them
about to his brother peers. And so little were they
masters of the subject, and so great was the inattention of
the Ministry to the outlying parts of our Empire, that his
Lordship, in the following year, had prevailed with the
Council to suffer him to make the experiment, if General
Conway had not chanced to arrive at Council and expose
the folly of such an undertaking, which occasioned its
being laid aside. Lord Egmont was such a passionate
admirer of those noble tenures and customs, that he rebuilt
his house at Enmere * in Somersetshire in the guise of a
castle, moated it round, and prepared it to defend itself
with cross-bows and arrows, against the time in which the
fabric and use of gunpowder shall be forgotten.
^ John Perceval, second Earl of Egmont. [See his ' Memorial ' which was
presented to the King in December 1763, asking for ' a grant of the whole
island of St. John's in the Gulph of Saint Lawrence.' — E.]
^ In America.
' Enmore Castle, near Bridgwater, was purchased by Mr. Nicholas Broad-
mead in 1833, and subsequently pulled down. — E.

KING GEORGE III. 3039
On the 9th, Mr. Grenville opened the budget, fully, for
brevity was not his failing; but he did it with art and
ability too, though not disguising how much he was hurt
by abuse. He said it had been written in pamphlets that
£ii<X),ooo a year was dealt out in pensions ; pretending
that the accusation had been levelled against the profusion
of those granted in Ireland, which he denied to be so great
as alleged, particularly in that bestowed on Lord Sandwich,
which, as I have said, had been stopped. But in truth the
charge had been levelled against that sort of corruption in
England ; and on that he chose to be silent. Much art,
he said, had been used to dissuade people from subscribing
to the loans of Government ; but no new money was to be
raised — no lottery ; the latter to be kept in reserve for
another exigence. He hoped, therefore, people would
engage in the funds — as if monied men would not keep
their cash a year longer, when it must be borrowed ! He
took great merit on the revenue being managed with more
frugality than in the late reign, and on the increase of the
customs, particularly in the duties on tea, though the
increase of trade had much more share in that rise than
his regulations. He stated the debt incurred by the late
war at sixty-four millions already funded, and nine that
were not. But above all he praised, and justly, the
reduction of the demands from Germany. They amounted
to ;^i,354,8o3 and upwards, of which ;^I03,35S had
only been allowed. ^^263,2 11 had been suspended, and
;^988,237^ had been struck off". The time had been
limited for the demands to be brought in, or more would
have been asked from that quarter : and yet, our taxes,
he said, exceeded by three millions what they did in 1754-
He then opened his, famous shall I call it, or fatal, plan
for collecting a revenue from America ; - a plan which,
* AU the sums mentioned in this speech must be carefully re-examined, for
I am not sure" they are exact ; [nor has the Editor been able to verify
them. — L. M.]
* A plan, of which the consequences were so Uttle foreseen, that Walpole
does not even notice it in a letter to Lord Hertford, written two days after
wards. — Letters, vol. iv. p. 202. — L. M.

3IO MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
though it took place in the session I am describing, I
will not unfold here; for though the regulation was
enacted now, the consequences did not appear to this
country till the winter following. I shall be obliged to
say so much on that head hereafter, that to avoid repetition,
and to introduce the detail where it will come in with
more propriety, and be more useful to the reader, I shall
pass it over now ; — and would to God that at the moment
I am writing, at the end of 1768, the subject was not only
fresh, but threatening a scene of long and terrible calamity
both to England and her colonies I His object, he said,
was to make them maintain their own army. Till the last
war they had never contributed to their army at all. The
extraordinaries of the American war had cost England
;£"36,ooo a year. He had, additionally, a plan for preventing
the colonies from trading directly to France, Holland,
Portugal, or the French islands. Thus did this pedlar in
revenue confound the tranquillity both of America and
Great Britain ; and to realise farthings, set both countries
at variance, at the risk of treasure, human lives, liberty,
and common and mutual preservation.
On the 1 2th, at the East India House, which had been
a theatre of disputes and clashing interests, Mr. Amyand,'
having quarrelled with Sullivan, the leader of the faction
opposite to Lord Clive, suddenly proposed to give the
government of Bengal, with full powers over their affairs
to that lord, if he would undertake the commission.
Lord Clive, then present, said this motion was totally
unexpected ; yet would he accept the off'er, if a board of
directors on whom he could depend should be chosen. The
election was then at hand. The train caught so rapidly,
that it was proposed directly to invest him with his jaghire,
which had been voted as precipitately too, if somebody "
' Afterwards Sir George Amyand. [He was one of the leading Directori
of the East India Company, and an eminent merchant in the City. He died
in 1766.— L. M.]
' It appears to have been Lord Clive himself who made thia observation,
' not thinking it strictly honourable to take advantage of this sudden spirit
of generosity, and to carry merely by his popularity a case which was depend-

KING GEOICi.E III. 311
hud not observed that a lawsuit being commenced on
that subject, the law must decide it.
The City of Ltindon apiilied to Parliament for more
motu-y for their new briilge at Blackfriars. James Gren
ville objected to it. Dr. Hay broke out and abu.sed the
Common Council, who.se late behaviour, he said, entitled
them 1.0 no favour. He alhuletl to their thanking their
meiiibers for voting against general warrants. This [iro-
iliiced a,s warm language in return from Beckfortl and
Onslow. Geor^t- tireiiville interposed, and said the
question was not whether the City de.serveil money, but
whether it coiiUI be alfordetl. That their teniiiorary
briilge having been burnt by accident, they ought to have
a gift of six or seven thou.sand pound.s. .Sir William HaUer'
iiidi.sdaiii moved lo adjourn, thai they inighl not acce[)t it.
The printers of the London li-juiiing Post and Gascttecr
were called before the I louse of Louis, on a complaint
niiulc by Ihe ICarl of Marchmont, fur jiriiitiiig a letter
(written by Wilkes) relleetiiig on the ICarl of Hertfonl,
iuulia.s.sador al I'aris, for eiiiploying David Hume the
historian as his secretary, and representing the embassy
as totally of Seoleh complexion. Wilkes, then an outlaw,
and ill [''ranee, had gone to the ICarl's cliaiiel, who treatetl
him civill}', but neither returned his visits nor invited him to
ilinner, which it was inqiossible he should do, representing
the person of the King .so grievously outraged by thai
libeller. Lord Marchmont [iropo.sed to iiillict a fine of
i,'lOO on each jirinter. Lonl Weymouth said fifty were
sufficient ; not more had been imposed on a printer of a
simrious speech forthe King. Lonl Temple put them in
miiul how much hinvself and the Duke of Cuinherl.ind had
inn *' '"^^'' [^"1 "^'<' """' iciliiestt'd tl'"' I'lcy would desi^l fitim their lilienil
Intt-nllims 1 lidding, that Irom bcinn scnsiblt- of the iniproinicty of k»'"K
nbroAil while .so valuablo a part of hi« priipcvty leumiiifd in dispute, ho
woulil mnko .smm- proposftla to the Court of Directors, \\\\\c\\ would, lu-
irusled, cud in iin Amicable ftdjiislmcut ot this nlliiii.' — Malcolm's Lift «'/
All*)/ t'/«W (iSjO), vol. ii. p. a30,— 1.. M.
' One of Ihc Aldermen, anil mcmluT for Plymiilon. He had innrriod one
of the oohriresws of JiK'oli Tunson, the prinlpr. -1.. M.

