Difficulties of the Ministry.--Further Negotiation with Mr. Pitt.--
Meeting of Ministers.--The Seals given to the Duke of Richmond.--
Grant to the Royal Dukes.--Portion of the Princess Caroline.--
Treachery of Dyson.--Conduct of the Chancellor.--Virtual Fall of
the Rockingham Administration.
The traverses which the English Ministers experienced, increased every
day. The King was not only in opposition to himself, and had connived
at Lord Bute’s seducing such of his servants as were connected with
that Favourite to vote against the measures of Government, and, in
truth, those servants were some of the ablest men in the House of
Commons, as Elliot, Dyson, Martin, and Jenkinson, besides Sir Fletcher
Norton, who, though displaced, was at the beck of the Favourite; but
his Majesty, at Lord Bute’s recommendation, actually bestowed a vacant
regiment on Colonel Walsh, Lieutenant-Colonel to Lord Townshend,
without saying a word of it to his Ministers. It was not a command high
enough to be offered to General Conway. He, with singular forbearance,
had declined asking for his regiment again when he was appointed
Secretary of State, lest he should be taxed with rapaciousness; and
yet was determined to return to and adhere to the military line.
There was another man less delicate. Lord Albemarle had been directed
by the King to act as executor to his master, the late Duke of
Cumberland. Ambitious, greedy, and a dexterous courtier, Lord Albemarle
flattered himself that the door was now opened to him, and sought and
made pretences from his trust to obtain frequent audiences of the
King. He procured a grant, I think, for three lives, of the lodge at
Bagshot, dependent on Windsor, which he had held during the pleasure
of the Duke, and under colour of resigning a pension he enjoyed on
Ireland, he obtained to have it made over to a brother and sister of
his in indigent circumstances, with whom he would otherwise have been
burthened. But here ended that gleam of favour. Lord Bute grew jealous,
and the door of the closet was shut for ever against Lord Albemarle.
Yet this and every other evidence could not open the eyes of Lord
Rockingham. He weakly flattered himself that he was grown a personal
favourite with the King, and had undermined Lord Bute. Nor were the
complaints he was forced to make received in a manner to nourish his
delusion. When it was first proposed to call in Mr. Pitt, the King
was said to reply, “Go on as long as you can; but if there is to be
a change, I will choose my next Ministers myself.” When the royal
assent for treating with Pitt had been extorted, the latter had replied
(as I have mentioned)[251] in a manner not to inflame Lord Rockingham
with eagerness to renew the proposal. Yet the Duke of Grafton was
earnest for that junction; and disliking business, and probably not
charmed to see all power arrogated by an associate, who was reduced
to sit silent in the House of Lords, whilst he himself was almost the
sole champion there of their joint-administration, daily threatened
to resign unless Mr. Pitt was called to the head of affairs. Conway,
under like circumstances, looked the same way, but with more temper.
Some of the friends of the Administration, sensible of their tottering
position, and wishing to burst the connection between Grenville and
the Bedfords, the latter of whom were the only real supporters of the
former, endeavoured to detach the Bedfords and unite them with the
Ministers; but Rigby, devoted to Grenville, though not blind to his
defects, which he often made the subject of his ridicule, detested
Conway, and despised Lord Rockingham and the Cavendishes, and was too
clear-sighted and too interested to attach himself to the desperate
fortune of a set of men disliked by the King. Chance at the same
time opened to the Duke of Bedford and his friends a prospect of an
ally, able himself, and suited to their desire of reconciliation
with Lord Bute. Lord Holland’s eldest son[252] fell in love with
Lady Mary Fitzpatrick,[253] niece of the Duchess of Bedford, and
educated by her. The marriage was proposed, and joyfully accepted by
the Duke of Bedford, who lost not a moment to send overtures of peace
to Lord Holland. But though the latter had consented to gratify the
inclinations of his son, as he was a most indulgent father, he acted
with the spirit of resentment that became him; and besides rejecting
the Duke of Bedford’s offered visit, wrote him a most severe answer,
and plainly told him how egregiously he was duped and governed by a
set of worthless people. This letter Lord Holland showed to all that
resorted to him, nor would at any time listen to various advances that
were made to him by that family.
