Differences between the King and his Ministers.--Further Negotiations
with Mr. Pitt.--Attempts to form a Whig Administration.--Summary of
the Negotiations.--New Ministry formed.--Mr. Dowdeswell.--Marquis
of Rockingham.--Mysterious Behaviour of Mr. Pitt.--Arrival of the
Prince and Princess of Brunswick.
Presuming on their superiority in Parliament, and hurt at the marks
of the King’s aversion, the Ministers determined once more to subdue
him totally, or reduce him to new distresses. On the 12th of June[147]
the Duke of Bedford, accompanied by Grenville, Sandwich, and Halifax,
waited on his Majesty with a remonstrance, which the Duke had drawn
up, which took an hour in reading, and which, though it had been much
softened by Grenville in their private meeting, the King had the
greatest difficulty to command himself enough to hear it read to the
end. It tended to give him a month to consider whether he would take
a new ministry or retain the old. In the latter case he was told that
he must smile on his Ministers, and frown on their adversaries, whom
he was reproached in no light terms with having countenanced contrary
to his promise. Invectives against the Princess were not spared; nor
threats of bringing Lord Bute to the block. The King made no answer,
but made a bow as a signal for them to retire. When they were gone,
he said that if he had not broken out into the most profuse sweat, he
should have been suffocated with indignation.[148]
No redress was left but to apply once more to Mr. Pitt; and should he
again decline, to form some desperate Administration of Lord Bute’s
friends, and any detached persons that would join in so unpromising a
system. To prevent the former--at least, to detach Lord Temple from Mr.
Pitt--the Dukes of Bedford and Marlborough offered to resign either of
their places in favour of the former. Temple, though expressing his
good wishes, declared he would take nothing with the Administration
as it then stood, but should like to see a new one formed out of all
parties. Yet the Court did not despair of Mr. Pitt’s concurrence. James
Grenville told Colonel Fitzroy that Mr. Pitt wished to see his brother,
the Duke of Grafton, who had particularly distinguished himself by
attachment to Pitt. The Duke, however, was so cautious that he would
not go unless Mr. Pitt would directly request it; but sent Fitzroy to
Hayes to know if Mr. Pitt desired to see him. Fitzroy stayed three
hours and a half, while Pitt, in his vague inconclusive manner, was
profuse of words, which did not tend to any definite meaning. It was
rather a complaint of the late application. He said, that in August,
two years before, he had been promised the King’s countenance; now no
such thing had been mentioned, but that bubble Lord Northumberland
had been pressed upon him, and the Duke of Cumberland had even urged
it to him for an hour and a half. That he had not wanted the Treasury
for Lord Temple, nor would have filled the _carte blanche_ if it had
been given to him. After much desultory conversation of the like sort,
Fitzroy said, “Then, Sir, the result of all is, that you are resolved
not to treat any more.” “Resolved! that is a strong word,” replied
Pitt; “but this is my answer; Mr. Pitt’s determinations are fixed: all
negotiation is at an end.”
The Duke of Grafton soon followed his brother. Mr. Pitt told him that
Mr. Grenville had been there, and had begun to talk politics, but he
had stopped him, and said, “Sir, a truce to your politics, for I never
will talk politics with you again as long as I live.” In this visit
the Duke thought he did not perceive a total unwillingness in Mr. Pitt
still to listen to accommodation. On that report, and urged by the
necessity of making one more attempt,
On the 17th the Duke of Grafton was again dispatched to Hayes to tell
Mr. Pitt that the King was convinced he could not do without him, and
to invite him to Court. Mr. Pitt replied he was ready to come, if his
Majesty would graciously condescend, in consideration of his lameness,
to see him on the ground-floor. Accordingly,
On the 19th he was three hours and a quarter with the King at the
Queen’s house, and as long on the 22nd again, professing his readiness
to undertake the direction of affairs. Everything he asked was
accorded; particularly a close alliance with Prussia if possible. He
named Lord Temple for the Treasury; the Duke of Grafton for Secretary
of State, with himself; Sir George Saville for Secretary at War; Keppel
and Saunders for Commissioners of the Admiralty, he did not care in
whose room, nor should he be violent in turning out; though, as so many
had suffered, there must be a large sweep.
During this transaction Pitt would not deign to make any communication
to the Duke of Cumberland, who, notwithstanding, behaved nobly, said he
would do all the good he could, and would take nothing ill.