312 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
been abused ; and in answer to the Duke of Bedford, who
had complained that names were now printed at length,
said that practice had been begun when himself and Mr.
Pitt had resigned the last time. The Duke of Richmond
said he remembered that the period in which the Duke of
Cumberland had been most traduced was in the year 1757.
Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt were then in power. The truth
was, no side had abstained from invectives when out of
place. The diff'erence was, that no attempt was made to
punish the authors and printers but under the administra
tion of Grenville, Lord Sandwich, and that set
On the 23rd of March appeared one of the most
extraordinary books ever published, and though written
by a foreigner, and in French, by no means inferior in
detraction to the North Britons. It was a large quarto,
called Lettres, Mimoires, et Negotiations particulieres du
Chevalier DEon, etc., and contained the history of his
employments, troubles, quarrel with Monsieur de Guerchy,
and his own wonderfully imprudent and insolent letters to
the Due de Praslin, the second Minister in power at the
Court at Versailles. The contempt expressed for the
Comte de Guerchy was transcendent ; but yet this was
not the most reprehensible part ofthe work. With the
most indefensible wantonness, D'Eon had inserted the
childishly fond, but friendly letters, of his patron the Due
de Nivernois. With still greater indiscretion, he published
others of an intimate friend employed in the office of the
Secretary of State at Versailles, in which that friend, in
confidence, had familiarly censured his masters : and with
the most abominable treachery D'Eon added confidential
letters between the Dues de Nivernois and Praslin, in
which, though with goodwill towards him, they spoke of
their intimate friend Monsieur de Guerchy with much
contemptuous pity, which might be excused between such
near friends, though never to be pardoned by Guerchy.
These letters D'Eon, when trusted with the Due de
Nivernois' keys, had stolen or copied. To such lengths
blind, headstrong revenge had driven the mad, unprincipled

KING a FORGE til. ,13
wretch I But what satisfaction did it create here, to read,
under the hands of the ihief Ministers In l'"niiice, to how
low an ebb that Court was sunk in abilities ! the two
Dukes owning to one another Ihat their poor Guerchy, as
they call him, wa.s yet the fittest man they had to employ.
Among such a heap of baseness great |iiirts appear ; and
it seemed lucky for his (lourt that a man so likely to be
rai.sed, and so capable of any treachery, unbosomed hlm-
.Mijlf liefore he was posses.sed of more Important .secrets.
In .some InHtanees, as in a letter lo iiis mother, D'lum
seemed to have worked himself iqi to a pitch of
fren/.}' ; Ihroui'.hout, to be swayed by intolerable vanity.'
The blow to Guerchy was heavy and cruel ; aiuI scarcely
less mortifying to the Due de Nivernois. I'raslin, a hard
unfeeling man, took it with implacable resentment; and
yet, ill one respect, acted sensibl}' and honourably : instead
of ruining .St. l''oix, the person whose letters D'lum had,
iinprovoked und wiokedl}', disclo.sed, he was preferred,
and never siifTered aii}' marks of his master's displeasure.
l'".very possible alteiilioii was employed here lo console
M. de (iiierchy, und to prevent his lliiiikinji' that he was
lowered in the imlilie esteem ; but was il, alas ! po.ssible he
eould believe so? 'I'he other foreign Ministers deiiiaiuled
satisfaction for so im'oss an insult on one of their order;
' 'I'hr boiiK iliMpliiyM I'lrvnuoN'i nillior Iliiiu ' grfat fiuis.' D'Kon wiis un
unprliiolplpd oosooiiili, bold, vctnly, mid pliumlhlo ! wilh ii siii«llcrini> of
lilovnUlio, mul moi o I lum cnuimoii powois of wiilliin. Al Iho oiilsol of tlio
(llspulo lit> wm not uuioli 111 IliP wniuu, tur Iho dillioiiltli'.s niisoil to tho puy-
iiioiil of hU illHliiUHonioiilM ii« Miuislor woio iiiif;oiioioiis, if uoi unjust; iiud
M. (iiioioliy's liiuioiiliilioiis ovor Iho ({ulnoA |ior nionlh liivislily oxpoudod in
l''.ii|{li»h tinrollON wouM liiivo put llio forlieai'BUoo of most mon loft .sovoro lost.
In IiIm pniwion Il't'on loinot llio lnws of dcooiicy ns woll ns of liouour, and
llio piililloiillon of his liooK iiijurod him ooiliiiiily not loss thnu hi.s oucuiics.
ll liad All imuiriiNO clioiiliillon, and Iho nlloiii|ils In Mi|i|iross il nl I'aris, ot
oomno, sorvod In mnUo It moro sounht ftllov. Loul Holland, who Impjioiiod lo
lio llioio Rt llial lime, uxod lo lond liis oopy by Iho liiHir. .A loply lo l)'l"\>n was
pulilliibed, under llio tlllo ol A'liiwcM dts I ftttti, ft.:, .in i Vjw/i'cr l^'Koii
,/,iHS HHf I.Htr* ,) .If. .V. mid is smnri oiio\n;li. Thf Critif,>l AVvifto (vol.
xviii. p. 17<)), consldorod llinl l>'l'"ou's olim>;os rofulod ihoinsolvos j but llio
puMlo ooiilimiod 111 Iniiuli ttl the l''ioiioli Ainliiis.iindor and his llovcrumcnt, and
llioy loll in ifi'iioiiil ostiiniilion fully In llic oxioni stated in tho loxl. — 1« M.

