LORD CHATHAM
AND THE
WHIG OPPOSITION
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THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM AND EDMUND BURKE.
From an unfinished picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
LORD CHATHAM
AND THE
WHIG OPPOSITION
BY
D. A. WINSTANLEY, M.A.
FELLOW AND LECTURER OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1912
-^ ^ LIBRARY
-P H UNIV] .MFORXIA
W 5
PREFACE
An apology, or at least a defence, is perhaps necessary
for a work dealing with the struggle between the whig
factions and the crown during a very limited period of
George III.'s reign ; for the party politics of a bygone
age, however great their interest for contemporaries,
are apt to be somewhat lacking in life and reality for
those who, living at a later date, and absorbed in the
political controversies of their own day, are disposed to
be somewhat impatient of the details of a conflict long
since brought to a final conclusion. It is possible
that few would deny that the establishment of the
personal influence of the crown by George III. had vital
consequences in English history ; but there are pro-
bably many who would feel that a close analysis of the
means adopted by that king to attain his end, of the
circumstances which favoured or retarded his progress,
was perhaps unnecessary, and most certainly tedious.
It can hardly be hoped that the following pages will
provide a refutation of either of these charges ; but the
responsibility for the failure rests upon the workman
and not upon his material. Many are the accusations
which can be brought against the period which lies
between the formation of Chatham's ministry in July
1766 and the collapse of the whig opposition to Lord
North in the summer of 177 1 ; but it can scarcely be
accused of lacking in either interest or importance. ,
Within those few years the destinies of the nation were
determined and the work of the Revolution nullified.
vi LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Never before had the opponents of personal government
been given such a favourable opportunity to thwart
the execution of the royal schemes ; and yet they failed
hopelessly. It was the king, and not the whigs, who
triumphed ; and, as Lord Acton has said, " about the
year 1770 things had been brought back, by indirect
means, nearly to the condition which the Revolution
had been designed to remedy." x The consequences
which flowed from that royal victory are too well
known to need particularisation ; and it would be
generally allowed that the history of England might
have read somewhat differently if Grafton had fallen
before the onslaught of the whigs, or if North had failed
at the outset of his ministerial career.
A contest so momentous can hardly be without
interest ; and, therefore, an attempt has been made
to give both a record and an explanation of the failure
of the whigs. For this purpose it has been necessary
to concentrate the attention almost exclusively upon
domestic politics, and to omit much well deserving
of close consideration. Colonial history and foreign
policy have been but very briefly touched upon ; and
if an exception has been made in the case of the dispute
with Spain over the Falkland Islands, this can be justi-
fied by the influence which those negotiations exercised
upon the parliamentary conflict. Such omissions, how-
ever serious they might be in a work claiming to
be a history of the period, may perhaps be pardoned
in what is more than a study of one particular aspect
of the time ; and it is to be hoped that if something
has been lost in comprehensiveness, something has also
been gained in lucidity.
It may not be out of place to say a few words about
some of the manuscript authorities that have been used,
1 Lord Acton's History of Freedom and Other Essays (1907), 54-55.
PREFACE vii
well known though they are to all students of the period.
The Newcastle Papers in the British Museum are, of
course, absolutely essential for any understanding of the
politics of the early years of George III.'s reign ; and
historians have reason sincerely to lament the duke's
death in November, 1768. Though neither an infallible
guide, nor free from personal prejudice, Newcastle,
from his position as patriarch of the whig party, and
from his intimacy with the leading politicians of his
time, was the centre of many negotiations and intrigues ;
and his correspondence reveals not a little of the inner
history of the Rockingham party. The Hardwicke
Papers, also to be found in the British Museum, though
perhaps of less importance for this particular period,
certainly cannot be neglected with safety, since they
include many valuable reports of parliamentary debates,
and much of vital interest. Neither the second Lord
Hardwicke, nor his two brothers, Charles and John
Yorke, apparently enjoyed the close confidence of the
Rockingham whigs ; but as politicians, keenly alive
to their family interests and to the critical character
of the warfare going on before their eyes, they are able
to tell us much that we are glad to know. Sufficiently
detached to be able to criticise, and sufficiently in-
terested to care to do so, their judgments are often
sounder than those of the politicians more actively
engaged in the struggle ; and as onlookers, who are
proverbially reported to see more of the game, their
opinions and impressions are deserving of careful study.
Moreover, in the same collection are to be found the two
accounts of the last days of Charles Yorke, compiled
by Lord Hardwicke and Mrs Agneta Yorke ; and
though these have already been used to very good
purpose by Mr Basil Williams for a most interesting
paper published in the Transactions of the Royal
viii LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Historical Society, it has been thought permissible to
narrate again a story which must ever appeal to those
who realise the tragedy of human life and the vanity
of human ambition.
Mention should also be made of the Wilkes Papers
in the British Museum, and of the Pitt Papers in the
Record Office. As might be expected, the correspond-
ence of Wilkes throws little light upon the designs of
the various parties ; and his fragment of autobiography
is rather a revelation of his private character than of
his political activity. The more important of the Pitt
Papers have for many years been accessible in the
published correspondence of the Earl of Chatham ;
but it would be a mistake to imagine that what has
not been printed is without value. The unpublished
papers can be consulted with advantage and profit,
and should not be disregarded.
History, however, even the most imperfect repre-
sentation of it, is never made from manuscripts alone ;
and to the great historians of the eighteenth century
a debt of gratitude is owing from all who have profited
by their labours. Lastly, my thanks are in a special
measure due to my friend, Dr Foakes-Jackson, of Jesus
College, Cambridge, who was kind enough to read
my manuscript, and bold enough to play the part of
the friendly but candid critic. For his advice I am
sincerely grateful, and I only regret that the volume
is so little worthy of the care which he generously
bestowed upon it.
D. A. W.
July 191 2
CONTENTS
The Marquis of Rockingham and Edmund Burke Frontispiece
PAGE
Preface ....... v
CHAP.
I. The Formation of Chatham's Administration
II. The Ministry on its Trial .... 64
III. The Rise and Fall of the Opposition . . 114
IV. The Resignation of Chatham . . .194
V. The Fall of Grafton ..... 242
VI. The United Opposition . . . .318
VII. The Downfall of the Opposition . . . 368
Index ....... 437
IX
LORD CHATHAM AND THE
WHIG OPPOSITION
1766-1771
CHAPTER I
THE FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION
The fall of the first Rockingham ministry in July,
1766, brings to an end a well-defined period in the
constitutional struggle of George III.'s reign. Barely
six years had elapsed since the king had come to the
throne, an untried and inexperienced boy, yet deter-
mined to regain for the monarchy the influence which
it had lost during the reigns of the first two Hanoverian
monarchs. It was never his intention to bring about
a revolution in the government or to trample under
foot the privileges acquired by the nation in its con-
test with the Stuarts ; but he firmly believed, and
with some justice, that the politicians, who had driven
James II. from the throne and excluded his son from
the succession, had never intended to reduce the
kingship to a condition of subservience. The con-
stitution had developed on other lines than those laid
down by the statesmen responsible for the Revolution
settlement ; and the royal authority had been usurped
by a narrow oligarchy which had taken advantage
of a disputed succession and a foreign dynasty to
acquire supremacy in the state. The whigs had
triumphed over the family which they had placed
2 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
upon the throne ; and when George III. succeeded
his grandfather, the royal power appeared to have
reached the very nadir of its fortunes. With some
bitterness, and no little truth, George II. had once
declared that " ministers were kings in this country,"
and the cry was wrung from him by bitter experience.
Towards the close of his reign he discovered that he
was often obliged to take his advisers at the dictation
of the house of commons, and to give the sanction
of his name to a policy which he did not approve.
As long as the ministers enjoyed the confidence of
parliament they were able to prevail against the
court ; and George II. found much food for thought
in the contemplation of the difference between the
theory and the practice of the English constitution.
He informed Lord Waldegrave that " we were, indeed,
a very extraordinary people, continually talking of
our constitution, laws and liberty. That as to our
constitution, he allowed it to be a good one, and
defied any man to produce a single instance wherein
he had exceeded his proper limits. That he never
meant to screen or protect any servant who had
done amiss ; but still he had a right to chuse
those who were to serve him, though, at present,
so far from having an option, he was not even
allowed a negative." 1
It was left for George III. to undertake the task
of avenging his grandfather, and to recover for the
crown the authority of which it had been deprived.