Two days after these conferences, arrived Lord Temple from Stowe, and
went to Hayes. The next day he waited on the King, and refused to
accept the Treasury, saying he had a delicacy which must always remain
a secret. This was generally supposed to be levelled at Lord Bute.
Some thought of the Duke of Cumberland, and others that it regarded
his own brother, George Grenville. But surely Lord Temple was not so
overrun with delicacy that he could afford to make a secret of the only
delicacy he seemed ever to have felt, the turning out his own brother
to take his place himself!
The next day Pitt waited on the King again, and declared he was still
ready to accept, if Lord Temple would; and in the presence of the
latter, told his Majesty that for himself he was satisfied, and trusted
his royal declarations. And to the Duke of Grafton he said, that he
lamented with tears in his eyes Lord Temple’s refusal to accept. That
Duke urged Lord Temple warmly, and told him he would forfeit all
character if he remained obstinate; but when power could not influence
him, what could reproaches do? He persisted, and Mr. Pitt would not
take his part without him. Pitt had certainly made nearer advances to
Lord Bute in this negotiation than the King either asked or expected;
and Lord Temple, who never failed to take any credit to himself at the
expense of his friends, openly calumniated Mr. Pitt for leaning towards
Lord Bute, whom, he said, he himself had not ventured to trust. Pitt,
it was true, had told the King that his Majesty ought in conscience to
restore Mackenzie--and in truth both sense and honour dictated that
advice to any man who entered into his Majesty’s service. In the City,
Lord Temple’s emissaries abused Mr. Pitt for too much _Butism_, as Lord
Sandwich did for his eagerness to promote a new war on the Continent.
But what could excuse the conduct of Lord Temple, who, having an
opportunity of redressing all the breaches of the Constitution, against
which he had been so clamorous, now not only waived that duty, but
leagued with the very men whom their own guilt and his voice and pen
had pointed out as the criminals?[149]
The Duke of Cumberland now fearing that the King’s desperate position
would drive him to form an Administration, with Lord Egmont at the head
of the Favourite’s faction, which the Court had thought of, pressed
the Whigs to undertake the Administration, and proposed Lord Rockingham
for head of the Treasury. In consequence of this desire, a meeting of
the chiefs of the Opposition in town was held at Claremont June the
30th. There were present, Newcastle himself, Lord Rockingham, the Duke
of Portland and his brother, the three Cavendishes, Lord Grantham,
General Conway, Thomas Walpole, George Onslow, Lord Ashburnham, two
of the Townshends, and Lord Villiers.[150] The question of acceptance
was debated; Newcastle answered for the Duke of Grafton’s readiness.
Portland was warm on the same side, but proposed to turn out Lord
Bute’s people. The rest were very doubtful. Newcastle declared
his willingness to accept, but as he could not answer for all his
friends, he desired each would deliver his opinion separately. Charles
Townshend,[151] Lord Ashburnham,[152] T. Walpole, Onslow, and Lord
Villiers disapproved of coming in without Mr. Pitt. Onslow pressed them
to wait, as he said he hoped there would soon be a coalition of all
parties against Lord Bute. T. Walpole[153] would not even promise to
support so unpromising an Administration. Conway thought it perilous,
but would not decline the danger. The rest agreed with Newcastle.
I was ill in bed and could not be present at the meeting; but when
Conway reported the particulars to me, I thought I never heard a more
wild proposal, nor one fraught with greater improbability of success.
The nomination of Lord Rockingham for Minister at any season would have
sounded preposterous; in the present, sufficient alone to defeat the
system. Nor had I a more advantageous opinion of the rest that were to
compose it: all young and inexperienced men, unknown to the nation, and
great by nothing but their rank and fortunes. Conway agreed with me,
but professed that if the Duke of Cumberland laid his commands on him
to accept, he would not flinch from the enterprise.
The next day Newcastle reported to his Royal Highness the indifferent
success of the assembly, yet with such eagerness to come again into
power, that he answered for Lord Ashburnham, and gave hopes of
prevailing with the rest. The Duke, not apt to be daunted, encouraged
the trial; and thus, without any new consultation, his Royal Highness
acquainted the King that he was ready to form an Administration for
him. To disgust those who still adhered to Mr. Pitt, the Duke said he
would now disclose what he had not told before, that Mr. Pitt, when
he parted with the King, had told his Majesty that, though he thought
Mr. Grenville the meanest and weakest of Ministers, yet there was no
man he should advise his Majesty to employ so soon. This anecdote was
confirmed by Mr. Pitt’s conduct in the next year. Censured, however, as
Mr. Pitt was, his conduct was both prudent and honourable. Nothing had
barred his acceptance but Lord Temple’s refusal of co-operating with
him. Himself told the elder T. Townshend that, had he been younger, or
had had one friend to whom he could have entrusted the Treasury, he
would have undertaken the Administration without Lord Temple; but this
was not the sole occasion in which he found the disadvantage of having
kept all connections at a distance. Lord Temple’s defection he termed
an amputation.