314 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
and the Court was willing enough to grant any reparation in
its power. But what reparation could it make proportioned
to the offence ? All it could, it did. The Attorney General
was ordered to file an information against D'Eon for a libel.
The imbecility of the Opposition, notwithstanding the
large accession to their numbers on the question of the
warrants, had left the Ministry in possession of full power.
The sense of the nation had in vain appeared to be averse
to them. It still continued so, wherever its genuine voice
could be heard ; and never more than on the following
occasion. The death of the Earl of Hardwicke had left
open the honour of High Steward in the University of
Cambridge. Lord Sandwich, on the prospect of that
event, had declared himself a candidate for that office,
though attended with neither salary nor power. Lord
Royston, son of the deceased, and now Earl of Hardwicke,
was his competitor. Ambitious industry was never
exerted so indefatigably as by Sandwich on this occasion.
There was not a corner of England, nay, not the Isle of
Man, unransacked by him for votes. He ferreted out the
mad, the lame, the diseased, from their poor retreats, and
imported them into the University. Letters on letters were
written, and fawning applications made to all who could
influence a vote of any country clergyman. Lord
Hardwicke, on the other hand, was cold, proud, and void
of generosity.^ With the clergy, indeed, he had much
^ Walpole's hatred of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke may be traced in this
portrait of his son. Lord Hardwicke was one of the best informed noblemen
of his day. The Athenian letters which he wrote, in conjunction with his
brother, whilst at the University, rank next to the Travels of Anacharsis
among works of its kind. The Correspondence of Sir Dudley Carleton is
more curious than interesting; and the editor seems to have correctly
appreciated it, by restricting his first edition to twenty copies, and his second
to fifty. Perhaps there was some ostentation in terming the next impression
a third edition. He is entitled to more credit for his State Papers, published
in two volumes, quarto, — a work of value, and which still fiilly maintains its
consideration. Lord Hardwicke's health was very delicate, and he neither
Uked nor shone in general society, but he did not want decision of character,
and had a strong sense of honour. He was firm in his political connections,
and exemplary in private Ufe. A biographical account of him is given in
Cole's MSS. in the British Museum, Addit. MSS. 5886.— L. M.

KING GEORGE IH. 315
connection : and, being a man of no vice, and by poring
over historic MSS. supposed to be learned, he seemed
adapted to fill a nominal charge in a society that is
expected to be devout and studious. At least, the pro
fligacy of Sandwich could not but be unsuitable to them,
whether they had the reality, or only the semblance of
religion and learning. When the day of election came on,
the votes appeared to be equal, though each side pretended
to have a majority of one. Great altercations ensued, and
the meeting broke up in confusion ; on which recourse
was had to common law, where, after many months, a
decision was pronounced in favour of Lord Hardwicke.
Many instances appeared of bribery practised by Lord
Sandwich ; who, besides being rejected, experienced many
insults and indignities. The undergraduates who, having
no votes, had not been courted by him, were riotous, and
hissed his chief agents : and when he went to the
University in the month following, and dined in the hall
of Trinity College, they marked their abhorrence of him
by quitting the hall, and refusing to dine with him !
Young Thomas Pitt,^ and Frederic Montagu,^ Sandwich's
own cousin, who had gone down to support him, were so
disgusted with his practices, and with the factious confusion
he had caused in the University, that they declared they
would assist his cause no longer. When the former told
him he would ruin the University, he replied, 'That would
be nothing to him: it would be the better for Oxford.'
Yet himself had been bred at Cambridge — but Oxford
was cherished by the Court.
On the 1 2th of April came on the election of East
India Directors, when Sullivan's list was chosen, though
Clive had the support not only of the Administration, but
of the Duke of Devonshire.* Sullivan himself was elected
" Thomas Pitt of Boconnock, nephew of Mr. WiUiam Pitt, but attached to
Mr. G. Grenville, and by him made a Lord of the Admiralty.
* Frederick Montagu, only son of Charles Montagu, of Paplewich, in
Northamptonshire, Auditor to the late Prince of Wales. [Papplewick HaU is
in Nottinghamshire. — E.]
» The chief of the Whigs in Opposition.

3i6 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
by a majority of but one vote. He thought that in the
new Direction he had twelve votes to ten ; but before the
day of their balloting for their chairman. Lord Clive had
bought off" one of them. When the election came on,
Sullivan desired to be named without being obliged to sub
mit to a ballot,at the same time cajoling theotherparty with
great professions to Lord Clive. His antagonists however,
insisting on a ballot, the numbers appeared to be eleven and
eleven. Sullivan finding himself betrayed or overreached,
retired with heat, and Rous, his principal enemy, was
chosen chairman. Had Sullivan, who was the creature of
Lord Shelborne, succeeded. Colonel Barrd was to have
gone Governor to Bengal, which was given to Lord Clive,
and he was soon after decorated with the Order of the
Bath, to give dignity to his new employment.
At the same time, to mark that parliamentary services
or disobedience were the leading steps to favour or dis
grace, Mr. Bridgman ^ was turned out of the Board of
Greencloth for his vote on General Warrants ; and was
succeeded by Richard Vernon,^ formerly an officer, a
jockey, a gamester, and brother-in-law of the Duchess
of Bedford. Mr. Cadogan^ was appointed Surveyor of
the Royal Gardens ; and Jeremiah Dyson was made one
of the Lords of Trade. Of this man it is necessary to say
a few more words. He was a tailor's son, had risen under
Nicholas Hardinge from a subaltern clerk of the House
of Commons, to succeed him as first clerk, and by educa
tion and principle was thought, and had conversed as a

^ Son of Orlando Bridgman, after whose death he became Sir Henry;
[and having succeeded to the estates of his cousin Thomas, the last Earl of
Bradford (cr. 1694), who had died without issue, was in 1794 created Baron
Bradford. He died at an advanced age in 1800. — L. M.]
'' Younger brother of Henry Vernon, of Hilton, in Staffordshire; and
married to Lady Evelyn Leveson, Countess Dowager of Ossory. [Mr.
Vernon's later life was more creditable. He became a great traveller, and
visited the East ; and he served with distinction as a volunteer in the Spanish
expedition to Algiers. He was one of the handsomest men of his day. —
L. M.]
¦' Charles Sloane Cadogan, only son of Charles, Lord Cadogan.

KING GEORGE III. 317
staunch Republican.^ In that employment he had com
ported himself with singular decency and intelligence.
In truth, his parts were excellent : he was_ quick, subtle,
shrewd, clear, both in conception and delivery, and was
master of argumentative eloquence, though void of every
omamental part of it Being of an unhealthy complexion,
and very fretful temper, he had quitted his laborious post,
and was now come into Parliament, secretly sold to the
Favourite ; but from his behaviour as their clerk, having
conciliated much goodwill to himself among the members,
he was for some time heard with great favour and satis
faction, an indulgence he lost afterwards, when his warmth
made them recollect he had once been their servant. He
now appeared as devoted to George Grenville, and indeed
was excellently useful, from his parts and great know
ledge of parliamentary business, to all who employed him.
But proving both slippery to his friends as fast as they
fell, and vexatious to his enemies, few men became equally
unpopular. Having deserted Grenville on a change of
times, and happening to convert his tied wig into a bag,
Lord Gower being asked the reason, said, ' It is because
no Tye will hold him.' ^ Dyson will appear again on the
stage in a critical moment.
' Dr. Akenside, by some thought a poet, was of the same principles with,
and an intimate friend of, Dyson, who obtained his being named Physician
to the Queen. To that mistress and to that friend he made a sacrifice of the
word Liberty, in the last edition of his poem on the Pleasures ofthe Imagina
tion. It was uncourtly, a personification to be invoked by one who felt the
pulse of royalty. [The passage in the first edition of the Pleasures of
Imagination (1744) to which Walpole probably refers is as follows : —
' wilt thou. Eternal Harmony, descend,
And join the festive train ? for with thee comes
The guide, the guardian of their lovely sports,
Majestic truth ; and where ti-uth deigns to come,
Her sister Liberty will not be far.* — Book i. lines ao-4.
According to George Hardinge (Nichol's Lit. Anecdotes, vol. viii. 525),
the 23rd line was altered by Akenside in the second edition to —
' Wise order ; and where order deigns to come.'
This alteration, however, is not to be found in the editions of 1754, 1763,
1765, 1768, and 1769, and appears for the first time in the posthumous
revision of 1772. — E.]
" Mr. Dyson had changed his politics on the King's accession, when he