At this juncture I returned to England, April 22nd, and found
everything in the utmost confusion. The Duke of Grafton, as I have
said, determined to resign; Mr. Conway very ill, and sick of the
fatigue of his office, which he executed with inconceivable and
scrupulous attention; Lord Bute’s faction giving no support; and the
Court discouraging all men from joining the Administration. A greater
embarrassment had fallen on the Ministers: Mr. Pitt was grown impatient
for power; and, after having discouraged Lord Rockingham from seeking
his aid or protection, began to wonder that he was not courted to
domineer; and he betrayed his ambition so far as to complain that the
Administration had had his support, and now neglected him. Yet, on
Grafton’s threats of quitting the Seals, Pitt intreated that nobody
might quit for him: things were not ripe for him; it would let in
Grenville and the Bedfords, the worst event of all, he said, for this
country. Yet, if the Ministers made any direct advances to him, he was
coy and wayward, and would treat only with his Majesty. Lord Mansfield
and Mr. Yorke, who had great weight with Lord Rockingham, and were
both jealous of Lord Camden; and the Duke of Richmond, now returned
to England, and incited by Lord Holland to oppose Pitt; kept alive
Lord Rockingham’s resentment, and prevented any direct negotiation.
Thus circumstanced, Pitt’s temper broke forth. George Onslow had
proposed, in order to save fifteen or twenty thousand pounds a year
on the militia, to reduce one serjeant in each company, and the pay
of the militia-clerks from fifty to twenty-five pounds a year. This
reformation Lord Strange opposed; and the Ministry, not thinking it
worth a division, gave it up. The opportunity, however, was seized by
Pitt, to whom the plan had not been communicated. He went to the House,
and made a vociferous declamation against the Ministry, who, he said,
aimed at destroying the militia; he would go to the farthest corner of
the island to overturn any Ministers that were enemies to the militia.
This was all grimace: he did not care a jot about the militia.
In a few days after this, Rose Fuller moved to refer to the committee
the petitions of the merchants on the severe clogs laid on the American
trade. Grenville, as madly in earnest as Pitt was affectedly so,
vehemently opposed that motion, and called it a _sweeping resolution_.
They would next attack, he supposed, the _sacred_ Act of Navigation.
Burke bitterly, and Beckford and Dowdeswell, ridiculed him on the
idea of any Act being sacred if it wanted correction. Lord Strange
went farther; said, he would speak out; should be for a free port
in America, and for altering that part of the Act of Navigation
that prohibited the importation of cotton not the growth of our
own islands.[254] Charles Townshend said he was sorry to find that
convenience was to give way to dignity. For his part he would call
for a review of the Act of Navigation. This drew on warm altercation
between him and Grenville, in which it was no wonder that Townshend’s
wit and indifference baffled Grenville’s tediousness and passion.
The idea of a free port in America had been taken up by the Ministers,
and that intention was now declared to the hearty satisfaction of the
merchants. But this plan too, to humour Beckford’s local interests
and his own spleen to the Ministers, was harshly and inconsiderately
censured by Pitt, but with ill-success to his popularity, the scheme
being grateful to the City. He was not more fortunate in his next
step. The Ministers thinking themselves bound to give the last blow
to General Warrants, which had now been decided in Westminster Hall
to be illegal, moved a resolution of their being illegal and a breach
of privilege. Grenville, hoping to squeeze out a little popularity
from the same measure, moved to bring in a bill for taking them
entirely away. This happening while Mr. Pitt was in his hostile
mood, he seconded Grenville’s motion; but his lending himself thus
to the champion of those warrants, highly offended the Ministerial
Whigs, and drew on him much severity from Sir George Saville and Lord
John Cavendish. Norton told Mr. Pitt privately that he had got from
Carteret Webbe Mr. Pitt’s three warrants, and offered them to him;
but Pitt refused to accept them, and said he had always declared he
would justify his own warrants. At the same time he dropped to him
that he wondered he (Mr. Pitt) had not understood Lord Bute’s speech
on the Stamp Act. The Opposition, to purge Lord Temple from being the
instigator of Wilkes in his attacks on the Scotch and the Tories, now
produced a letter from the former to the latter, dissuading him from
such national and general acrimony. This letter had been seized among
Wilkes’s papers. But if it palliated the disposition to mischief in the
one brother, it laid open the malice of the other; and Grenville was
severely tasked for having connived at Webbe’s suppressing this letter
in enmity to his brother. Mr. Pitt avowed to the House that he thought
Carteret Webbe gently dealt with in not being expelled.