The King did not hesitate a moment to receive the new arrangement
proposed by his uncle, nor clogged it with either terms or objections.
Whatever was asked was instantly granted; and if no such courtly
overtures were made, as Mr. Pitt had dropped to ingratiate himself
with the favourite star, the Duke had, however, the address to ward
off any unwelcome conditions from being imposed upon the King.
Indeed, no conditions at all were proposed. The Whigs, content with
the power of doing right, as their subsequent actions proved had
been their intention, forbore to stipulate for redress of grievances;
and though the King might expect more complaisance on certain points
than he afterwards experienced, he was too glad to be revenged on his
old Ministers, and too content with finding no unwelcome sacrifices
demanded, to boggle at a treaty which was restricted solely to the
disposition of places. Many of the new placemen were not less rejoiced
to find themselves exalted above their most sanguine expectations;
though that precipitate rise ought to have admonished them of the
weakness and instability of their party. But the rage of the fallen
Ministers exceeded, out of all proportion, the joy both of their
masters and successors. And as defeated insolence soon turns to
despondency, they were abject enough to deny that they had driven the
King a second time to take his part. It was too late now to repent, and
the new Ministers kissed hands on July the 8th.[154]
The Marquis of Rockingham was appointed First Lord of the Treasury;
the Duke of Grafton and General Conway, Secretaries of State; the
Duke of Newcastle, Lord Privy Seal; and the old Earl of Winchelsea,
likewise coupled with this juvenile troop, was made President of the
Council; and Mr. Dowdeswell,[155] Chancellor of the Exchequer. The
Duke of Portland succeeded Earl Gower as Lord Chamberlain. Thomas
Townshend[156] the younger, Lord John Cavendish, and George Onslow were
appointed Commissioners of the Treasury. Lord George Cavendish and
Sir George Saville, though firm friends to the new system, handsomely
declined accepting places. The Earl of Egmont, the only friend of
Lord Bute that was advanced, was made First Lord of the Admiralty,
with the Admirals Keppel and Saunders, Sir William Meredith, and the
Spanish Charles Townshend. Thomas Pitt, in compliment to his uncle, was
offered to remain at that board, but chose to follow Mr. Grenville.
The Earl of Ashburnham was made Keeper of the Great Wardrobe; Lord
Barrington, Secretary at War, instead of Treasurer of the Navy;
the Earl of Besborough and Lord Grantham, joint Postmasters. Lord
Powis[157] was turned out of Treasurer of the Household, to make room
for Lord Edgcumbe;[158] and the Earl of Scarborough[159] succeeded Lord
Thomond, who resigned with his brother Grenville, as Cofferer. Thomas
Pelham[160] replaced Lord Charles Spencer as Comptroller; Lord Villiers
was made Vice-Chamberlain in the room of William Finch,[161] who
retired with a pension; and Lord Gage,[162] Paymaster of the Pensions,
in the room of Mr. Neville. Inferior promotions it is not necessary to
recapitulate: let it suffice to say, that the new Ministers dismissed
but two of Lord Bute’s friends, Lord Despencer and one who will be
mentioned hereafter.[163] On the other hand, the Duke of Cumberland
had wished to detach the Duke of Bedford from Grenville, (an object
only desirable for the breach it would have made in their party,) and
sent General Fitzwilliam with _carte blanche_ to Rigby. The latter
rejected it with scorn, and with ample abuse on his Royal Highness as a
politician.
I have specified the new plan as it took place, but must take notice
now of some steps leading to it. Grenville, on his reconciliation
with his brother, had notified it to the King in a long declamation.
The King answered, He did not trouble himself with the friendships
of others, and wished nobody would with his. When the change was
determined, the Chancellor received the King’s orders to write to
Grenville and the two Secretaries of State to bring their seals the
next day. The Duke of Marlborough, Earl Gower, and Rigby resigned.
In the first draught of the new settlement it was proposed that Mr.