3i8 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
became at once a determined Tory, having previously professed the opposite
creed. He afterwards formed one of the party that went under the name of
the King's friends, a political section which can hardly be said to have existed
in preceding reigns, and which the personal character of George the Third
rendered very influential on public measures. A more valuable recruit could
not easily have been folind. He was certainly a most able parliamentary
lawyer, and the exactness and precision that characterised his mind, caused
his opinion to be always depended upon. These qualities, added to his
discretion, gave him a moral influence over the House which could not be
the result of his political conduct. His manners were obliging, and his
private life irreproachable. It is highly to his credit that, when Clerk of the
House, he departed from the example of his predecessors, by making no
profit of his patronage. — Nichol's Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 523;
Hatsell's Parliamentary Precedents (1818), vol. i. pp. viii.-ix. — L. M.

KING GEORGE III. 319

CHAPTER XXVIII
Pronation of the Parliament. — Walpole's Conduct on the Dismissal of
General Conway for voting against Ministers on the Question of the
L^ality of General Warrants. — Trial of Carteret Webbe for Perjury.—
The Earl of Northumlierland Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
On the 19th the Parliament rose. And now it is that
I am obliged to weave the history of my own conduct
into a large part of the following narration. Two con
siderable eras having taken their complexion from my
councils, the thread of my storj' would be imperfect if I
omitted what relates to my own behaviour. I shall give
it as briefly as the subject and clearness will permit, and
hope the reader will excuse egotisms where no glory was
the result of my actions. Chance, more than design, pre
sented the means ; and if the moments were luckily seized,
it was from no merit, no foresight of mine, that those
moments were brought on.
Having fully seen the incapacity of the Opposition,
sensible how ill they were united, and foreseeing that
their strength would rather diminish than augment, and
at the same time flattering myself, from the resistance
which the Ministry had experienced, that they ^\ould be
less flippant in their innovations on libertj-, which was
fortified by getting rid of general warrants, I had deter
mined to give over politics ; and to withdraw myself from
shedlow councils. I was preparing to make a visit to my
friend and relation,^ Lord Hertford, at Paris, when, two
' Catherine and Charlotte Shorter were daughters of John Shorter of
Bybrook, in Kent. Catherine was first wife of Sir Rotiert Walpole, and
mother of the author of these Memoirs. Charlotte was third wife of Francis
Sejrmour, Lord Conway, and by him mother of Francis, Earl of Hertford,
and of General Henry Seymour Conway.

320 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
days after the rising of the Parliament, I was stunned
with notice of Mr. Conway being turned out of the King's
bedchamber, and dismissed from the command of his
regiment of dragoons. As I had been a principal cause
of this unworthy treatment, and of this destruction of his
fortunes, nothing could be more sensible to me than this
blow. Nor could I remain a moment in doubt, from the
complexion of some in power, but that the stroke was
aimed still more at me than at Mr. Conway, though
directly I was out of their reach. The Bedford faction
I knew were my mortal enemies. Yet I saw, too, that
Mr. Conway had a share in the resentment of others.
Grenville was not of a nature to pardon the slight Mr.
Conway had made both of his favour and power. He
had offended Lord Sandwich, too, by refusing to influence
the chaplain of his regiment to vote for him at Cambridge ;
and Lord Holland had long groaned for an opportunity
of revenging himself on Lord Hertford for his treatment
of Bunbury. The tone of the ruling Administration was
despotic, nor had they forgotten how lately they had
trembled with apprehension of losing their power. Here
were more than motives sufficient to egg on general or
particular vengeance. And in general I must leave it;
for after long search and much information, I cannot fix
the deed on any single man. There was but one man
among the suspected that ever solemnly denied having
a share in it ; and he constantly did : I mean Lord Bute.
All the rest have charged it on others, though still without
disavowing having had a hand in it themselves. The
King often afterwards protested to Lord Hertford that
his Ministers ^ forced him to it. Grenville declared that
his Majesty was more eager for it than any of them. The
Duke of Bedford alone was frank, and avowed that though
he had not recommended the measure, he had told his
1 I have seen a letter from the King to George GrenviUe, in which his
Majesty pressed him to turn out Conway. [It was owing to Grenville's
advice, however, that Conway was not dismissed until the recess. — Grenville
Papers, vol. ii. p. 229. — E.]

KING GEORGE IIL 321
colleagues, when they proposed to remove Mr. Conway
from the bedchamber only, that it was foolish to provoke
him by halves ; and that to leave him his regiment, and
take away the bedchamber, would be telling other officers
that they might oppose the Court with impunity.
Be it as it may, the boldness of the step was almost
unprecedented. Sir Robert Walpole had dismissed the
Lords Westmorland ^ and Cobham = from the command
of regiments ; and Mr. Pitt from a cometcy ; but it was
not till by a personal, violent, and constant opposition
that they had made themselves as obnoxious as possible.
Yet even that measure, provoked as it was, had occasioned
great clamour ; and had contributed to animate the Op
position, which at last overthrew that Minister. Mr.
Grenville had joined in that Opposition, had risen on that
foundation ; and the Duke of Bedford had signed a pro
test against the measure of dismissing officers for parlia
mentary reasons. How diff'erent was the case now ! The
temper and fairness of the man disgraced, his aversion to
faction, the disinterestedness of his character, his general
co-operation with the measures of Government, his being
recently recommended to favour by Prince Ferdinand
for his services in Germany, and his being brother to
the ambassador at Paris — all these were considerations
that made the measure amazing. But when it was ob
served that this punishment was inflicted for a single*
vote in Parliament, when it was evident that that vote
had been peculiarly conscientious, and given in a cause
avowed by the nation, and against a practice certain of
being, as it soon after was, condemned by the Courts of
Law, and though maintained by Parliament in retrospect,
yet given up for the future by that very Parliament as
pernicious ; when the context, too, appeared to be, that
military men in Parliament were to forfeit their profession
' John Fane, Earl of Westmorland.
^ Sir Richard Temple, Lord Viscount Cobham.
' This does not mean the vote of a single day, but all the votes on general
warrants considered as one question.
VOL. I. X