The night I arrived, the Duke of Richmond came to me to intreat
Mr. Conway to go on without Mr. Pitt, who had offended both the
Administration and the City: and he told me there were thoughts of
softening towards Lord Bute, and of suffering his brother Mackenzie to
have a place. The plan of diverting the enmity of Lord Bute was not
at all repugnant to my opinion. From the moment the Administration
had come into place, I had seen the necessity of it. Justice demanded
the restitution of Mackenzie. The Ministers could neither destroy
the King’s confidence in his Favourite, nor get rid of him by force.
He was in no employment, nor had they any proofs in their hands that
would authorize impeachment. Ungrounded impeachment would have purged
him--perhaps have made him popular. Two options only remained: to quit
their places, if they thought it for their honour not to temporize
with Bute; or to temporize with him. Why I preferred the latter, these
were the reasons: if those Ministers surrendered their power, where
was there another set of honest men to replace them? They could
mitigate, perhaps ward off, the evil designs of the Court, while the
executive part of government remained in their hands. If they resigned
it, it must fall into the hands of Mr. Pitt, who must either take his
obnoxious brothers Temple and Grenville, or lean entirely on Lord Bute;
and with all my admiration of Mr. Pitt, I doubted whether he would
not make too complacent a Minister to prerogative; or Grenville and
the Bedfords (the worst of all) must resume their power, and they had
smarted too severely for their attacks on the Favourite, not to have
profited of that experience. The Nation had once escaped from that
coalition. Any system was preferable to the return of it.
I told the Duke of Richmond, that though I was glad to find Lord
Rockingham and his friends were grown more reasonable, yet I thought
the moment not suited to the experiment. There was another plan which
ought first to be tried, and that was to endeavour once more, at any
price, to acquire the accession of Mr. Pitt. Should he be omitted, it
would throw him into the hands of his brothers and the Bedfords, or of
Lord Bute--perhaps of all together. At least, should he refuse to join
with the Administration, it would put him in the wrong, and damage his
popularity, his sole strength. Lord Rockingham came to me still more
eager for what the Duke had proposed. I adhered to my point, though I
agreed they might try to go on, if Mr. Pitt should prove unreasonable,
and Mr. Conway (who was ill in the country) should not think himself
obliged to resign with the Duke of Grafton, who had brought him into
Parliament. Grafton had promised Lord Camden (which indicated that he
acted in concert with, or by direction of Pitt) to come to town in two
days, and resign; yet his Grace himself had been offended at Mr. Pitt’s
conduct, and had said, if he was haughty ought of place, what would he
be when in? He should pity those who were to act under him.
April 25. Mr. Conway came to town, and agreed with me on the necessity
of trying Mr. Pitt once more, though he did not think the King could
be induced to see him. On the 27th the Duke of Grafton came to me, and
Mr. Conway and I persuaded him to defer his resignation a few days;
though he said he could not trust the King, who had promised that Lord
Bute’s faction should support the Administration after the repeal of
the Stamp Act was passed, which during the whole time of its discussion
they had pretended they could not come into, as they had all concurred
in the Act; yet when the repeal was over, their conduct continued the
same. This consideration staggered Conway; and he told me, that if he
should now resign for Mr. Pitt, the latter would certainly restore him,
and entrust the House of Commons to him, as he had declared he would.