For this work he had been trained by his mother,
the dowager Princess of Wales, and her friend and
counsellor, Lord Bute. According to the constitu-
tional doctrines, in which he had been reared, an
English king, though obliged to rule in accordance
1 Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs (1821), pp. 132-133.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 3
with the national will, had never been intended to
become the puppet of the party predominant in
parliament. It was the duty of the sovereign to lead
rather than to follow, and the functions of the house
of commons were those of a guardian, not those of
a dictator. It was for the king to choose his own
advisers ; and it was incumbent upon parliament to
support the ministers of the crown, unless they were
guilty of a breach of the law or proved themselves so
incompetent as to render their removal a matter of
urgent necessity. George III. was not slow to imbibe
these tenets, and ascended the throne with a fully
formed determination to rescue the royal prerogative
from the decay into which it had fallen. He was
resolved to govern as well as to reign, and he had not
been king many days before his advisers discovered
that they were intended to be servants of the crown
in something more than name. For the first time,
since the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty, the
supremacy of the whig party seemed in danger of
destruction ; and when all men thought that the
power of the crown had passed away, never to revive,
the court once more became the spring and centre
of political life.
That there should be a reaction against the whig
rule is not surprising. Possessed of the charm of
youth, dignified in bearing, and graceful in manner, 1
George III. was more likely to be the subject of loyal
adoration than his grandfather who had never suc-
ceeded in winning the affection of the nation whose
welfare, nevertheless, he sincerely sought. The first
1 " The young king," wrote Horace Walpole, " you may trust me, who am
not apt to be enamoured with royalty, gives all the indication imaginable
of being amiable. His person is tall and full of dignity ; his countenance
florid and good-natured ; [his manner graceful and obliging." Walpole's
Letters, 4, 449-452.
4 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of his family to be born and bred in this country, the
young king could claim to be an Englishman, if not
by birth, at least by education ; and the nation, which
had long been weary of the undisguised preference of
its rulers for their German dominions, welcomed with
enthusiasm a sovereign who was at least a master of
the tongue of his subjects. The political value of the
outburst of loyalty, which usually greets a new occupant
of the throne, must not, however, be exaggerated ;
and it is perhaps of greater moment that the king
could count upon a certain measure of interested
support for his design of restoring the royal preroga-
tive. Recruits for the cause were likely to be forth-
coming from those who, under the whig domination,
had either been driven from office or forced to spend
the best years of their lives in the wilderness of opposi-
tion. Men of this type were ready enough to rally
round the throne in hope of profit or revenge ; whilst
there were not a few who, actuated by a purer motive,
regarded the subservience of the crown to one political
faction as a gross perversion of the English constitu-
tion. The supremacy of the whig party had been too
oppressive to pass unchallenged ; and Bolingbroke, by
his famous pamphlet, " The Idea of a Patriot King,"
had prepared the way for George III. It is fashion-
able to decry Bolingbroke's political philosophy, and
to depict him as the baffled adventurer seeking to
poison the sources of political life ; but in the argu-
ments which he advanced, in the most famous of his
works, there is more truth and cogency than has often
been allowed. It is impossible to deny the justice
of his denunciations of the political morality of the
age ; and when he called upon the monarchy to rescue
the country from the slough of corruption into which
it had fallen, it was not with the intention of restoring
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 5
the absolutism of the Stuarts, but of bringing about
an alliance between the crown and the nation, in order
to effect the downfall of an immoral system of govern-
ment. An experienced controversialist and a most
attractive writer, Bolingbroke was able to persuade
by the lucidity of his argument and the grace of his
style ; and when George III. came to the throne,
men had been taught to expect salvation from the
court, and were not surprised to find that their new
ruler was disinclined to be content with that narrow
sphere of influence to which his predecessor had been
restricted. 1
Yet, when every allowance has been made for
favouring circumstances, it remains true that
George III.'s initial efforts were rewarded with a far
greater degree of success than could possibly have
been anticipated by the most optimistic partisans of
the royal prerogative. Contemporaries were astonished
at the ease with which the youthful sovereign over-
came obstacles which had proved too formidable for
his more experienced predecessor. His campaign
against the whig oligarchy was naturally not un-
chequered by disaster, and at times he found himself
obliged to undergo humiliations which his grand-
father had never known ; but this is a lot common
to those who embark upon novel and dangerous
ventures, and the checks which he encountered never
caused him to waver in his purpose. His persistence
was rewarded with victory. The famous coalition
ministry of Pitt and Newcastle, which had raised
England to a pinnacle of glory, not attained since the
days when the genius of Marlborough had humbled
1 It is intimated," wrote Horace Walpole, three days after the death of
George II., " that he means to employ the same ministers, but with reserve
to himself of more authority than has lately been in fashion." Walpole's
.Letters, 4, 444-447.
6 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the pride of the proudest of French kings, fell before
the first assaults of the boy upon the throne. A
victory over such opponents, so early in the reign,
could not but redound to the credit of the crown ;
for Pitt was by far the most popular statesman of the
day, and Newcastle enjoyed a well-deserved reputation
for being one of the most successful of party managers.
Thus it was against experienced veterans that the
king gained his first triumph, and the attack had not
been made merely to demonstrate the strength of the
royal authority. From the day that he succeeded
his grandfather, the king had intended that his
favourite, the Earl of Bute, should be the first
minister ; and when Newcastle was driven to resign
in the spring of 1762, Bute was chosen to succeed
him as first lord of the treasury.
No more striking testimony could have been given
to the new order inaugurated by George III. than the
rapid rise of Lord Bute to high office in the state.
Regarded as an alien by the whig oligarchy which
had hitherto enjoyed a monopoly of power, distasteful,
both as a Scotchman and a friend of the king, to a
nation which has never loved its northern neighbours
and has always been opposed to royal favourites,
Bute rose to supremacy in the cabinet solely through
the influence of the crown. He had few qualifica-
tions for administrative office, being neither a ready
debater nor a far-sighted statesman ; and although
his political ability has been unduly depreciated, his
warmest admirers have never contended that it was
of such a character as to justify his meteoric rise to
power. Conscious of his own defects, aware of his
deficiencies in the art of managing men, he shrank
from political responsibility ; and it is to his credit
as a man, if not as a statesman, that it was only
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 7
genuine, if mistaken, affection for the king, his master
and pupil, that led him to essay a task for which he
knew himself to be intellectually unfit. With but a
scanty personal following in parliament, the mark
for the hatred of the people who regarded him as a
Scotch adventurer preying upon the wealth of England,
Bute was emphatically the king's minister, solely
dependent upon the royal favour. 1 In the reign of
George II., Carteret, one of the ablest men in an age
when the standard of ability was high, had been un-
able to maintain himself in office, though warmly
supported by the court ; but where George II. had
failed, his youthful successor triumphed. The in-
fluence of the crown proved sufficient to uphold Bute
against attacks in parliament and the virulent on-
slaught of the opposition press ; and he was able to
conduct a difficult and tortuous negotiation with
France, which resulted in the conclusion of peace with
that country and the withdrawal of England from the
Seven Years war.
He has been, indeed, most adversely criticised for
conceding, in his anxiety for peace, more favourable
terms to France than the course of the war justified ;
and not a few historians have been blinded, by their
dislike of his policy, to the difficulties of the task
which he accomplished. It may be that it might
have been better for England if he had never taken
office, but he at least succeeded in attaining the goal
which he sought, in spite of obstacles which at
times threatened to prove insuperable. Without any
1 As is well known, George III., on the very first day of his reign, offered
to make Bute secretary of state ; and when, six months later, the royal
favourite accepted that office, it was only with the very greatest reluctance.
" Each fond wish of my heart," he informed the king, " crys out against this
important change, but duty and gratitude condemns one to the trial. I
make it then, but not without violent emotions and unpleasant forebodings."
Add. MS., 36797, f. 47.
8 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
previous experience of administrative life, intensely
unpopular with the nation, and often obliged to meet
and overcome the attacks of his colleagues in the
cabinet, Bute did not purchase his success cheaply ;
but, if the conclusion of the Peace of Paris testifies
to the perseverance of the servant, it equally bears
witness to the influence of the master. Deprived of
the favour and confidence of the crown, the minister
would have quickly fallen a prey to his many enemies ;
and when he retired in the spring of 1763, it was not
because he was unable to command a majority in the
house of commons, but because his work was done.
He had taken office in order to extricate the country
from an exhausting conflict, and, having attained
his end, he laid down the distasteful burden of
administration.