Conway should be Chancellor of the Exchequer; and for some time
Lord Rockingham refused to accept without that assistance. Conway’s
inclination was to be Secretary at War; his resolution not to quit the
military line. I, who knew his unacquaintance with the business of the
Treasury, the disgusting coldness of his manner, which would revolt
those he ought to court, and who foresaw (though not to the degree I
found afterwards) how little he was made to ingratiate himself with
strangers, and consequently to conduct the House of Commons, earnestly
dissuaded him from undertaking that post. My opinion concurring with
his own sentiments, though at first he had been staggered, he set
himself to refuse that employment with a vehemence much beyond his
natural temper. For Secretary of State he was excellently fitted, and
no man ever applied himself to the business of his office with such
unrelaxed industry. Unluckily, the department he refused was bestowed
on Dowdeswell, who was so suited to the drudgery of the office, as far
as it depends on arithmetic, that he was fit for nothing else. Heavy,
slow, methodical without clearness, a butt for ridicule, unversed in
every graceful art, and a stranger to men and courts, he was only
esteemed by the few to whom he was personally known.[164]
The Marquis of Rockingham was almost the reverse. More childish in his
deportment than in his age, he was totally void of all information.
Ambitious, with excessive indolence; fond of talking of business,
but dilatory in the execution; his single talent lay in attracting
dependants: yet, though proud and self-sufficient, he had almost as
many governors as dependants. To this unpromising disposition, he had
so weak a frame of person and nerves, that no exigence could surmount
his timidity of speaking in public; and having been only known to that
public by his passion for horse-races, men could not be cured of their
surprise at seeing him First Minister, as he never could give them
an opportunity of knowing whether he had any other talents. A silent
First Minister was a phenomenon unknown since Parliaments had borne so
great a share in the revolutions of government. His personal character
was blameless--unfortunately, the times required something more than
negative qualities![165]
The most sensible step taken by the new Ministers at their outset, was
endeavouring to gain the countenance of Mr. Pitt--at least, affecting
to wear the marks of enjoying it. One of the Vice-Treasurerships of
Ireland, vacant by Rigby’s resignation, was offered to James Grenville,
who expressed, and I believe sincerely, his concern at not being
able to accept it. The Cofferer’s place was also tendered to Lord
Lyttelton, who had much occasion for it, and who no less sincerely
lamented that his having been included in the family reconciliation of
the Grenvilles forbad his joining in a system founded on the disgrace
of Mr. Grenville. But a step more material, and more likely to impose
on the world, met with better success. This was an offer of the
peerage to Lord Chief Justice Pratt. Lord Rockingham, whose aunt[166]
was married to Lord Mansfield, and who hoped for the assistance of
the latter, was averse to this measure, on the evident probability
that Pratt would be a troublesome rival of Mansfield in the House of
Lords. In truth, that probability made Pratt’s peerage infinitely more
important to the nation than the court paid to Mr. Pitt by it could be;
and had the new arrangement produced no other benefit to the country,
that single step had made the change desirable. Nothing could be more
dangerous than the influence of so arbitrary a man as Lord Mansfield
over the House of Lords, where a lawyer of such eminent abilities was
sure to preponderate; for the Chancellor[167] was too profligate in
every light to carry any authority. Pratt, with great thankfulness,
took the title of Lord Camden.
Still, more weight was wanted. Charles Townshend and Charles Yorke
were applied to. Each fluctuated according to their various degrees
of timidity and irresolution. The first seemed transported with the
change--then refused to engage--and then would not lose his place. Thus
he neither pleased the fallen Ministers, nor satisfied his successors.
His brother,[168] whom he feared, went to the King, declaimed against
the change, yet at last promised to support it. Charles seemed to
support it only because he had _not_ promised. Yorke’s scruples had
deeper root. His ambition pointed immediately at the Chancellor’s
Seals; and finding no hopes of them, he dreaded offending the other
party, who might recover their power and that of making a Chancellor.
These perplexities he did not express; but at first pleaded reluctance
to come in when his friend Dr. Hay was turned out. He next had qualms
about Norton, who was not his friend, and who now, to the universal
joy of the nation, was turned out by the new Ministers, with the no
slight dissatisfaction of Lord Bute. Charles Yorke then consented to
take the place of Attorney-General in Norton’s room, and as quickly
repented of and recalled his consent. However, as he too was one who
had great sway with Lord Rockingham, and as his family inclined to the
new system, Yorke remained of their connection, and some time after
was again made Attorney-General.[169] His youngest brother[170] was
preferred to the Admiralty, and the Earl of Breadalbane, whose eldest
daughter[171] Lord Hardwicke had married, was appointed Privy Seal of
Scotland, Lord Frederick Campbell being turned out; a half oblation to
the King;--the real reparation not being made by the restoration of
Mackenzie. Lord Lorn, who had given up his brother-in-law Conway, was
as little delicate on the disgrace of his own brother Lord Frederick.