This reflection showed Conway was more reconciled to power than he
pretended to be,--and yet it was but transient ambition. It returned
at times, but never was permanent; and even when he had quitted or
declined supreme power, he did not give himself less to the fatigue
of business, which yet was his standing objection. He could not enjoy
so insignificant an office as the Board of Ordnance without making it
slavery, and yet could not bear to be Secretary of State!
The Duke of Grafton, however, gave notice to the King that he would
resign. The King begged him to defer it for a few days. Thus pressed, I
prevailed with the Duke and Mr. Conway to go to Mr. Pitt, and intreat
him to give some facility to his own accession. He complained that
Lord George Sackville had been restored to employment to affront him
personally: said he himself had been twice admitted to treat personally
with his Majesty, and therefore hoped he might have that honour again.
Several times he threw out Grenville’s name (to intimidate), and said
he did not know what Lord Temple would do; he had had no intercourse
with him for several months. To _part_ of the Administration he
professed great civility. Mr. Conway told him he was sure the King
would not send for him. He answered, that he looked on that as a
design not to let him come in. The fact was, the King, not desirous
of the junction of Pitt and the actual Ministers, and choosing that
Pitt should solely to him owe his admission, pleaded that he had sent
so often for Mr. Pitt in vain, that he would condescend no more--a
resolution his Majesty was at that very time in the intention not to
keep.
On the 1st of May the Ministers had a meeting at the Chancellor’s,
to determine what their plan should be on Grafton’s resignation and
Pitt’s refusal; Mr. Conway having been induced to retain the Seals at
the earnest request of the other Ministers, rather than break up their
whole Administration. The King had ordered them to give him their
proposals in writing, expecting, at least hoping, that they would at
last propose connection with Lord Bute. They proposed that the King
should promise to support them, and turn out those who should not
act with them; this, however, they forbore to deliver to the King in
writing. The Chancellor said, if they determined to go on, he would
support them, but he did not think this a business proper for the
Council. Conway replied, they were met as Ministers, and at the King’s
desire. Some were for offering a place to Mackenzie; but Newcastle
said their friends would dislike it; he had seen several who were
against it. Lord Egmont told them fairly not to flatter themselves
(and no doubt he spoke by authority); even a place for Mackenzie would
not satisfy. Lord Bute’s friends were powerful, and would expect
confidence. They broke up in disorder. Conway reported to the King what
had passed. He replied coldly, “I thought you would not settle anything
at one meeting.” Three days afterwards he bade them try for support,
and inquire if Lord Bute’s friends would not support them, which was
bidding them unite with the latter.
In the room of the Duke of Grafton I resolved to try to make the Duke
of Richmond Secretary of State. Not that I could flatter myself with
the duration of the system; but as I knew the Duke had better talents
than most of the Ministers, and would be more moderate, I thought he
would be likely to bring them to such a temper as might prevent their
dissolution then, and would be of use to them if they remained in
power. My friendship for him made me desirous, too, to obtain that rank
for him, that, although he might enjoy it but a very short time, he
might have pretensions to the same place, if ever they recovered their
situation. He was apt to be indolent if not employed: the Secretary’s
Seals might inspire him with more taste for business. I first mentioned
the thought to himself, and found him pleased with it; and then engaged
him to ask Mr. Conway’s interest, with whom I myself made it a point.