His place at the treasury was taken by George
Grenville who resembled him in the particular of
being neither the choice of parliament nor of the
nation, but of the king. Politicians, however, even
when they sit on thrones, are often compelled to do
what they can rather than what they would ; and
it was not without serious misgivings that George III.
had selected Grenville as Bute's successor. Tenacious
of power, so lately acquired, the king was resolved not
to fall back into the condition of servitude from which
he had but just emerged ; and, from the moment that
he took office, the new first minister discovered that
he was expected to be obedient to the court which
had created him. His freedom in the construction
of his own cabinet was seriously restricted, and in
Lord Shelburne he was given a colleague whom he
profoundly distrusted and disliked. Moreover, there
was a wide-spread, and by no means unfounded, belief
that Bute, though he had retired from the ministry,
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 9
intended to remain the confidential adviser of the
crown ; and that, if Grenville was the actor on the
stage, the favourite was the prompter in the wings.
Unconsidered by the nation which regarded him as
a pawn in the royal game, and obliged to depend in
the house of commons upon a majority supplied him
by the court, Grenville was provided with the trappings
but denied the substance of power. Uninspired by
that personal affection for the king, which had caused
Bute to seek no greater happiness than the execution
of his master's will, and disinclined by disposition to
adopt a deferential or even a conciliatory attitude,
he was ill-adapted to acquiesce in a condition of gilded
servitude ; and it is not surprising that friction soon
arose between the crown and the minister. If he had
incurred the royal hostility by espousing a popular
cause, much would have been forgiven him, and he
might have come down in history surrounded with the
glory given to those who fail in a noble endeavour ;
but, unfortunately for his good fame, Grenville was
almost as objectionable to the nation as he was to the
king. It had once been his wish to become Speaker
of the house of commons, and it was in an evil moment
for his reputation that he consented to forswear his
ambition. Few men were more deeply versed in
parliamentary law or more punctual and methodical
in the despatch of business ; but the very qualities,
which would have enabled him to preside with dis-
tinction over the debates of the lower house, mili-
tated against his success as a statesman. Stiff and
unbending in demeanour, a tedious debater, afflicted
with a pedantry which encouraged him to regard
precedent and law as above reason and good sense,
and lavishing upon details a wealth of care and atten-
tion which rendered him oblivious to wider and more
10 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
important issues, Grenville was not fitted to be the
ruler of a great country, and could never hope to
acquire the approval of either the king or the nation. 1
No sooner had he taken office than his fall was pro-
phesied ; and, if he continued in power for more than
two years, it was not by reason of his parliamentary
strength or his popularity with the country, but on
account of the difficulty experienced by the king in
finding a suitable successor. Grenville was, indeed,
intolerable, but he was not dangerous ; and George III.
preferred to endure discomfort rather than run the
risk of diminishing his recently acquired authority.
Thus, though saddled with a servant of whom
he would have willingly been rid, the king could
legitimately boast of the success he had achieved. It
was now abundantly clear that, whereas in the past
ministers had been able to coerce the court, they were
now its dependents. The centre of power had been
shifted from the cabinet to the palace ; and the
change had been effected largely by an adroit and
systematic use of the royal patronage. It is difficult
to exaggerate the extent of the resources of bribery
and corruption which remained to the crown in the
eighteenth century, or the frankness with which
politicians of the time were wont to demand a more
substantial reward for their services than the grati-
tude of the country. It was not only that the
episcopal bench was crowded with men who had
earned promotion by services not strictly ecclesiastical,
and that many a skilful time-server was rewarded by
a place among the peers of England : there were
numberless posts at court which constantly brought
1 Dr Johnson, with his usual sturdy common sense, remarked of Grenville
that " he had powers not universally possessed : could he have enforced pay-
ment of the Manilla ransom, he could have counted it."
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 11
their holders into close contact with the fount
of bounty, and innumerable sinecure places which,
once secured, dispensed their happy possessors from
the necessity of earning an honest livelihood. Nor
was it only by places and offices that adherents in
parliament could be purchased : men, who would
have been seriously offended if their honesty had been
impugned, thought nothing of accepting a money
bribe for a vote given in parliament ; and it was not
infrequent for a ministry, when closely pressed, to
purchase a majority in hard cash. 1 Nor was this
torrent of corruption confined within the walls of
parliament ; for elections were flagrantly and openly
corrupt. A certain proportion of the members of
the lower house sat for treasury boroughs, so called
because they always elected the nominees of the
government ; and in Cornwall, which returned forty-
four representatives, and was notorious for electioneer-
ing corruption, the influence of the crown was par-
ticularly strong. By the end of the century nearly
half the members of the house of commons were
appointed by private patrons, 2 and borough owners
were accustomed to treat their right of nomination as
a species of property, saleable to the highest bidder.
Thus it was not difficult for George III., if he was
prepared to soil his hands by participation in a dis-
gusting business, to secure a house of commons
obedient to his will. He had but to proclaim that
the avenue of promotion was obedience to the court,
to dispense the royal patronage amongst those who
1 Thus when during Walpole's administration a proposal was made to
settle an income of one hundred thousand pounds upon Frederick, Prince of
Wales, it was reported that more money was expended to defeat the motion
than "would have answered the demand made for the prince." Hist. MSS.
Comm. Carlisle MSS., pp. 178, 179.
2 Porritt's The Unreformed House of Commons, i. 310, 311.
12 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
distinguished themselves by their readiness to support
the crown, to traffic in boroughs like a huckster, and
to dispense the secret service fund himself instead of
allowing it to be manipulated by his ministers, and
the eager crew of placemen would quickly rally round
the monarchy. Neither genius nor statesmanship
was required for the formation of a parliamentary
party pledged to support any administration as
long as it was approved at court ; and the cause for
surprise is not that a youth upon the throne should
have been able with so little difficulty to attain his
end, but that his predecessors should have permitted
such a sensible declension in the royal authority.
The riddle, however, is not difficult of solution. Both
George II. and his father were too little acquainted
with English politics and too much attached to their
German dominions, to play an active part in what
was styled the management of the house of commons.
Driven by fear of the tories, whom they suspected of
sympathising with the exiled Stuarts, to give their
confidence to one political party, the first two kings
of the Hanoverian line, in order to safeguard them-
selves against the Jacobites, undermined the founda-
tions of their own authority ; and it was left for
George II. to discover that the whigs had used the
confidence of the crown to establish a hold upon
parliament and secure themselves against the attacks
of either the court or the nation. Permitted by the
king to dispense the royal patronage, to purchase
rotten boroughs, and to buy votes in parliament, the
whig ministers had quickly overshadowed the mon-
archy. Rapacious placemen, intent upon nothing but
to keep what they had got, and to acquire more if they
could, quickly perceived the drift of events and
followed the ministry and not the king ; and George II.,
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 13
at the close of his reign, was mortified to find that he
had sold himself into slavery to a few whig nobles
who ruled the country in his name.
The most successful of these whig leaders, who
had thus reduced the monarchy to subjection, was,
undoubtedly, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of New-
castle. An important territorial magnate, descended
through his father from an ancient Sussex family,
and through his mother from the Earls of Clare, New-
castle was born to a great political position, and,
espousing the whig cause, quickly rose to high office
in the state. Few English statesmen have enjoyed
a more prolonged or less interrupted tenure of political
power ; but with posterity he has paid dearly enough
for his success, his name having become a byword for
inefficient administration and wholesale corruption.
Historians have depicted him in graphic language as
little better than a dotard who, by dint of a certain
low cunning and great wealth, rose to political eminence ;
and his contemporaries never wearied of enlarging
upon his lack of dignity, his childish inconsequence,
his colossal ignorance, and his absurd jealousies. No
one would assert that he was in any way a great
statesman or deny his many serious limitations.
He was often unduly suspicious of his closest and
most trusted friends, and was wont to take offence
at imaginary slights ; but the greatest statesmen
are not without shortcomings, and Newcastle has
suffered from being judged by whig historians who
have chosen to consider him a disgrace to their party.
His incapacity as an administrator has probably
been exaggerated, and his unremitting industry, in
the discharge of what he believed to be the business
of the state, has not received the recognition it
deserves. Nor was he without a certain measure of
14 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
political insight. Long before Burke had preached
the necessity of a party system, Newcastle had prac-
tised the same doctrine, devoting all his energy to the
formation of a strong personal following in both houses
of parliament. He understood, far better than many
of his contemporaries, that the natural outcome of
the Revolution settlement was the dependence of
ministers upon parliament rather than upon the
crown, and he acted accordingly. He realised that
systematic organisation was the secret of political
success, and that, unless ministers were able to count
with confidence upon the support of the house of
commons, they would inevitably tend to fall into
submission to the court. Such was his contribution
to the practical philosophy of politics ; and, if not
the first, he was by far the most successful of party
managers. No man was more alive to the value of
the loaves and fishes of public life ; and he dispensed
them with a lavish, though discriminating, hand.