322 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
and the merit of their services, unless implicitly devoted
to the Court ; could these reflections, when coupled with
the arbitrary measures which the nation had observed to
be the system of the Court, fail to occasion the blackest
presages ? Lord Bute, in truth, had slunk away from his
own victory ; but Grenville remained, and had Bute's
tools, and Sandwich and Rigby, to war with on the con
stitution, and Lord Mansfield and Norton ready to tum
the law against itself
It was a beautiful contrast, the behaviour of the person
aggrieved. His temper, decency, and submission were
unalterable and unequalled. He neither complained or
tried to instil a sense of his injuries into a single friend,
though he wished they should take his part, and resent
for him. He could not have entertained a wish worse
founded : his friends were rejoiced at not being called
upon ; and had no ambition to share the crown of his
martyrdom. There lived not three more interested men
than the Duke of Argyle,^ Lord Lorn, and Lord Frederick
Campbell, the father and brothers of Lady Ailesbury,^
Mr. Conway's wife. The first loved money ; and had in
curred unpleasant suspicions in his eff'orts to obtain it. Lord
Lorn ' was sordidly covetous, and had not sense enough
to foresee a blessing in futurity beyond the first half-crown
that glittered in his eyes. Lord Frederick * was sensible
^ General John Campbell, Groom of the Bedchamtier to George the Second,
and cousin and successor of John and Archibald, Dukes of Argyle, when an old
man. [He married in 1720 the charming Mary BeUenden, ' incontestably the
most agreeable, the most insinuating, and the most likeable woman of her
time.' — Harvey's Memoirs (1884), vol. i. p. 55. — E.]
^ Caroline, daughter of the latter Duke John, third wife and widow of
Charles Bruce last Earl of Ailesbury, by whom she had an only chUd, Mary,
Duchess of Richmond. The Countess of Ailesbury married, secondly,
General Henry Seymour Conway, only brother of Francis, first Earl of Hert-
fort of that branch.
^ John CampbeU, Marquis of Lome, married to the famous beauty Eliza
beth Gunning, widow of James, Duke of Hamilton.
* Lord Frederick CampbeU had been bred to the law, and succeeded well
there, but quitted the profession on his father's attaining the dukedom. [As he
was brother-in law to General Conway, Mr. Walpole seems to have expected
him to have followed Conway's poUtics. — Mr. Croker's note to the fourth

KING GEORGE III. 323
shrewd, and selfish ; and on this and a subsequent crisis
showed that no connection or obligation could stand against
the eagerness with which he pursued immediate fortune.
Nothing else weighed with him, except the inveteracy of
national prejudice. As Mr. Conway had acted in opposi
tion to Scottish measures. Lord Frederick, forgetting Mr.
Conway's friendship and kindness, and his own youthful
situation, and borne away by a hot temper, often and
indecently attacked him in Parliament, though without
any brilliancy of parts to colour over such improper
behaviour. The Duke of Richmond, who had married
Lady Ailesbury's daughter, kept himself more free from
blame. He had been witness to the integrity of Mr.
Conway's conduct at the conference with Mr. Grenville,
and certainly loved him, though not enough to participate
his disgrace. The Duke, however, off'ered to take a part
in Parliament if Mr. Conway's friends would move for an
inquiry into the cause of his dismission ; but that offer
did not include his Grace's engaging any farther against
the Court.
There was still another relation of Mr. Conway more
deeply involved in his disgrace, and more immediately
called upon to resent it ; his brother. Lord Hertford.
Yet there were both real and specious reasons for his
submitting to it.^ Mr. Conway had taken this part not
volume of Walpole's Letters, p. 185. WraxaU says of him, 'Devoid of shin
ing talents, he nevertheless wanted not either ability or eloquence in a certain
degree, both which were under the control of reason and of temper ' (His
torical and Posthumous Memoirs, 1884, vol. iv. p. 77). His figure and
deportment were remarkably gracefiil. He married the Dowager Countess
Ferrers, sister of Sir William Meredith, and died at an advanced age in 1816.
•-L. M.]
1 Lord Hertford could not reasonably be expected to court a share in the
consequences of an act of which he disapproved ; and he was of a tempera
ment that too easily disposed him to shrink from any personal sacrifice. His
political principles were very indefinite. His merit was of a different
character. Lord Chesterfield was sincere when he said of him, in a letter
not intended for pubUcation, ' I really think he wiU be Uked [as Viceroy], for
he is, in my opinion, the honestest and most reUgious man in the kingdom,
and moreover very much of a gentleman in his behaviour to everybody.' —
Letters, iv. 407. His administration of Ireland was respectable, and in

324 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
only without consulting him, but when he must have
known how unwelcome it would be to Lord Hertford,
then in the King's service both at home and abroad, and
well treated ; connected with the Ministry, and ever
desirous of being so with all Administrations. Lord
Hertford had even, after his brother's first vote, made
remonstrances to him though in vain. On the other
hand, honour, interest in a general sense, and personal
resentment, called on Lord Hertford to espouse his
brother's quarrel. Ambassador in France, where no
officer was ever broken but for cowardice or some
atrocious crime, it could but strike the French Court that
the Ambassador stood in little estimation at home, when
such an aff"ront was put on the family. Could he expect
more consideration if he acquiesced ? On the other hand,
should the Opposition succeed, in which, besides his
brother, were his wife's nephew, the Duke of Grafton,^
and his old friends, whom he had already offended by
not acting with them, what could he expect but, at best,
the humiliating circumstance of being saved by his
brother whom he had abandoned? Nor could Lord
Hertford doubt but that Mr. Conway partly suff'ered on
his account, as far as Lord Holland had any share in the
measure. Yet, though there had been no instance of such
disgrace remaining unresented, much less when such a
character was so unjustly treated, not a single resignation
marked that the sufferer had either a friend or relation in
the place. He was at once sacrificed by the Court, and
abandoned by his own family.
It became the more incumbent on me to make him all
the reparation in my power. I off'ered him six thousand
pounds, which he refused ; and I altered my will, giving
general approved of, and it passed away in almost uniform tranquilUty. —
Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont (1812), vol. i. p. 224. He filled many
high offices, and was very prosperous throughout Ufe. He was created
Marquis in 1793, and died in the foUowing year, leaving a large family. — L. M.
1 Lord Hertford had married Lady Isabella Fitzroy, youngest daughter of
Charles, Duke of Grafton, who was succeeded in the title by his grandson,
Augustus Henry, of whom much will be said in some of the following pages.