Conway liked the motion, but said he was so nearly[255] connected with
the Duke of Richmond, that he did not care to ask it; always preferring
his own character to the service of his friends. I acted, however, so
warmly in it, and Lord Rockingham took it up with so much kindness
to the Duke, that we surmounted Conway’s delicacy, and the Cabinet
Council proposed it to the King. His Majesty, who had never forgiven
the Duke of Richmond, objected strongly to that choice; said the Duke
was too young (though as old as Grafton), and desired it might be first
tried if Lord Hardwicke would not accept the Seals. Lord Hardwicke, a
bookish man, conversant only with parsons, ignorant of the world, and
void of all breeding, was as poor a choice as could have been made; and
being sensible himself that he was so, declined the offer; yet to avoid
taking Richmond, and to keep within the circle of Lord Rockingham’s
friends, his Majesty next proposed to make the Attorney-General, Yorke,
Secretary of State. If the elder brother was ill-qualified for that
office, the younger was still more so, being ignorant of languages and
of Europe, and read in nothing but the learning of his profession.
Lord Rockingham, as civil as the King, yielded to make this trial
too; but at the same time told the King that he and his friends,
finding the precariousness of their situation, wished to resign their
employments. The King begged they would not, said he should be greatly
distressed, and had nobody to replace them. Yorke declining the Seals,
they were at last bestowed on the Duke of Richmond, who in answer to
the notification he received from Lord Rockingham, marked his being
sensible how little he had been his Majesty’s choice. He entered,
however, on his office with all the ardour and industry that I had
expected, and had every qualification to make him shine in it. He had
such unblemished integrity, and so high a sense of his duty and honour,
that in the preceding winter Lord Powis[256] having been exposed in
the House of Lords for sordid meanness and injustice to Lady Mary
Herbert,[257] the sister of the last Marquis, from whose bounty Lord
Powis had received his estate, and yet withheld from her a scanty
annuity, the Duke of Richmond consulted the Chancellor to know if there
was no precedent of expelling a Peer, so little was his Grace possessed
by what is called _l’esprit de corps_.
But though the Seals were given to the Duke of Richmond, several other
places of importance and rank remained vacant; nor could any man be
found that would accept them, being discouraged by the discountenance
with which the King treated his Ministers. Nor did it stop there; Lord
Howe[258] resigned his post, declaring he could not co-operate unless
Mr. Pitt was Minister, an extraordinary strain of delicacy in a man who
had accepted a commission at the Board of Admiralty from Mr. Grenville
on the fall of Mr. Pitt, and his new post from the present Ministers
on the fall of Mr. Grenville. Yet when the Ministers represented to
the King the disgrace it brought upon his Government to have so many
employments lie unfilled, and even offered to make Mr. Mackenzie
Vice-treasurer of Ireland, his Majesty declined that place for him, but
advised them to get all the strength they could. Lord Bute’s friends
owned that it was expected the Ministers should employ their faction,
in particular the Earl of Northumberland and Sir Fletcher Norton. The
last none of them would hear of; and even I, who for the reasons I have
given, wished them not to proscribe a party without whom they could not
be Ministers, advised them to resign rather than stoop to adopt so bad
a man, so lately, to their credit, cashiered by themselves. In truth,
there was nothing but obstinacy in some, and irresolution in others.
The nearer their fall, the more Lord Rockingham grew inclined to
preserve his power by humouring the King; while Lord John Cavendish was
inflexible to Bute, and Mr. Conway totally irresolute what part to take.
Not so the Court faction. Dyson opposed the tax on windows, and yet the
Opposition was beaten by four to one. When the bill passed the Lords,
the Duke of Grafton expressed great regard for some of the Ministers;
but the nation, he said, called for the greatest abilities, and for all
abilities; and though himself had borne a general’s staff, he would
with pleasure take up a mattock and spade to be of what use he could.
The Duke of Bedford forced Lord Rockingham to rise and say a few words.
It was now the 29th of May. From the instant of my arrival I had
pressed the Ministers to put an end to the session, and had foretold
that they would let it draggle on till it overturned them. All my
views tended to prevent their resigning before the Parliament rose,
and to keep them in place till the eve of the next session; that if
no circumstances should arise in their favour during that interval,
they might surprise and distress the King by a sudden resignation, or
force him to give them better terms. Should they quit in the present
conjuncture, whatever grievances they might allege would be forgotten
before six months were elapsed. My prophecy, though founded, was as
little regarded as my advice. Late as it was, a new parliamentary
business, waited on by new scruples of Mr. Conway, broke forth.