Possessed of estates in nine counties, and the owner
of nearly the whole of Nottinghamshire, he was able
to control elections over the length and breadth of
England ; and few men were more adept in the art of
borough-mongering or more eager and persistent in
the purchase of adherents. 1 The episcopal bench was
crowded with his nominees, 2 and, very often, a wealthy
peer and a humble exciseman found themselves
strangely connected by a common bond of obligation
1 For a most interesting account of the Duke of Newcastle's electioneering
methods see an article by Mr Basil Williams in the English Historical Review,
entitled " The Duke of Newcastle and the Election of 1734." Vol. xii.
pp. 448 ff.
2 At his first levee, after his fall from office in 1762, only one bishop was
present, though in the days of his greatness they had been conspicuous by the
regularity of their attendance. When this marked abstention was pointed
out to Newcastle, he wittily declared that " bishops, like other men, are apt
to forget their Maker."
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 15
to the great whig duke. In return for what he gave,
he only asked that the recipients of his bounty should
answer to the call of the party and support him in
parliament ; and the politicians of the day were not
averse to enriching themselves upon such easy terms.
Nor was Newcastle left unrewarded for his prescience
and industry, for both George II. and William Pitt
had occasion to regret the unbounded influence which
the duke had been allowed to acquire over the repre-
sentatives of the nation.
Yet, impressive as was the edifice which Newcastle
had reared, its foundations were of sand. He had
gained a parliamentary following, not by the ability
of his statesmanship or the force of his personality,
but by bribery and corruption ; and was not so much
the leader of a party as the captain of a band of mer-
cenaries. His followers had no common belief, no
common political principles, and if they remained faith-
ful to him, it was because they hoped to profit by their
loyalty. Deprived of the right of dispensing the royal
patronage, Newcastle would, indeed, be a shorn Samson ;
and no sooner had George III. ascended the throne
than the duke discovered the insecurity of the founda-
tions upon which his power rested. The placemen,
who had fawned upon him in the days of his greatness,
now turned to the court, and were as eager to follow
the king as they had been in the past to follow the
minister. Parliament, which remained as corrupt as
before, was now tied by gold chains about the throne ;
and, under normal conditions, the king had no call
to fear the opposition of the house of commons. To
excuse the change, that had thus been effected, there
was much talk of the usurpation of oligarchy, and of
the king's right to remunerate his servants ; but the
phrases of courtiers and political philosophers were
16 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
but a scanty veil to conceal the substantial truth
that there had been something little short of a con-
stitutional revolution, the significance of which could
not be measured by the ease with which it had been
effected. No longer could parliament be considered
an effective check upon the despotic tendencies of
the crown, since the astute policy of George III. had
rendered the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement,
which had been framed with the intention of sub-
jecting the monarchy to the national will, almost
constitutionally valueless. Parliament, which had
previously been the puppet of the whig nobility, now
became the slave of the court. By preying upon the
weakness of mankind, and cynically indifferent to
the morality of public life, George III. had conquered
where better and more scrupulous men might have
failed ; and, though he may be guiltless of the remark,
with which he is credited, that " we must call in bad
men to govern bad men," the epigram is a true de-
scription of his contribution to the art of government.
He had defeated Newcastle with his own weapons, the
boasted strength of the whig party had crumbled away
into dust ; and the royal authority, no longer obscured
by the clouds of faction, shone forth in undiminished
splendour.
Yet, all men were not blind or indifferent to the
policy pursued by the court, and if many were regard-
less of what was happening or only thought to make
use of it to promote their own interests, there was
one at least who understood that the constitution
was confronted by a danger as great as any as had
threatened to overwhelm it in the previous century.
It was he who had suffered most by the change.
Though defeated, Newcastle remained true to the
principles he had professed when in power ; and, in
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION IT
opposition, as in place, constituted himself the champion
of the party system so deftly attacked by the court.
Though it was loudly and repeatedly proclaimed that
the country would never know good government
until ministers were selected, not on account of their
political connections or their following in parliament,
but by reason of their capacity for administration,
Newcastle was content to adhere to the doctrines
which he had learnt in his youth, and practised with
so much effect ; and no sooner had he been driven
from office than he set to work to form an opposition
party to the court, recruiting his followers from the
scanty few who were not prepared to sacrifice every
conviction on the altar of their own advancement.
This little band, which came to be known by the name
of the Rockingham whigs, but of which Newcastle
was the founder, fought for a constitutional principle
which seemed in the way of becoming obsolete. Instead
of administrations, lacking in unity, composed of
men of widely different political opinions and un-
accustomed to work together, Newcastle and his
supporters believed that a really efficient government
should be representative of one party in the state,
and dependent, not upon the crown, but upon its own
adherents in parliament. It is true that their con-
ception of a political party was far narrower and
more oligarchic than would be tolerated at the present
day, and, though willing enough to have the nation
on their side, they had little thought of widening the
confined aristocratic circle in which they habitually
moved ; but it should be remembered that this tend-
ency to exclusiveness was in accordance with con-
temporary opinion which regarded government as an
essentially aristocratic art, and that the vices incidental
to oligarchy were blended with real political virtues.
18 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
If they can be accused of attempting to wrest power
from the crown in order to acquire it for themselves,
it ought not to be forgotten that they were contending
for a system of government which has become an
essential element of parliamentary life. In an age
when open war was declared upon the party system,
they defended it ; and their efforts have received
scanty recognition. It is too often overlooked that
if George III. was fighting for a principle, so were his
opponents. It was a clash of differing and opposite
constitutional ideals, a new phase of the old struggle
between the monarchy and the nation.
The contest may be said to have begun in the
autumn of 1762, when the preliminaries of peace with
France were submitted to parliament and were at-
tacked by Newcastle's recently formed opposition
party. The challenge, thus thrown down, was quickly
taken up by the court, and the men, who had dared
] to oppose the peace which Bute and the king approved,
were punished for their audacity. Newcastle was
deprived of his lord lieutenancies, and a political
persecution set on foot, expressly designed to stifle
the opposition in its birth. The exercise of the parlia-
mentary function of criticism was treated as a traitor-
ous insurrection against the crown ; and the persecu-
tion, which would have been sufficiently iniquitous
if confined to those who had taken an active part in
opposing the peace, was rendered additionally shame-
ful by being extended to humble dependents of the
great whig leaders. Neither great nor small were
spared, and holders of small places under government
were driven from their employments for no other
offence than that they had received their preferment
from the men who had dared to rebel against the
court. Yet the politicians, who had had the courage
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 19
to embark upon such a dangerous enterprise, were
not to be turned aside by the first disaster ; and for
three years Newcastle marshalled, if he did not lead,
the forces of opposition to the crown. His allies,
though numerically insignificant, were worthy of the
cause they had espoused, for among them are to be
found some of the most honourable and distinguished
statesmen of the day. William Cavendish, fourth
Duke of Devonshire, and Philip Yorke, first Earl of
Hardwicke, had both played for many years a leading
part in the world of politics, and it was no slight blow
to George III. that they refused to abjure their prin-
ciples and enlist under his banner. But, valuable
as their services might have been to the opposition
in the constitutional struggle, for Devonshire was
deservedly renowned for his probity, and Hardwicke
justly famous for his extensive legal learning, it was
hardly likely, seeing that they were both well advanced
in years when George III. ascended the throne, that
they would long be able to endure the heat and burden
of the battle. Both were taken by death in the year
1764, and the loss, though great, was not unexpected.
The future of the party lay with its younger members
and its more recent recruits, with those who had never
known the whig cause in the days of its greatness,
but were prepared to fight for it in the hour of dis-
aster. Youth is the season of heroic opposition and
high endeavour, and it is not surprising that many
young nobles, removed by their wealth and their
social position from the temptation of succumbing
to the insiduous influence of the crown, elected to join
Newcastle in his arduous campaign.
The most important and influential of these allies
were the Duke of Grafton and the Marquis of Rocking-
ham. Grafton, very largely because at a later date
20 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
he was unfortunate enough to incur the vitriolic
hatred of Junius, has acquired an evil reputation both
as a man and as a politician. As generally depicted,
the licentiousness of his private life was only exceeded
by his incapacity as a statesman ; and his most partial
critics would hardly deity that his defects were many
and conspicuous. Yet, at the beginning of his career,
he seemed likely to win a name for disinterested
patriotism and purity of motive. Careless of the
favour of the court, placing his principles above his
own advantage, he enlisted under Newcastle's banner,
and embarked upon a course of opposition ; but
time was to prove him lacking in stability of purpose,
and the hopes, which had been based upon his early
achievements, were never to find fulfilment. If some-
thing far better than the abandoned voluptuary and
tyrannical debauchee represented by Junius, his
career as a statesman gave sufficient colour to the
bitterest charges to render them plausible. Ill-fitted
for public life, and condemned to pass through a fiery
ordeal which would have taxed the virtue of far better
men, Grafton suffered the fate of those who shoulder
a burden too heavy for them to bear. Cursed by such
anxiety to please as to prefer to do wrong rather than
give offence, furnished with few settled convictions,
and, though anxious to do his duty, not sufficiently
clear sighted to recognise where the path of duty lay,
he became a piece of wreckage upon the waste of
waters, a prey to the winds and waves of time. He
passes down to the political hell by the road of good
intentions, and the tragedy of his fall is rendered all
the greater by the promise of his beginning.
