ARLINGTON STREET, _May_ 25, 1765, _sent by way of Paris_.
My last I think was of the 16th. Since that we have had events of almost
every sort. A whole administration dismissed, taken again, suspended,
confirmed; an insurrection; and we have been at the eve of a civil war.
Many thousand Weavers rose, on a bill for their relief being thrown out
of the House of Lords by the Duke of Bedford. For four days they were
suffered to march about the town with colours displayed, petitioning the
King, surrounding the House of Lords, mobbing and wounding the Duke of
Bedford, and at last besieging his house, which, with his family, was
narrowly saved from destruction. At last it grew a regular siege and
blockade; but by garrisoning it with horse and foot literally, and
calling in several regiments, the tumult is appeased. Lord Bute rashly
taking advantage of this unpopularity of his enemies, advised the King
to notify to his Ministers that he intended to dismiss them,--and by
this step, no _succedaneum_ being prepared, reduced his Majesty to the
alternative of laying his crown at the foot of Mr. Pitt, or of the Duke
of Bedford; and as it proved at last, of both. The Duke of Cumberland
was sent for, and was sent to Mr. Pitt, from whom, though offering
almost _carte blanche_, he received a peremptory refusal. The next
measure was to form a Ministry from the Opposition. Willing were they,
but timid. Without Mr. Pitt nobody would engage. The King was forced to
desire his old Ministers to stay where they were. They, who had rallied
their very dejected courage, demanded terms, and hard ones
indeed--_promise_ of never consulting Lord Bute, dismission of his
brother, and the appointment of Lord Granby to be Captain-General--so
soon did those tools of prerogative talk to their exalted sovereign in
the language of the Parliament to Charles I.
The King, rather than resign his sceptre on the first summons,
determined to name his uncle Captain-General. Thus the commanders at
least were ready on each side; but the Ministers, who by the Treaty of
Paris showed how little military glory was the object of their ambition,
having contented themselves with seizing St. James's without bloodshed.
They gave up their General, upon condition Mr. Mackenzie and Lord
Holland were sacrificed to them, and, tacitly, Lord Northumberland,
whose government they bestow on Lord Weymouth without furnishing another
place to the earl, as was intended for him. All this is granted. Still
there are inexplicable riddles. In the height of negotiation, Lord
Temple was reconciled to his brother George, and declares himself a fast
friend to the late and present Ministry. What part Mr. Pitt will act is
not yet known--probably not a hostile one; but here are fine seeds of
division and animosity sown!
I have thus in six words told you the matter of volumes. You must
analyse them yourself, unless you have patience to wait till the
consequences are the comment. Don't you recollect very similar passages
in the time of Mr. Pelham, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Granville, and
Mr. Fox? But those wounds did not penetrate so deep as these! Here are
all the great, and opulent noble families engaged on one side or the
other. Here is the King insulted and prisoner, his Mother stigmatised,
his Uncle affronted, his Favourite persecuted. It is again a scene of
Bohuns, Montforts, and Plantagenets.
While I am writing, I received yours of the 4th, containing the
revolutions in the fabric and pictures of the palace Pitti. My dear sir,
make no excuse; we each write what we have to write; and if our letters
remain, posterity will read the catastrophes of St. James's and the
Palace Pitti with equal indifference, however differently they affect
you and me now. For my part, though agitated like Ludlow or my Lord
Clarendon on the events of the day, I have more curiosity about Havering
in the Bower, the jointure house of ancient royal dowagers, than about
Queen Isabella herself. Mr. Wilkes, whom you mention, will be still more
interested, when he hears that his friend Lord Temple has shaken hands
with his foes Halifax and Sandwich; and I don't believe that any amnesty
is stipulated for the exile. Churchill, Wilkes's poet, used to wish that
he was at liberty to attack Mr. Pitt and Charles Townshend,--the moment
is come, but Churchill is gone! Charles Townshend has got Lord Holland's
place--and yet the people will again and again believe that nothing is
intended but their interest.
When I recollect all I have seen and known, I seem to be as old as
Methuselah: indeed I was born in politics,--but I hope not to die in
them. With all my experience, these last five weeks have taught me more
than any other ten years; accordingly, a retreat is the whole scope of
my wishes; but not yet arrived.
Your amiable sister, Mrs. Foote, is settled in town; I saw her last
night at the Opera with Lady Ailesbury. She is enchanted with
Manzuoli--and you know her approbation is a test, who has heard all the
great singers, learnt of all, and sings with as much taste as any of
them. Adieu!
_PROSPECTS OF OLD AGE WHEN JOINED TO GOUT._