On the death of the late Duke of Cumberland it had been projected to
divide his 25,000_l._ a year between the King’s three brothers, and
make up the revenue of each 20,000_l._ a year. The Ministers, during
Mr. Conway’s illness in the country, had consented to carry this
through, without acquainting him. When he came to town he vehemently
objected to it, as the session was so near its period. The Cavendishes
caught the scruple, and infused it into Lord Rockingham, though he had
passed his word for it to the King. The Chancellor and Lord Egmont
were as eager on the other hand to have the promise performed, and
the former had warm words with Conway. The King was much discomposed,
and said, unless his brothers would give it up he could not. The Duke
of Gloucester, all decency and temper, behaved handsomely; but the
Duke of York, instigated by the Bedfords, insisted on what had been
promised to him. Lord Rockingham told the King he would keep his word,
but would then resign--that was, would keep a promise he had neglected
till it was almost too late, but then would resign for having kept it.
Mr. Conway said he could not vote for it, but would absent himself
from the House. Lord Rockingham repented the instant he had made his
declaration, but did not know how to get off. Mr. Conway consulted me
on this dilemma, and objected that Mr. Grenville was out of town,
thinking the business of the session at an end. “What!” said I,
“because you suffered Mr. Grenville to protract the session till he had
wearied even himself, is that a reason for the Ministers not performing
what they have engaged for? You have just had a signal victory [on
the tax], and now will give up all for an idle qualm. For God’s sake
satisfy the King and the Princes on this point; but you are so unfit
to be Ministers, that I advise you to find some plausible and popular
excuse afterwards to resign;” and to that indeed now did my utmost
wishes tend. I saw they must fall, and desired only that the pretence
might do them credit. At night, however, I hit off an expedient to
which I got the concurrence of the Ministers. It was to propose to
the King that they should move for a call of the House. _That_ would
take up at least a fortnight, and near as much time to go through the
bill. He was to be told how unpopular the service was. If he still
accepted the call, the question would either be carried in a full
House, which would justify the Ministers; or would be lost in a full
House, which, besides defeating the measure, would punish the Duke of
York, without affording room of censure against the Ministers, as the
Opposition would support the Duke; and the question, if lost, would be
lost by the defection of the Court’s own majority, to whom the measure
was very unpalatable, from the largeness of the designed appanages,
and the independence of the Crown which the Princes would acquire.
If, on the other hand, the King should refuse to accept the call,
the Ministers would be in some degree disculpated from keeping their
promise, or would have more grace in resigning. The Ministers went with
this proposal to the King, but he had now prevailed on his brother of
York to give up the point till the next session, on promise that the
half-year’s income, which he would lose by the delay, should be made up
to him.
On the 3rd of June Rigby moved that the Parliament should not be
prorogued, but kept sitting by short adjournments to wait for news
from America. This was easily overruled; and then a message from the
Crown was delivered, asking a portion for the Princess Caroline against
her marriage with the King of Denmark. Dyson, in opposition to the
Ministers (and for a treacherous reason that will presently appear),
offered a precedent against taking the message into consideration but
in the committee or the next day--a strange disrespect, unless it had
been concerted with the King. This occasioned a long debate, and Conway
greatly distinguished himself by his spirit and abilities; and Dyson’s
motion was rejected by 118 to 35. Next came a message for a settlement
on the Princess. Augustus Hervey[259] proposed to amend the address,
and to promise to take it into immediate consideration. This, too,
was outvoted; and Charles Townshend spoke finely on the occasion, with
great encomiums on the Duke of Grafton and Conway.