A happier fate befell the young Marquis of Rock-
ingham who ultimately became the leader of the
party which Newcastle had created. Like Grafton,
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 21
Rockingham shared many of the tastes of the young
aristocrat of the period, and was wont to be at New-
market when he ought to have been at the house of
lords ; but, though sometimes inattentive to business,
he never wavered in his adherence to the whig cause,
and was content to spend the greater part of his life
in leading a forlorn hope. Wealthy, and acquiring
no little distinction from being the only marquis
in the English peerage, Rockingham's rise to political
eminence was much assisted by his birth and affluence ;
but it would be a serious error to dismiss him as an
aristocratic dilettante in public life. With every
temptation to spend the useless and often vicious life
of the fashionable young man of his day, he fought
the good fight against the crown, and carried on the
work which Newcastle had begun. Scorning the
meaner side of public life, so attractive to many of his
contemporaries, sincerely desirous of promoting the
welfare of the country, and conscientiously convinced
of the truth of the constitutional ideals for which he
fought, there is much to admire in his career ; but
the charm of his private life, and the many attractive
traits in his character, cannot obscure the truth that
he had many defects as a statesman, and was but ill-
fitted to accomplish the task which he had so heroically
undertaken. He was not cast by nature to endure
the heat and burden of a constitutional struggle, and,
in a more democratic age, it is unlikely that he would
have ever emerged from comparative political ob-
scurity. Shy, and of a retiring disposition, rarely
taking part in debate, and always reluctant to stand
in the fore of the battle, Rockingham could win re-
spect, but was unable to inspire either fear or admira-
tion. The courage, which steeled him to persevere
in a seemingly hopeless contest, was not always united
22 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
with the wisdom to select the best mode of attack ,
or the insight which would have enabled him to see
the weak points in his adversary's armour. Though
in much superior to Newcastle, he was infinitely be-
neath him as a party manager ; and when the old
duke died in 1768, the whig party suffered a greater
loss than has often been admitted. Youth is not
inclined to overrate the value of the experience of
age ; and, like many a young man, Rockingham was
disposed to minimise the dangers which beset his path,
and was, therefore, consequently sometimes guilty of
serious blunders and tactical mistakes. His greatest
admirers have been forced to allow that as a leader
he was often singularly ineffective ; and that, though
the end at which he aimed was generally right, the
methods he pursued were sometimes open to criticism.
Nor were his political associates of such eminence as
to compensate for the shortcomings of their leader.
The Duke of Portland, Sir William Meredith, Sir George
Savile, and William Dowdeswell never emerged from
the second rank of politicians in which nature had
placed them ; and, if in Edmund Burke the party
was given a genius of the first order, that great Irish-
man did not take his seat in parliament until the year
1766, and was too accustomed to dwell in the altitudes
of the intellect to be really successful in the rude
warfare of parliamentary life.
Thus the opposition, though numbering many
bearers of distinguished names, and including much
virtue and gallantry in its midst, was not over rich
in political sagacity ; and could ill afford to lose the
wise counsels of a Hardwicke or a Devonshire. Yet
for three years it maintained the parliamentary struggle
against Bute and Grenville, championing causes which
it hoped would prove popular, and seeking to defend
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 23
the interests of the nation against a house of commons
which had sold itself to the court. The preliminaries
of peace with France, the cyder tax, and the use of
general warrants were attacked, while Wilkes, that
rather sordid champion of freedom, was defended by
men who had nothing in common with him save
hostility to the personal influence of the crown. Yet
the reward of all these efforts was failure, and by the
summer of 1765 the party of opposition was weaker
than it had ever been before. Defeat following upon
defeat had extinguished hope, and even Newcastle
gave way to despair, and retired for a short time from
the fray. The ranks of the party had been thinned
by death and by the desertion which is the inevitable
accompaniment of a failing cause, and Charles Towns-
hend was probably not the only member of the band
to reflect that " he was a younger brother, and if
nothing was to be made out of opposition, or no
active measures pursued, he would lie by this summer,
and consider himself at liberty to take what part
would be most convenient to him." x
The causes of the failure are not far to seek. As
long as bribery and corruption continued, as long
as boroughs were bought and sold, and parliament
was crowded with placemen who could be deprived of
their livelihood at the royal will, an opposition party
was at a very serious disadvantage. Allowing for the
political morality of the day, it is little wonder that
the bribes and offices, dispensed by the court, proved
too tempting for the easy virtue of men who regarded
a political career as an easy and expeditious way of
filling pockets emptied at Arthur's or White's ; and,
although reason and good sense were more often than
not to be found on the side of the enemies of the crown,
1 Add. MS., 35361, f. 95-
24 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the government had little cause to fear the force of
argument as long as it could count with confidence
upon the support of the solid phalanx of placemen.
Yet, true as it is that Newcastle and his followers
were fighting with weapons of straw against arms of
iron, to attribute the success of the ministry solely
to the power of the purse, would be to fall into the
mistake of explaining by a single cause an event which,
indeed, had several. Due account must be taken of
the often neglected fact that a systematic opposition
to the administration was an irregular and novel
feature of the constitutional life of the period. Political
traditions die hard, and it was still very generally
held that it was in accordance with the best interests
of the nation to promote, rather than to hinder, the
task of government. To thwart the ministers at
every turn, to oppose their measures for no better
reason than that they proposed them, to subject them
to an incessant shower of criticism, was regarded as
playing into the hands of the enemies of England,
and as a blameworthy indulgence in that spirit of faction
which renders all good government impossible. Thus
those who attacked the court in the early years of the
reign of George III. endured all the disabilities attach-
ing to constitutional pioneers. The cause for which
they fought was destined ultimately to triumph, and
an opposition party was to become an indispensable
element in the parliamentary life of the country ;
but they were not to reap the fruits of their labours,
and were compelled to endure the burden of mis-
representation.
Though fully aware of the difficulties of the path
which they had elected to tread, the whig leaders
had not been without hope that victory might yet be
theirs. Recent history had shown that it was some-
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 25
times possible for the opposition to carry the day
against the court and the ministry. Sir Robert Wal-
pole who, whatever his faults as a politician, cannot
be charged with timidity, had been obliged to abandon
the excise bill on account of the parliamentary attack
upon it, and had been induced by the popular outcry
to make war upon Spain against his will and his own
better judgment. Moreover, the same opponents, who
had induced him to abandon his much cherished policy
of peace, succeeded, a few years later, in driving him
from office by depriving him of his majority in the
house of commons. Historians, rightly impressed
by Walpole's sagacity and the recklessness of the
opposition party, have dwelt too much upon the
enlightened policy of the minister and too little upon
the insight of his enemies. Carteret and Pulteney,
Walpole's leading adversaries, conquered because they
deserved to conquer ; and, though their cause was
evil, their skill was great. Understanding the con-
ditions under which the game of politics was played
in their day, aware that it was hopeless to expect to
prevail by force of argument in a parliament which
had sold itself to the government, they had sought
to champion causes likely to be popular with the
country, and to appeal from an unrepresentative
house of commons to the nation at large. Caring
little for truth, only anxious to create a public opinion
antagonistic to the administration, they used the
press to spread their own opinions and to misrepresent
those of the ministers. They succeeded in working
the country up into a frenzied state of excitement over
the excise bill which was represented as an insidious
attack upon the cherished liberties of Englishmen,
and they did not a little to spread the cry for war
with Spain throughout the land. For so doing they
26 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
may, indeed, be justly blamed, but it would be unfair
to deny that they were wise in their generation.
If they can be accused of being regardless of the true
interests of the country, and of playing, for their own
selfish purposes, upon the ignorance of the mob, they
at least paid homage to the force of public opinion,
and encouraged the belief that the nation is the ultimate
court of appeal. They saw that when popular excite-
ment ran high and the conviction spread that the
ministers were guilty of inefficiency, if not of something
worse, the political system of the day, based as it was
on the maxim that all men were to be bought, was
apt to suffer a complete collapse. Members of parlia-
ment, for once with the fear of their constituents before
their eyes, would refuse to sell their votes to an un-
popular government, and the opposition party, with
an infuriated country behind it, would rise at a bound
from insignificance to power. Public opinion was a
rare and intermittent force in the politics of the eigh-
teenth century, but its existence is testified by the
fall of Walpole in 1742, and Newcastle's similar fate
fourteen years later.