KING GEORGE IIL 325
him almost my whole fortune unless his regiment should
be restored to him ; a destination with which I acquainted
him. And though it certainly would not augment the
gift, I determined to hazard all I had rather than not
revenge both him and myself Grenville, the very day
before the dismission of Mr. Conway, whether to detach
me from him, or fearing I should make use of the in
discretion he had been guilty of, ordered the payment of
my bills at the Treasury ; a step that, far from soothing,
but served to increase my resentment. I dreaded lest
Mr. Conway should think I had kept any underhand
measures with the Treasury ; but I soon convinced both
him^nd the world how steadily I embraced the cause of
my friend. Yet for the first time in my life I acted with
a phlegm of which I did not know myself capable. I
shut myself up in the country for three days, till I had
conquered the first ebullitions of my rage, and then
returned to town with a face of satisfaction, which some
thought indiff'erence ; and others joy at having dipped
Mr. Conway in Opposition. Both were mistaken. I
knew that both Mr. Conway and the Opposition were
little formed for the business. I had everything to
discourage me, and nothing but perseverance and the
firmness of my own temper to carry me on. I foresaw,
indeed, that the persecution he had undergone would
raise the character of IVIr. Conway, would lend him an
importance he would never have assumed, and might one
day place him at the head of this country. I foresaw
that the violence and unprincipled rashness of the Minis
ters would conduct them to a precipice ; but I should
far overrate my own sagacity, if I pretended to have
discovered that those prospects were near enough to
administer any comfort to my impatience. I knew the
folly of those I was to act with. I could not flatter my
self it would be exceeded by the folly of those I was to
act against.
If self-interest restrained Mr. Conway's family from
embracing his defence, it was as natural that the Opposi-

326 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
tion should caress him. A martyr is as creditable to a
party in politics as to a sect in religion. Yet so decent
and so dignified was the Opposition of that time, that
they expressed none of the heat and ardour with which
parties usually seize such an event. The Duke of Devon
shire, indeed, came to me, and with great delicacy desired
that I would, in his name, make an off'er to Mr. Conway of
a thousand pounds a year, till his regiment should be
restored.! This noble off'er Mr. Conway as generously
declined. However, it gave lustre to our cause ; and it
was my purpose to raise as high as I could the character
of our party, and to spread the flames of emulation from
such examples. The Ministerial tools, on the other hand,
were not idle, but began to defame Mr. Conway as a
spiritless and inactive General, reviving in scandalous
papers the miscarriage at Rochfort.^ This artillery, how
ever, we turned upon them, and displayed the malignity of
not being content with ruining him without proceeding to
the grossest defamation. Mr. Conway, too, by my advice,
called upon the detractors to avow themselves, and, if they
dared, take up the weapons like men, which soon silenced
that dirty kind of war.
But these prosperous beginnings were almost all I could
accomplish. Every step I took I found discouragement
and disappointment. There was no union in our party,
nor could I bring about any. At first I laboured to form
a little junto ofthe most considerable of our friends in the
^ The Duke subsequently gave the best proof of the sincerity of this offer
by bequeathing General Conway a legacy of ;^5ooo. — L. M.
^ Conway conducted himself less well than Wolfe at Rochfort, but far
better than the other generals. 'Though eminently distinguished for his
gallant and indefatigable behaviour, ... he has never had,' says Walpole,
' the happiness of achieving any action of remarkable dclat, or of performing
alone any act of singular utility to this country' (Counter Address to the
Public on the Dismissal of a late General, Orford's Works, vol. ii. p. SSl)-
He commanded a division with credit in the Seven Years' War. An ill-
natured contemporary critic charges him with being a ma-rtitiet, and with un
necessarily fatiguing his men, but admits that ' he would have made a very
good general if he had not been spoilt by his education under the Duke of
Cumberland.' — Almon's Anecdotes ofthe Life of Lord Chatham (1793), vol. in.
p. 253. — L. M.

KING GEORGE IIL 327
House of Commons, who should plan our future measures
and conduct them. But of those I could not prevail on
any three to assemble and enter into concert. Legge
was dying ; Charles Yorke was proud, insincere, waiting
for an opportunity of making his own bsu-gain, and
offiended that Mr. Pitt was disposed to make Pratt Chan
cellor ; though the latter, for the good of the cause, was
willing to waive the seals. Charles Townshend, neglected
by the Court, seemed zealously attached to us; unfor
tunately, we could neither do with him nor without him ;
yet his jealousy of Grenville and fear of Mr. Conway would
have fixed him if anything could. There was another
man of whose art and abilities I had a high opinion, and
who was as practicable as the others I have mentioned
were little so, — I mean Lord George Sackville. But in
superable difficulties kept him from us too. Pitt had
proscribed him ; Newcastle did not love him ; the Duke
of Devonshire was too cautious to join him : and Conway,
knowing Lord George had been his enemy, though it had
never come to an open rupture, would not listen to any
connection with him, but pleaded the stains on his char
acter and the enmity borne to him by Prince Ferdinand.
I lost.my temper at finding that, whilst our enemies stuck
at nothing, every phantom and every fancy was to clog
our councils and retard our advances. The dignity of
great Lords and their want of sense, the treachery of some,
the piques of others, all had their operation, and not a
single prejudice was removed to facilitate our attempts.
I had surmounted my repugnance to Newcastle, and
though in truth to little purpose, had consented to advise
with him. He was still the same ; at once busy and
inactive, fond of plotting, but impossible to be put in
motion. Nor, indeed, propose what I would, could I
obtain to have a single measure carried into execution.
But what hampered us most was Mr. Pitt. He justly
resented having been abandoned by Newcastle, Devon
shire, and the Whigs. He despised both Charles Yorke
and Charles Townshend ; and though he expressed civil

328 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
applause of Mr. Conway, would neither connect with him
nor see him. He at once talked of an Administration to be
composed of great Whig Lords, and of his own resolution
not to force himself on the King ; that is, he wished the
great Lords should force him on the King without his
concurrence, that he might have the merit of disavowing
them and of profiting of their weight. Conway was as
difficult as Pitt, and too proud to make any advances to
him. Thus, wherever I turned, there were no facilities.
Even Lord Temple, accustomed to run and meet faction
in the highways, seemed cold and indisposed to connection
with us. At the same time I heard that a treaty was
carrying on between him and his brother George, a report
which, though true, greatly deceived me, for, concluding
that Lord Temple was too firmly united with Mr. Pitt to
negotiate without him, I imputed the coldness of both to
an approaching league of the whole family ; whereas the
truth was, though then a secret to all the world, that Mr.
Pitt and Lord Temple were on bad terms, the former
disapproving the violence of Temple, and Temple being
enraged that Mr. Pitt would not lend himself to all his
passions. Perceiving so little hope of union amongst ourselves," I
conceived a better prospect from the factions of the Court,
which, by every art I could devise, I endeavoured to
inflame. I soon learned how wide the breach was growing
between Lord Bute and Grenville ; and though I then
looked on the former as the more dangerous of the two,
and of all men was determined not to connect with him,
yet to his friends I held a plausible language, insinuating
that it was possible he might be forgiven by our great
Lords, and left them to think that, if the Favourite with
drew his protection from Grenville and the Bedfords, his
case would by no means be desperate with the Opposition.
In the same kind of style I talked to the friends of Gren
ville, still imputing Mr. Conway's disgrace alternately to
the other faction, accordingly as I conversed with either.
I saw that, hostile as they were, despair must cement their