The next day the Ministers pressed the King to turn out Dyson and Lord
Eglinton, who had voted against the tax. His Majesty hesitated, but
desired Lord Rockingham to talk to them. Lord Rockingham saw Dyson
for an hour, who pretended to be in no opposition, but to dislike
measures; and going through them showed he disliked every one of their
measures. On this Lord Rockingham again proposed his being turned out,
but the King took time to consider.[260] Mr. Conway spoke to me on
this. I said, it was plain Lord Bute meant to force them to join him,
which made it impossible for them to join him; yet I begged they would
not opiniatre those dismissions, as it would not be proper for them
to resign on Court intrigues. To resign because men were not turned
out would be still less proper in them, who had complained so much
of dismissions, though the case was widely different between being
persecuted for conscience sake, and dismissing men who would force
them to unite with the very arbitrary Ministers they had condemned.
They must wait till they were obstructed in some constitutional
measure, and then retire.
Lord Hertford[261] was now returned from Ireland, and prevailed on
his brother to consent that Mackenzie should be restored to his
ancient place, as soon as any settlement could be made to open it for
him; and to let Lord Northumberland go ambassador to Paris, if Lord
Rochford could be otherwise accommodated. The Duke of Richmond and Lord
Rockingham came into this, and it was broken to the King in general
terms. “Was there anybody he wished to prefer?” He was on his guard,
and replied, “No;” that they might not accuse him of parting with them
on their rejection of any of Lord Bute’s creatures. They then again
mentioned Dyson and their own weakness; and showed him an intercepted
letter of the Russian Minister to his Court, in which he wished his
mistress not to conclude too hastily with the present Ministers, who
could not maintain their ground: and he pointed out the damage the King
brought on his own affairs by having a Ministry who did not enjoy his
confidence. This the King denied, and said they had his confidence. For
Dyson, he had opposed Princess Caroline’s portion, and his Majesty did
not care to remove anybody on his own account (a salvo, as I have said,
concerted). Dyson, they replied, opposed and obstructed all measures
at the Board of Trade. Still the King would not give him up, but
promised he would the next winter, if Dyson did not alter his conduct;
but his Majesty had determined to remove the Ministers, not Dyson. Lord
Eglinton was next accused of having opposed the tax. “Oh!” said the
King, “that is abominable; but Eglinton is angry with me too: he says
I have not done enough for him.” They civilly put his Majesty in mind
that he had promised, in the middle of the winter, to dismiss opponents
on their next default; but the plea was taken, and nothing could be
obtained by the Ministers for their satisfaction.
The Chancellor, Lord Northington, disgusted with the dilatoriness and
irresolution of the Ministers; and seeing they would neither embrace
the Favourite, nor could do without him; and perceiving, too, that the
King was determined to suffer them on no other terms than compliance,
was alarmed for his own interest; and apprehending that if Mr. Pitt,
as was probable he would, became the Minister, Lord Camden would
expect the Seals, made a pretence of quarrelling with the Ministers,
complaining most untruly that he was not consulted nor summoned
on cases,[262] which had not only been submitted to him, but had
waited for him and suffered by his delay. All this, however, being
but negative, the Chancellor wished to have more positive merit, and
accordingly told the King (and possibly had his Majesty’s own orders
for telling him so) that this Ministry could not go on, and that his
Majesty must send for Mr. Pitt. Whether this meanness was officious,
or whether instilled into him, was not certainly known. The motion
was at least so acceptable that the Chancellor certainly opened a new
negotiation with Mr. Pitt. Lord Bute’s friends asserted solemnly that
this treaty, which was kept very secret, was known only to his Majesty,
and concluded without the least privity of the Favourite--a tale too
improbable to meet with the least credit.