It may well be asked why public opinion did not
come to the aid of the whigs in their contest with
George III., for it would be generally admitted that
they were far more deserving of such assistance than
Walpole's opponents. It is certain that, in the early
years of the reign at least, they advocated a policy
more in accordance with the wishes of the people than
the measures pursued by the king and his advisers.
The peace, which they opposed, was intensely disliked
by the populace who believed that a golden opportunity
had been missed of crushing for ever England's tra-
ditional enemy ; and Wilkes, whom the opposition
vainly sought to defend against the animosity of
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 27
George III. and Grenville, was the object of a popular
admiration which he was too adroit not to use and too
clever not to despise. Moreover, the cyder tax
threatened to rival the excise bill in the outcry which
it evoked ; and yet, in spite of these many advantages,
Newcastle and his friends signally failed to win the
country to their side. The applause and affection
of the people were given, not to them, but to William
Pitt who consistently declined to throw in his lot with
the party, with which he had much in common, and
which sorely needed his help.
Few statesmen have stood higher in popular favour
than William Pitt at the accession of George III. ;
and that he fully deserved the almost unique position
he had won in the affections of his people is shown
by the agreement between the judgment of con-
temporaries and the verdict of history. That shrewd,
if cynical, critic of mankind, Frederick the Great, is
reported to have said that England had been long in
travail but had at last brought forth a man ; and the
remark aptly sums up the impression created by the
appearance of Pitt upon the stage of European and
domestic politics. In an age when public life was
marred by rapacity and self-seeking, when ideals had
vanished, and enthusiasm was decried, Pitt arose to
breathe a new spirit into a nation dying of inanition.
His greatest achievement was not the conquest of the
new world, but the regeneration of England from a
cynical indifference to every true and inspiring im-
pulse. He has been well termed the Wesley of the
political world, and if his burning sense of patriotism,
more akin to ancient than to modern times, was
sometimes tinged with the spirit of conquest, if he
was often overbearing towards his colleagues, and
lacking in sympathy for those who were not in entire
28 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
agreement with him, these faults may be forgiven to
one who did so much for the country whose interests
he always had at heart. At the moment of peril,
when England, just entering upon a war with France,
seemed likely to succumb to her ancient enemy, Pitt,
taking upon himself the burden of government, in-
fused an energy and zeal into the administration,
astonishing to a people who had come to expect any-
thing of its rulers except enthusiasm and efficiency.
Brooking no opposition, dominating alike the cabinet
and the house of commons, and intent upon the
overthrow of that Bourbon power which barred the
road to English supremacy in the New World and
the East, Pitt, by the activity and enterprise with
which he carried on a world-waged conflict, gained for
himself the admiration of every English patriot and
<for his country the envy of Europe. Canada was con-
quered, the French power in India overthrown, and
news of English successes were coming from all quarters
of the world when George III. ascended the throne.
Every fresh battle won, and every new piece of ter-
ritory acquired for the English crown, served to swell
the reputation of the great commoner, as Pitt was
affectionately styled. He had once proudly boasted
that he alone could save the country, and he had more
than fulfilled the pledge ; and the nation, grateful for
what he had done, and regarding him as the only
statesman worthy to be entrusted "with the national
destinies, placed him upon a pedestal, and fell down
and worshipped him.
It was impossible that such a man, legitimately
proud of the success he had achieved, and strong in
the support of the people, should find it easy to work
in harmony with a young king determined to play
an active part in politics ; and George III. had not
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 29
been a year upon the throne when Pitt was driven
into resignation. Great was the shock of his fall to
the nation, convinced that he was the only statesman
worthy of a place in the cabinet ; and in the city,
the stronghold of Pitt's influence, the storm ran high
against the court. It was in vain that the king sought
to appease the national indignation and discredit the
national hero, by conferring a pension upon Pitt and
a peerage upon his wife. Though the unworthy trick
had a temporary success, a few words from the fallen
statesman sufficed to still the tempest which was
rising against him, and to re-establish the people in
their idolatry. Though out of office, he was more
powerful than any minister ; and, if he had chosen to
go into opposition, the early years of the reign of
George III. might have been a record of the king's
failure instead of his success. Few men have been
more favourably placed for leading a parliamentary
attack : and what had been done by Carteret and
Pulteney against Walpole, might have been effected
far more easily by Pitt against Bute and Grenville.
It would have been vain for the ministers to promise
offices and dispense bribes if the great commoner
had been leading the forces against them ; and, with
the keen eye of an experienced party manager, New-
castle read the political situation aright. No sooner
had the duke declared himself an enemy of the court,
than he perceived the necessity of enlisting the services
of Pitt at all cost. Led by the most popular statesman
of the day, the Rockingham Whigs could not be de-
nounced as an aristocratic clique ; but, if he stood
aloof, there was scant hope that their efforts would
receive the approval of the nation. And there was
much to induce Pitt to throw in his lot with the men
who were so anxious to salute him as their leader.
30 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Like them he believed that Bute was intellectually
unfit for high office in the state, and he never ceased
to denounce that peace with France, which they had
been so cruelly punished for opposing. It is true that
on certain questions there was not complete agreement
between him and Newcastle's followers, but the differ-
ence of opinion was certainly not so great as to render
an alliance impossible. And yet, in spite of a harmony
of ideas, greater than that which often prevails in a
modern cabinet, Pitt, during these critical years,
when the necessity of strengthening the attack upon
the government was so urgent, claimed the liberty
of a free lance, and resolutely declined to place himself
at the head of the opposition party. Though at times
when the parliamentary contest ran high, when vital
constitutional questions, such as the use of general
warrants, were under discussion, Pitt, excited by the
lust of battle, would talk as though he had thrown his
scruples to the wind, and was prepared to enrol himself
as a regular member of the opposition, it was never
long before he resumed his independent attitude,
and blasted the hopes which his utterances had raised.
By the autumn of 1764 it had become abundantly
clear that he was not to be won, and even Newcastle,
who had laboured more strenuously than any other
member of the party to gain the indispensable ally,
abandoned the quest as hopeless.
For his conduct during this period Pitt cannot
escape censure. He stands convicted of having
mis-read the signs of the time, and must be judged
accordingly ; but, though mistaken, his policy was
not influenced by sordid or ignoble motives. It was
not the fear of losing his pension, as Newcastle and
Devonshire uncharitably believed, 1 nor any personal
1 Add. MS., 32946, f. 317, f. 329.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 31
dislike of Newcastle, that deterred him from going
into opposition, but a fundamental difference of
constitutional opinion. The Rockingham whigs were
the foremost champions of the party system so fiercely
attacked by the court, and it was on this point that
Pitt was in complete disagreement with them. Though
he had begun his political career as a reckless partisan,
having been one of the foremost and most violent of
Walpole's opponents, he had come to think of his
earlier conduct with sorrow and regret, and to regard
the party system as detrimental to the interests of the
nation. That ministers should be selected for the
opinions they professed rather than for their ability
to rule, and that the crown, in its choice of advisers,
should be limited to the party which had a majority
in the lower house, now appeared to him to be the
negation of good government, and to place the com-
paratively trivial interests of a faction above the
welfare of the state. It was never his wish that the
will of the king should override that of the nation,
but, believing the test of good administration to be
efficiency, he desired that ministers should be chosen
irrespective of their political connections, and frankly
avowed that he would proscribe no man, whether whig
or tory, whom he thought likely to prove an able
ruler. " Men not measures " became his watchword,
and the destruction of the party system his goal ;
and thus a wide and unbridgeable gulf separated him
from those who, with equal sincerity, believed that
the party system was something more than a worth-
less relic of an age of faction, and that a disunited
administration would be unlikely to exercise much
influence in parliament or resist the pressure of a
court.
It would be grossly unfair to dismiss Pitt's opinions
St LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
as idle and fanciful. Experience has shown that the
system of party government, even as it is understood
at the present day, is not free from serious and obvious
defects, and the idea of making administrative capacity
the only qualification for admission into office, has
always proved irresistibly attractive to a certain type
of mind. Statesmen, who are emphatically men of
action, who are zealous for the promotion of good
government, and desire to get things done, are natur-
ally impatient of an arrangement by which men, in every
way qualified, are excluded from office and second-
rate politicians often entrusted with duties which
they are incapable of discharging. Moreover, party
government in the eighteenth century was open to
even more serious objections, for a system, which
practically restricted admission into the cabinet to
the members of a few noble families, was hardly to be
discriminated from government by an aristocracy.