No sooner had the change taken place, than not resenting the latter,
and trusting that the former was not resented, Lord Lorn wrote to Mr.
Conway from Scotland to say, that as he was so connected with the Duke
of Bedford, he could ask nothing from the new Administration; but if
the King should offer him a regiment, he could not refuse it from his
Majesty, though he could not violate his connection with the Bedfords.
Mr. Conway could not mistake the drift of this casuistry. The regiment
was offered, and accepted.
Mr. Pitt’s behaviour was various and full of mystery. When Norton was
turned out, Pitt sent him word that it was not done by his advice,
and that were he Minister, he should be glad of the assistance of
such abilities. As nobody supposed that Mr. Pitt directed the new
Administration, however good his intentions to them might be; as
he and Norton had ever acted in an opposite line, and on opposite
principles; and as Norton had by no means been gentle in his attacks,
the message seemed uncalled for and mean-spirited: nor was it to be
accounted for, unless in scorn of Yorke, or as an innuendo to Lord
Bute, that his friends would have received better quarter, had the
treaty with Pitt succeeded or should succeed another time. The Duke
of Grafton and Admiral Saunders had been advised and pressed by Pitt
to promote the formation of the new Ministry. The latter asked if he
might mention that advice? Pitt replied, “Tell it everywhere.” Pitt
then went to Stowe for a few days, returned to town, visited Grenville,
and was with him for some time. The Duke of Grafton hearing that in
consequence of that visit Grenville had affirmed that Mr. Pitt had to
him expressed disapprobation of the new system, the Duke wrote to Mr.
Pitt, who declared he had seen Mr. Grenville but once since the new
Administration had taken place, and then not in private, and had not to
him, or to any one else, disapproved of the present arrangement.[172]
There still remained some persons to be satisfied, and more were
necessary to be acquired. Lord Shelburne was offered his old place at
the head of the Board of Trade. He declined it in a pompous letter,
in which he said he regarded measures, not men; he would wait to see
what their measures (he should have said what their _success_) would
be. The post was conferred on the Earl of Dartmouth. Stanley was
dissatisfied with not being allowed to keep the Admiralty with the
government of the Isle of Wight. Lord Howe, on the contrary, though
promoted by Grenville, accepted the Treasurership of the Navy. Lord
Digby,[173] to compensate to Lord Holland for the loss of his place,
was created an English peer; but the latter had rendered himself so
obnoxious to the new Ministers by his character, by his connection
with the Favourite, and by the persecution he had carried on against
the Whigs, that they who consulted their own characters, and indulged
their resentments beyond what prudence dictated, totally neglected
him. Nor could the Duke of Cumberland or House of Cavendish forgive
him. Lord Strange chose to preserve his employment, and pleaded having
bargained with the late Ministers that his place should not affect his
conduct in Parliament. There was another man who was early in the most
humble application to the Duke of Cumberland to be received into the
new establishment; this was Lord George Sackville. He did not ask, he
said, for anything in the military line. The Duke was disposed to give
him hopes only; but, by more judicious addresses to Lord Rockingham,
Lord George was not long before he obtained one of the lucrative
Vice-Treasurerships of Ireland.
There was much more difficulty about the Duke of Richmond. He had
entirely broken with the late Ministers, and attached himself to the
Duke of Cumberland. The arrangement, however, had been made without
any suitable provision for his Grace. At last he was offered the
place of Cofferer. He said modestly that he knew he had not the same
pretensions to the first posts as the other young noblemen of his own
rank, since he had not suffered like them, had not engaged with them
in opposition, and consequently had not the same merit with the party.
He owned, however, that he wished for an active place in business. I
persuaded him not to accept Cofferer, and assured him I would not rest
till I saw him placed in a situation suitable to his rank and talents.