As a signal of what was to ensue, on the 7th of July the Chancellor
went in to the King, and declared he would resign; a notification he
had not deigned to make to the Ministers, but which he took care they
should know, by declaring openly what he had done. When the Ministers
saw the King, he said coolly, “Then I must see what I can do.”[263]
The next day the Duke and Mr. Conway came to me in the country to ask
my opinion on the present crisis. I said, I believed it was the signal
of a change, but as it was yet uncertain whether the Chancellor had
acted from self-interested fear, or by concert with the King, the
wisest step for the Ministers would be to seize the opportunity, and
on Wednesday, the next Court-day, (it being now Monday,) resign their
places very civilly on want of the King’s confidence, and recommend to
his Majesty to send for Mr. Pitt. This, if the King was not prepared
with a Ministry, would greatly distress him; and whether Pitt, or
Grenville, or the Bedfords were sent for, they would give harder terms
to Lord Bute when at their mercy. That _their_ recommending Pitt might
prevent the King’s sending for him; and then nothing would be so odious
and unpopular as the Bedford faction united with Bute, while Pitt and
the present Ministers should be out of place. That if Pitt did become
Minister, he would be hampered by _their_ recommendation; it would hurt
his popularity if he did not take them in, and must be an obstacle to
his preferring the Bedfords. I added that this recommendation would
be entirely consistent with Mr. Conway’s past declarations, which had
always been in favour of Mr. Pitt, and would bind the Duke of Grafton
more firmly to Conway. This advice was extremely tasted by Mr. Conway,
not at all by the Duke, who had no partiality for Mr. Pitt.
The next day the Duke wrote to argue the point with me, and said,
Lord Rockingham was still for making Yorke Chancellor, for insisting
on the dismission of Dyson, Eglinton, Augustus Hervey, and others,
and then for offering the King to make Mr. Mackenzie Vice-treasurer
of Ireland. This last (which had already been in effect rejected) the
Duke allowed was a very silly plan, but thought Mr. Pitt had treated
the Ministers with too much contempt to make it honourable for them to
propose him; the Duke even supposed that their not leaving the King
in distress would oblige him. Mr. Conway, he said, was determined to
follow my advice. I, who had no opinion of his Majesty’s sensibility or
gratitude, stuck to what I had said; and warned the Duke to take care
that they were not turned out in the cause of Yorke, instead of their
own. I advised his Grace to make use of the good news from America,
where all was quiet, and to declare that having pacified America, they
could now resign without reproach; but the Seals had glimmered in
Yorke’s eyes, and I knew he would advise any meanness rather than lose
the moment of being Chancellor.
I went to town on Wednesday the 7th, in the afternoon, concluding that
Rockingham and Newcastle would have prevailed on Mr. Conway to defer
resigning for a day or two. So it had happened, though the Duke of
Richmond had been convinced by me that they must resign. But in the
morning, when the Ministers had gone in to the King, his Majesty, with
the most frank indifference, and without even thanking them for their
services, and for having undertaken the Administration at his own
earnest solicitation, acquainted them severally that he had sent for
Mr. Pitt; and lest this declaration should want a comment, to Newcastle
he said, “I have not two faces.” Newcastle replied, “Does your Majesty
know if Mr. Pitt will come?” “Yes,” said the King, “I have reason to
think he is disposed to come;” and then added, “I wish you all well,
particularly Lord Rockingham.” Nothing could be harsher to Newcastle,
in whose presence this was uttered. To the Duke of Richmond the King
was not tolerably civil; and, in truth, I believe the Seals which I
had obtained for his Grace were a mighty ingredient towards the fall
of that Administration. To Conway alone his Majesty was gracious, and
told him he hoped never to have an Administration of which he should
not be one. This looked as if the plan was settled, and that the King
knew Mr. Pitt intended to retain Conway, for his Majesty loved him no
better than the rest; and at Lord Rochford’s return from Spain had
ridiculed Conway’s despatches, and said, he fancied Lord Rochford
had had difficulty to know how to act, as they were sometimes warm,
sometimes cold. This remark had been furnished by the Chancellor, when
the offer made by the King of Spain of taking the King of Prussia for
arbitrator on the money due for the ransom of the Manillas, had neither
been accepted nor rejected. When the King told Conway he had sent for
Pitt, he replied, “Sir, I am glad of it; I always thought it the best
thing your Majesty could do. I wish it may answer: Mr. Pitt is a great
man; but as nobody is without faults, he is not unexceptionable.”