Few would deny that under the first two Hanoverian
kings there was a real danger that the place of the
monarchy would be taken by an oligarchy ; and, if
Pitt had voiced his protest then, his appeal, though
it might have fallen upon deaf ears, would have re-
dounded to his political wisdom. But he was belated
in his attack, and at the time he chose to repudiate
the party system, the evil to be feared was, not the
usurpation of oligarchy, but the restoration of the
personal power of the crown. Without the organisation
which the party system alone could give, the unre-
formed house of commons lay at the mercy of the
occupant of the throne ; and, while Pitt believed
himself to be preparing the way for sound administra-
tion, he was really undermining a bulwark against
arbitrary power. The Rockingham Whigs, mistaken
as they may have been in much, were at least fighting
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 33
for a constitutional principle of great practical im-
portance in their day, whereas Pitt, seduced by a train
of reasoning which, whatever abstract validity it may
have possessed, was out of place in the actual con-
ditions of affairs, embraced the cause of the court,
and tilted against a danger which had ceased to exist.
It is true that Pitt and the king sought to obtain
different ends, the former being desirous of ministerial
efficiency, and the latter of ministerial servitude ; but
the means they adopted were identical, both being the
declared enemies of the party system ; and, widely as
they differed, time was to bring about their union.
Six years, however, elapsed before this unhappy
and disastrous alliance was concluded. For some
time George III. lived in fear that he might have to
face a coalition between Newcastle and Pitt ; and it
was not until June, 1765, that he fully grasped the
political situation, and understood how groundless
had been his anxiety. But, if slow to understand, he
was quick to act, seeing how much would be gained if
the most renowned and popular statesman of the day
could be persuaded to enter the royal service. Pitt,
as a minister, could hardly fail to reflect much credit
upon the king who, having incurred no small odium
by the promotion of Bute and the prosecution of
Wilkes, might hope, by an alliance with the national
hero, to acquire the trust of the nation. A speedy
and decisive triumph might then be anticipated over
the whig oligarchy which was attempting to enslave
the monarchy ; and, strong in the support of the nation,
the king and the minister would be in a position to
wage effective war upon the already discredited party
system, and confer the blessing of good government
upon a grateful people.
It was an attractive programme, and George III.
34 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
was not reluctant to rid himself of Grenville whom
he had long found intolerable, and only endured lest
by a change he might bring greater evils upon him-
self. For a time he wandered in the dark, carrying
on negotiations with the Rockingham whigs and Pitt,
whom he believed to be allies ; but his mistakes were
not unprofitable, inasmuch as they enlightened him
as to the actual political situation. Thus, in May,
1765, ignorant of the fundamental change which had
come about in Pitt's opinions, he began a negotiation
with that statesman and the Rockingham party ; and,
although he failed to attain his end, he acquired in-
formation which was not without influence upon his
future conduct. The negotiation was brought to an
abrupt conclusion by Pitt declining to take office, and,
probably, his refusal was dictated by an unwillingness
to take his place at the head of an administration
which, composed as it would be of the Rockingham
whigs, would stand for that very party system which
he had so definitely determined to destroy. This
interpretation of Pitt's conduct is, at least, supported
by the action of the king who, in the following month,
made direct overtures to him, leaving Newcastle and
his followers to fare as best they might. It is true
that this negotiation was no more successful than that
which had preceded it, but the responsibility for
failure rests this time, not upon Pitt, but upon his
brother-in-law, Lord Temple. Though influential by
reason of his great wealth, and of an active and in-
triguing disposition, Temple was of little real import-
ance in the political world, and would have played an
even more insignificant role, had he not participated
to a certain extent in the lustre surrounding the great
commoner ; and no little astonishment was caused
by Pitt refusing to form a ministry because Temple
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 35
declined the treasury. It is extremely unlikely that
he exaggerated the value of Temple's services, or that
he was guilty of misplaced chivalry, sacrificing the
country in the cause of private friendship ; and it
is more reasonable to suppose that he needed Temple,
not for what he might do, but for what he might avert.
Fearing that the treasury, which his brother-in-law
had refused, might fall into the hands of Newcastle,
or some other member of that party, Pitt preferred to
continue to eat the bread of idleness, rather than
play a part in a ministry controlled by politicians with
whom he had ceased to be in sympathy. He had
staked everything upon Temple's willingness to take
office, and, when that failed him, he had no resource
but to confess himself defeated. He was the victim
of a principle, not of a political necessity.
The country might indeed suffer from Pitt's action,
but, for the time being, the king was in the worse
predicament. It was impossible for him to return to
George Grenville, humble and contrite ; for, when on
previous occasions the king had struck for freedom,
and failed to gain it, that ungenerous minister had
displayed a tendency to chastise rather than pardon
the repentant sinner ; and the punishment would be
likely to be increased with the repetition of the offence.
Feeling that he had sinned too deeply to be forgiven,
George III., pursuing the only safe course, put his
pride in his pocket, and began a negotiation with the
whig opposition, which resulted in the formation
of the first Rockingham ministry in July, 1765. But,
though the personal pride of the sovereign had been
affronted, it would be a serious mistake to imagine
that the whigs received office as the reward of victory.
They conquered by their weakness not \by their
strength; and both in its origin and in its ultimate
36 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
fate, the Rockingham administration bore eloquent
testimony to the influence of the crown. Few
cabinets have contained a larger proportion of states-
men genuinely anxious to promote the interests of
their country, and their efforts were certainly not
entirely fruitless. The stamp act, imposed upon
the American colonies by Grenville, was repealed, the
obnoxious cyder tax was abolished, and general
warrants definitely declared to be illegal ; and, after
the fall of the administration, Burke, in a famous
pamphlet, proclaimed the great and lasting benefits
it had conferred upon the country. The boast was
legitimate, but, in a measure, beside the point ; for,
when all allowances are made, it remains true that
the ministers had failed in their first and greatest duty,
that of keeping themselves in power. When they
fell, after having been a year in office, the catastrophe
was not due to any sudden assault or subterraneous
court intrigue, but to their own inherent weakness.
As the months passed by, it became abundantly clear
that Rockingham and his colleagues were engaged
upon a possibly heroic, but a certainly hopeless, under-
taking : and when, shortly before the end came, a
rumour was spread that the ministers had been dis-
missed, Lord Albemarle, one of the most active of
their supporters, rejoiced to hear that his friends had
been relieved from an impossible situation. 1 The king
had originally taken them into his service because he
knew that they had reached the nadir of their fortunes,
and could never hope to prevail against him ; and he
had judged aright. Unable to command a majority
in the lower house without the placemen who would
only lend their support as long as the ministers did
what was pleasing to the king, and not daring to
1 Add. MS., 32975, f. 414.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 37
appeal to the country at a general election unless
allowed to use the royal influence on their own behalf, 1
the ministers existed on sufferance ; and when George
III. withdrew his favour, declining to create peers at
their bidding, or to dismiss placemen who voted against
them, 2 their fount of life ran dry.
Yet too much stress should not be laid upon the
king's hostility, for it is very generally allowed that
the ministry was not so constituted as to inspire con-
fidence, or to ensure a lengthy tenure of power. The
Marquis of Rockingham, who occupied the office of
first lord of the treasury, was, at this time, compara-
tively little known in the political world, and was by
no means adapted for a task which might have taxed
the resources of the greatest statesman ; and, though
it is possible that he received invaluable assistance
from his secretary, Edmund Burke, it may be doubted
whether the genius of the servant compensated for the
inexperience of the master. 3 Nor was the Duke of
Grafton, the secretary of state for the northern de-
partment, likely to supply his leader's deficiencies.
He had all Rockingham's inexperience, and, moreover,
was but half-hearted in his allegiance to the cause
he professed to support. Youthful and impression-
able, he had been smitten with an admiration for Pitt,
which cast a chill over his earlier enthusiasm for the
whig party ; and he had only joined the administra-
tion on the understanding that his hero should be
1 Add. MS., 32969, ff. 390, 392.
2 Grenville Papers, 3, 253-255 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 1, 347.
8 " The king surely intends," wrote the second Lord Hardwicke to his
brother, Charles Yorke, " to put himself entirely into Mr Pitt's hands, and he
as surely means to break up the present administration. If he makes a
better, I for one shall not be sorry for it, for I have long had my doubts
about the sufficiency of the present, and with all the private regard and
friendship which I have for the noble marquis, 1 have seen the burden too
•weighty for his shoulders, both in council and parliament." Add. MS., 35362,
i. 10.