KING GEORGE IH. 329
union. Both would be more prompt to quarrel if they
thought themselves not proscribed by us.
An incident fell out favourable to this plan. Grenville,
ever averse to Lord Holland, had destined his place of
Paymaster to be shared between Lord North and Stanley,
and they had even taken joy on it. But Lord Bute pre
vented it being carried into execution, and Lord Holland
now came from France, stung with this insult ; though as
the pasijing of his accounts was in agitation, he for the
present stifled his resentment and aff'ected to pay court to
Grenville. As, however, to hoodwink me to his own share
in that business and to inflame my anger to Grenville, he
laid the chief blame of Conway's disgrace on the latter, I
indulged him, as usual, in the imagination that he de
ceived me ; and, as if to vent my own passion, blew up
his as high us I could against Grenville. P'roni Lord
Holland 1 heard what had escaped me. Conway at
the end of the Session, on a motion for thanking the
King for reducing the German demand, had made a
panegyric on Prince b'ordinand and the hereditary Prince,
sajdng how hard it was that their country, which had
suffered so much for us, should not have ample indemni
fication. Grenville had answered that surely if the King
had been content to lower the demands for Hanover, he
was at liberty to reduce those of Brunswick. This had
passed in a thin debate ; nor had I been present. But
Lord George Sackville had remarked, and said, ' Conway
has undone himself It was, it seems, an irremissible
crime to applaud the hero who had commanded our
armies and given them victory, and to plead for another
hero who had married the King's own sister and fought
his battles !
I -shall omit the detail of many other stratagems that
I found for annoying the Administration, thej- having
been damped or annihilated by the supineness of my
confederates. The summer was in cvcij- respect unfor
tunate to us, and by the Session following we scarce
dcser\'od the name of a party. Death took off" some of

330 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
our chief leaders, who, though they would not lead us,
yet by the sanction of their names had kept together an
appearance of numbers, which dwindled away as our
hopes of success vanished. What farther regards us as
a party will be mentioned in its place. I now return to
the other occurrences of the year.
Two vacant garters were bestowed on the Duke of
Mecklenberg ^ and Lord Halifax. About the same time
died at Paris the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour.
She retained her power to the last, though their amour
had long been exhausted. The Due de Choiseul, whom
she had destined for Minister, succeeded her in the King's
confidence without a rival.
May 4th, Beardmore, one of the persecuted writers,
carried his cause against the messengers, and recovered
one thousand pounds for damages.
On the 9th, Mr. Conway's late regiment was given to
the Earl of Pembroke ; not without occasioning remarks
a little disadvantageous to the standard of his Majesty's
piety. Lord Pembroke, one of the wildest young men of
the times, had been dismissed from the King's bedcham
ber for debauching and eloping with a young lady of
distinction, though married to a more beautiful woman,
sister of the Duke of Marlborough. Nobody could tell
what the King had to do to interfere in that intrigue ; but
having done so, it seemed little consistent to reward a
young profligate 2 with the spoils of a man strictly vir
tuous and conscientious. It was now remembered that
at the beginning of this reign, the Earl of Dartmouth, a
young nobleman as pious as Lord Pembroke was licen-
' The Queen's brother.
^ Lord Pembroke was again made a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1769,
without applying ; and exactly at a time when he was said to have carried off
another woman, a young Venetian bride (he was then at Venice), the very
night of her wedding. [Lord Pembroke had served in the Seven Years' War,
and was popular with the officers under him, though not much of a soldier.
He was dissolute and extravagant, and, notwithstanding his large income, left
when he died heavy debts, which his only son, the eleventh Earl, a very
respectable nobleman, honourably paid. — L. M.]

KING GEORGE III. 331
tious, had applied to be of the King's bedchamber, but
had been rejected by Lord Bute lest so sanctimonious a
man should gain too far on his Majesty's piety. An
instance that if it proved the religion of the King, did not
bear witness to that of the Favourite. But in such a
theatre of hypocrisy it mattered little who was the prin
cipal impostor.
On the ISth died Dr. Osbaldiston, Bishop of London;
and the next day Lord Chancellor Henley was created
Earl of Northington, a step not communicated to the
Duke of Bedford, who much resented it. But Grenville
was more mortified, who found himself excluded from the
nomination of the new Bishop of London. He had
wished to raise Newton ^ to that mitre, but Lord Bute
procured it for Terrick. This man, with no glimmering
of parts or knowledge, had, on the merit of a sonorous
delivery, and by an assiduity of back-stairs address,
wriggled himself into a sort of general favour, and by
timing his visits luckily, had been promoted by the Duke
of Devonshire to the See of Peterborough. Yet he had
been of the first notoriously obliged to that Duke, to
abandon him on his fall, sailing headlong with the tide
after the Favourite's triumph. Again, when the Favourite
retired, Terrick, who was minister of my parish,^ was
lavish to me of invectives against that Lord, and sifted
me eagerly to learn in what channel Court favour was
likely to flow. Having soon perceived his mistake, he
had made out a distant affinity with Worseley,^ a creature
of Lord Bute, and a kind of riding-master to the King ;
and now to Grenville's surprise rose, all unworthy as he
was, to so eminent a station in the Church. This detail I
communicated to Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, who
adhered to George Grenville amidst their family breaches,
and who, being both gossiping and mischievous, kept up
an acquaintance with me of ancient date, that he might
from my warmth collect materials to carry to Grenville.
' Dr. Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol. ^ Twickenham.
' Thomas Worseley, Surveyor ofthe Board of Works. [See p. 29, j«/ra.— E.J

332 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
I took care to furnish him according to his wish. It was
wormwood to Grenville to learn this proof of the
Favourite's still subsisting ascendant ; and when I had
once set them on the scent I knew they would touch on
it in more instances than this.
On the 22nd, Philip Carteret Webbe was tried for
perjury, being accused of having forsworn himself in the
cause against Wilkes. The jury stayed out fifty-five
minutes, but at last acquitted him : a vindication that no
more cleared his character than conviction would have
made it worse.
The Earl of Northumberland^ returned from Ireland,
where his profusion and ostentation had been so great,^
that it seemed to lay a dangerous precedent for succeeding
governors, who must risk unpopularity if more parsi
monious ; or the ruin of their fortune, should they imitate
his example. At his departure he broke with William
Gerard Hamilton,^ his secretary, and dismissed him to
make way for the Earl of Drogheda,* the favourite both of
Lady Northumberland and the Primate.
Lord Northumberland had an advantageous figure and
much courtesy in his address, which being supported by
the most expensive magnificence, made him exceedingly
' Sir Hugh Smithson, of a very recent family, had married Lady Elizabeth
Sesrmour, only daughter of Algernon, Duke of Somerset, whose mother was
heiress of the Percies, Earls of Northumberland ; on which foundation Hugh
and Elizabeth were created Earl and Countess of Northumberland. [But see
supra, p. 244. — E.]
^ Dr. Johnson said, in allusion to it, that ' he is only fit to succeed himself.' —
BosweU (G. B. HUl), vol. ii. p. 132.— L. M.
' He }iad been likewise Secretary to the Earl of Halifax.
* Charles, sixth Earl and first Marquis of Drogheda, K.P. The Primate
had four years before importunately pressed Mr. Pitt to give this nobleman
the rank of colonel ; and although the application was supported by the
Duke of Devonshire and Lord Besborough, Mr. Pitt was firm in resisting it.
' Among the very many lieutenant -colonels,' he said, ' above his lordship on
the Ust, there are not a few who cannot be postponed without great hardship,
and loud complaints in the army.' The Primate's letter and Mr. Pitt's reply
are given in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 59. The transaction
reflects great honour on Mr. Pitt, and furnishes an additional proof of the
high sense of public duty entertained by that Ulustrious statesman, in this, as