I kept my word; and as the Duke of Cumberland had dropped a hint of
making Lord Hertford Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and of sending the
Duke Ambassador to Paris, I pursued that idea, though the Duke wished
rather to be employed at home; till, on Lord Hertford’s nomination to
Ireland, I pushed Mr. Conway so warmly that he obtained the embassy
for the Duke of Richmond. Mr. Conway had had more difficulty in
succeeding for Lord Hertford, whose conduct, in not taking part with
his brother and his wife’s nephew, the Duke of Grafton, had given
universal disgust to the party. Richmond was indeed the only steady
acquisition the Ministers made. Yet the intemperance of the disgraced
Cabal threw another important convert into their hands. Grenville told
Lord Granby that the new Ministers had wished to turn out his father,
the Duke of Rutland, in order to save the Duke of Marlborough. Lord
Granby was advised to ask the King if this was true. The King denied
it; and in that conversation made such impression on that light man,
that, with the addition of the first vacant regiment for his uncle,
Lord Robert Manners, Lord Granby was entirely gained over from his
late allies. This blow was sensibly felt by Grenville, who was not
endowed with the spirit of patience. His behaviour on his fall was
abject and full of lamentation; and, as disgraced Ministers are
seldom pitied, so the occasion generally calls forth even those spots
that flattery had concealed from the prying eyes of opposition. The
vaunted economy of this Minister had not been restrained to the public
service. It now came out that he had obtained the reversion of one of
the lighthouses[174] for himself under another name; and that, having
bestowed an inferior office in the Treasury on his cook, he had bid the
man expect no wages for five years. Lord Halifax had been guilty of
worse corruption: he and his mistress had sold every employment in his
gift.
But if the integrity of the new Ministers shone by the comparison with
their predecessors, in want of prudence they seemed to have taken the
example of those very predecessors for the rule of their own conduct.
Nothing could induce them to take the smallest step that might secure
favour in the closet, by even civility to the Favourite. Perhaps the
disguise used by the King deceived them into an idea of that attention
not being necessary. He told them early that he understood their
bargain, and that Lord Bute should not meddle; and that if Elliot and
Oswald would not work (support them by speaking in Parliament) he
gave them power to turn out both. The conduct of the Ministers, as
individuals, was honourable--but in not restoring Mackenzie, unjust
both to the King and the sufferer, and too great a sacrifice to
popularity. I pressed the restitution of Mackenzie to Mr. Conway, and
urged that, as public men and friends to their country, it behoved
them to bend a little in order to secure their power in exclusion to
men of worse designs. But to talk to Conway against public opinion was
preaching to the winds. Even Lord Northumberland, from his relation
to the Favourite, was neglected in the new system, though he had been
deprived of the government of Ireland by the late Cabal on the same
foundation.
The Princess of Wales was the first offended on finding she could
promise herself as little influence over the new Ministers as of late
she had experienced from the last. A conversation was much talked of,
in which it was said warm words were overheard between her and her son,
who was distinctly heard (according to the report) to tell her, that
_he had ventured his crown to obey her_. The disgusts of Lord Bute’s
friends, and of the late Ministers, whose rupture had its origin in
the animosities between the Princess and the Duchess of Bedford, gave
occasion to an excellent _bon mot_ of George Selwyn, who said of the
two factions, _that, like thieves going to execution, they laid their
ruin to lewd women_.
Notwithstanding their sacrifices to popularity, and with self-created
omens that promised them little stability, the first public notice
taken of the new Ministers gave them no reason to think that there
was a general approbation of their advancement. In the Address of the
City of London on the birth of a Prince, the King was told that when
his measures should be established, that great body would be ready to
support them. The Ex-ministers took this as a compliment to themselves;
but it more probably had reference to Mr. Pitt, the idol of the
citizens.
Abroad the change was no sooner known, than Prince Ferdinand wrote
to Mr. Conway to propose coming over with the Hereditary Prince, or
afterwards, and begged Mr. Conway to tell him in confidence whether
the King would like it. The King said he should like it much, but that
Prince Ferdinand had better wait till his nephew was gone back again
to Germany, because the latter, having married a Princess of England,
must be distinguished by ceremonial. Whoever remembered how little
distinction had been paid to the Prince, even on his marriage, could
not believe this to be the true reason of the King’s waiving the visit.
It was more natural to think his Majesty was not eager to be witness
of Prince Ferdinand’s popularity, when his own was at so low an ebb;
nor could he wish that his new Ministers should enjoy the triumph
and advantages of a visit that seemed paid to them rather than to
himself. Whatever hindered it, Prince Ferdinand never came. The Prince
and Princess of Brunswick did arrive by particular invitation. Some
thought Lord Bute hoped to engage Mr. Pitt by the intervention of the
Hereditary Prince; but the court paid of late, both by the Prince and
his wife, to the Princess Dowager, had entirely won her affections, and
removed her antipathy to the House of Brunswick.