KING GEORGE III. 333
popular with the meaner sort. They who viewed hiirt
nearer were not the dupes of his affiability or pretensions.
The old nobility beheld his pride with envy and^ anger ;
and thence were the less disposed to overlook the fetleness
of his temper, or the slender portion he pos.sessed of
abilities ; for his expense was a mere sacrifice to vanity,
as appeared by his sordid and illiberal behaviour at play.
Nor were his talents more solid than his generosity.
With mechanic application to every branch of knowledge,
he possessed none beyond the surface ; and having an
unbounded propensity to discussion, he disgusted his
hearers without informing them. Yet his equals were
but ill-grounded in their contempt of him. Very few of
them knew so much ; and there were still fewer that had
not more noxious vices, and as ungenerous hearts. Lord
Northumberland's foibles ought to have passed almost for
virtues in an age so destitute of intrinsic merit.^
The Countess of Northumberland was a jovial heap of
contradictions. The blood of all the Percies and Seymours
swelled in her veins and in her fancy ; while her person
was more vulgar than anything but her conversation,
which was larded indiscriminately with stories of her
ancestors and her footmen. Show, and crowds, and
in many other respects so superior to most of his contemporaries, not
excepting the Primate of Ireland. Lord Drogheda obtained his rank in
1762, and eventually reached almost the head ofthe army list, having in his
old age [19th July 1821] been appointed Field-Marshal. He died at DubUn
in December 1821, in his ninety-second year. He saw little, if any, foreign
service, but he had been constantly employed in his own country, where he
was much esteemed. He preserved to the last a remarkable elegance and
amiability of deportment. — L. M.
1 It must be recoUected that Walpole, from some private cause, bore Lord
and Lady Northumberland no good will, and frequently sneers at them in his
Correspondence. A childish feeling of envy at Lord Northumberland's
brilliant success in life was probably at the bottom of this, and prevented
Walpole's making due allowance for the temptations attendant on great and
unexpected prosperity. His Lordship had the tastes that became the high
rank to which he was elevated. He patronised the arts, and was generous to
men of letters. His vanity was unaccompanied by arrogance, and his
feelings, though not warm, were kind and amiable. Neither his talents nor
acquirements were above mediocrity. He died in 1786.— L. M.

334 MEMOIRS OF THE REIGN OF
junketing, were her endless pursuits. She was familiar
with the mob, while stifled with diamonds ; and yet was
attentive to the most minute privileges of her rank, while
almost "Slaking hands with a cobbler. Nothing was more
mean than her assiduity about the King and Queen, whom
she termed her Master and Mistress ; and yet, though
indirectly reprimanded by the latter, she persisted in
following her Majesty to the theatres with a longer
retinue of domestics than waited on the Queen herself
She had revived the drummers and pipers and obsolete
minstrels of her family ; and her own buxom countenance
at the tail of such a procession gave it all the air of an
antiquated pageant or mumming She was mischievous
under the appearance of frankness ; generous and friendly
without delicacy or sentiment.^
Lord Northumberland's son. Lord Warkworth, was
married to the third daughter of the Favourite ; ^ on
which foundation the father was admitted to the private
junto, which now met daily at Mr. Stone's.^ It was
composed of Lord Bute, Lord Northumberland, Lord
Mansfield, Norton, Stone, and the brother of the latter,
the famous Primate of Ireland, who had followed the
Lord-Lieutenant to London ; coming, as he outwardly
professed, to promote harmony and reconciliation. As he
died soon after, before he had given any specimens of his
arts here, I pretend not to say what were the real motives
of his journey. He did visit Mr. Pitt ; but a man so
notorious for cunning as the Primate, was not likely to
1 The Duchess's defects are, no doubt, greatly exaggerated by Walpole.
M. Dutens says of her Grace, that ' she possessed great elevation of mind,
natural and easy wit, a good and compassionate heart, and, above all, a
strong attachment to her friends, whom she took every opportunity to
distinguish and to serve.' — Memoirs of a Traveller, etc. (1806), vol. ii.
pp. 99-100. She met her death, which was sudden, with great firmness and
resignation. — E.
* The marriage was unfortvmate, and dissolved in 1779. Lord Warkworth
became Duke of Northumberland in 1786. He served as Lord Percy in the
American war. Unlike his father, he was totally devoid of ostentation, and
most simple and retiring in his habits. He died in 1817. — L. M.
' The house of Andrew Stone, in Privy Garden.

KING GEORGE IIL 335
win on the caution of Mr. Pitt, who never was explicit, and
least of all to men of abilities. It appeared, however, from
the meetings I have mentioned, and other symptoms, that
the Favourite was peeping out of his lurking-hole, and
was disposed to let his power be felt. Grenville, though
drunk with vanity was sober enough to be stung with any
competition ; and yet his obstinacy disgusted those whom
it was most necessary for him to attach. He offended the
Duke of Bedford and Lord Halifax by refusing to let the
Treasury bear the whole charge of the fines imposed on
the messengers. The Duke experienced so many slights
that he kept retired in the country, and Rigby went to
France, professing that it was to be absent, lest he should
be blamed if the Duke should submit to such ignominious
treatment ; but Rigby had, no doubt, secured the Duke's
submission before he ventured to leave him, as he called
it, to himself However, the Duke of Cumberland was so
much misled by those wayward humours, that before the
end of the summer he sent Lord Albemarle ^ to Woburn
to sound their dispositions and endeavour to draw them
from the Court. Not one, not his own sister, Lady
Tavistock, would talk to him on politics ; only the
Duchess said drily, that her husband was Minister, and
that everything was done that he desired. Mr. Pitt had
said more truly, some time before : ' They will disgust the
Duke of Bedford in the spring, that they may not be
teased with his solicitations ; and they will sweeten him
again by winter, with some trifling favour, that he may
give them no trouble in Parliament.'
* George Keppel, third Earl of Albemarle. His youngest sister. Lady
EUzabeth, was married to Francis Russell, Marquis of Tavistock, only son of
John, Duke of Bedford.

END OF VOL. I.

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