38 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
allowed to enter it whenever, and in whatever capacity 7
he liked. Undoubtedly the most experienced member
of the cabinet was the Duke of Newcastle who, in
accordance with a pledge he had given never to hold
high office again, took the subordinate post of lord
privy seal; but he was now. an old man, beginning
to be a victim to the infirmities of age ; and though
his advice was often good, as for instance when he
took objection to the declaratory act which asserted
the right of parliament to tax the American colonies,
he failed to exercise much influence over his colleagues,
many of whom, having been boys at school when he
was managing the affairs of the country, treated his
suggestions as the offsprings of senile decay. When,
moreover, it is remembered that, besides the defects
incidental to what Newcastle rather bitterly described
as "an administration of boys," * there were members
of the ministry, such as Northington, the lord chan-
cellor, and Barrington, the secretary at war, who
were frankly out of sympathy with the constitutional
ideals of the majority of their colleagues, and firm
believers in the extension of the royal authority, the
whigs may well be charged with having embarked
upon a hopeless enterprise, to which there could be
no other issue but disaster.
Plausible as the accusation appears, it would yet
be unfair, omitting as it does certain important factors
in a very involved situation. Strange as it may seem,
the Rockingham whigs had a reasonable hope of
success when they consented to take office under the
crown. It is true that they had offended the king
by their attack upon the peace with France and their
defence of Wilkes ; but they might fairly hope that
they had washed away their guilt, and earned his
1 Add. MSS., 32976, f. 325.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 39
gratitude, by coming to his assistance in the hour of
his danger, and rescuing him from the clutches of
George Grenville. Nor was it only the shadowy
hope of establishing a claim upon the royal favour
that induced them to set out on what they knew to
be a stormy sea. Fully realising their own weakness,
they trusted that, once in office, Pitt would come to
their aid, and place himself at their head. Upon him
rested all their hopes for the future, and they knew
that, if he elected to remain in retirement, they could
not avert disaster. Only if he was included in the
administration could they expect to acquire the con-
fidence of the nation, and thus secure a surer founda-
tion for their authority than the fickle favour of a
court ; and it is to their credit that they strained
every nerve to induce him to accept a place in the
cabinet. They sought to gain his approval by pro-
moting his friend, Lord Chief Justice Pratt, to the
peerage by the title of Lord Camden, and by begin-
ning a negotiation for an alliance with Frederick the
Great, the loss of whose friendship he had never
ceased to deplore ; but they discovered to their
chagrin that the indispensable ally was not to be
won. There is no reason to believe that Pitt's dis-
inclination was due to a reluctance to play an active
part in politics ; for there is ample evidence to show
that he was ready, and even anxious, to resume the
burden of office, and take upon himself the cares of
state. He was wont to enlarge upon the dangers
threatening the country, discontented at home and
isolated abroad ; but, though he believed the national
danger to be great, he refused to enter into an alliance
or sit in the same cabinet with the champions of the
party system. That difference of principle, which
had prevented him from co-operating with the
40 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Rockingham whigs when they had been in opposition,
precluded him from throwing in his lot with them
when they were in power ; and, on the several
occasions that he was approached by the ministers
for his assistance, he always stipulated for the com-
plete reconstitution of the existing administration.
He made it perfectly clear that it must be his ministry,
not the Duke of Newcastle's or Lord Rockingham's.
The cabinet must be remodelled and transformed ;
and the ministers can hardly be blamed for refusing
even Pitt's assistance, necessary as it was, upon such
terms. They had come into office pledged to uphold
the principles of party government, and they would
have sacrificed their convictions, and betrayed the
trust of their followers, if they had agreed to such
conditions. It is to their credit, both as men and
statesmen, that they preferred to perish in the hopeless
pursuit of victory, rather than purchase security at
the price of dishonour ; and no shame attaches to their
defeat. They had fought for principles, not for
places, and the battle was well worth righting, even
though it ended in a rout.
For the rout was inevitable, and, by the beginning
of July, 1766, the Rockingham ministry was tottering
to its fall. The Duke of Grafton, offended that Pitt
had not been permitted to come into office on his
own terms, had resigned the secretaryship of state
in the previous April, his place being taken by the
Duke of Richmond, an appointment which was diffi-
cult of justification unless, as Lord Buckinghamshire
affected to believe, the ministers were determined
always to have a secretary of state of the race of
Charles II. 1 The king disapproved of Richmond's
1 Add. MS., 22358, f. 35. Both Grafton and Richmond were descended
from illegitimate children of Charles II.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 41
promotion which he complained had been forced upon
him by Rockingham ; and it was in the last degree
improbable that the new minister would add to the
prestige of the administration. Moreover, it was re-
ported that the members of the cabinet were divided
amongst themselves, that Conway, the secretary of
state for the southern department, was constantly
opposing Newcastle and Rockingham ; J and although
it is possible that these tales were unfounded, originat-
ing in the malice of the enemies of the ministry, they
were readily enough believed, and illustrate the popular
reputation which the ill-fated administration enjoyed.
Thus it might be fairly urged that the king was called
upon, in the interests of the nation as well as in his
own, to dismiss his advisers ; and George III. was
now eager to act upon such advice. He had, indeed,
ample cause for self-congratulation, for out of the
storm and stress of circumstance he had issued
triumphant. What might be styled the rump of the
old whig oligarchy had proved itself as ineffective in
office as it had in opposition ; and the greatest states-
man of the day had declared himself the enemy of the
party system, and in political sympathy with the crown.
Thus an opportunity was granted to the king, which, if
missed, might never recur. The battle over the royal
authority had begun on the death of George II., and
the time had now come to make the final charge
which would complete the overthrow of the enemy.
It was at the end of June that the ministry suffered
the blow which was to be the cause of death. When
the ministers assembled at Northington's house to
discuss a plan for the government of the recently
acquired possession of Canada, the lord chancellor
declined to proceed with the business in hand, com-
1 Grenville Papers, 3, 255-258.
42 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
plained with some asperity of the treatment he had
received, and ominously remarked that he proposed
to discontinue his attendance at cabinet meetings. 1
It is extremely unlikely that this declaration was
unconsidered, or evoked by a sudden gust of passion.
Northington must have long been weary of a govern-
ment which he disliked for its opinions and despised
for its weakness ; and, if his action had not been
previously concerted with the court, he was fully
aware how heartily it would be approved in that
quarter. Visiting his master on Sunday, July 6th,
he informed him that he did not intend to remain in
office ; and, when Rockingham entered the royal
closet after Northington had left, the king told him
that the chancellor's resignation was " a very im-
portant matter, and must make him consider very
seriously what must be done." 2 No further light
upon the royal designs was vouchsafed to the prime
minister ; and this want of confidence on the part of
the crown would not unreasonably have given birth
in most men to the gloomiest forebodings. But Rock-
ingham, who was naturally of a sanguine temperament,
preferred to look upon the brighter side, and declined
to believed that the chancellor's action was the first
move in a carefully prepared campaign. 3 Difficult as
it might be to fill up the vacancy, he hoped to weather
the storm which had thus suddenly arisen. At a
meeting of the leading members of the party, held at
Conway's house on July 9th, it was arranged that
Rockingham and Newcastle, accompanied by the two
1 Rockingham Memoirs, i, 350-355.
2 Add. MS., 32976, f. 19, f. 52 ; Grenville Papers, 3, 255-258.
3 In a letter to Newcastle, Rockingham remarked: " Indeed, his majesty's
manner was exceedingly gracious, but whether this transaction of the chan-
cellor's is on a plan, or a mere effect of passion, I can hardly determine. I
should think there is no plan ; a few days must show it." Add. MS., 32976
f. 19.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 43
secretaries of state, should seek an interview with the
king, in order to learn the line of conduct he intended
to pursue ; and, if it was found possible, gain his consent
to the appointment of Charles Yorke as Northington's
successor. 1
Much could be urged in favour of the promotion of
Yorke to the woolsack. The son of one of the most
distinguished judges who have ever presided over the
court of chancery, Yorke himself enjoyed a great
reputation in legal circles, and was well known to
cherish the ambition of becoming chancellor. More-
over, such a successor to Northington was not likely
to be unpleasing to the king, for Yorke, though on
intimate terms with the whig leaders, had never been,
save for a brief period, a member of the opposition
party, and had supported the court in the contention
that the arrest of Wilkes for seditious libel was not a
violation of parliamentary privilege. When the
Rockingham ministry was formed, Yorke, instead
of being created chancellor as he had naturally hoped,
was obliged to content himself with his old office of
attorney-general, but, in order to compensate him
for the disappointment which he might legitimately
feel, the king had promised him that he should be raised
to the woolsack within a twelvemonth. 2 The time had
now come for the pledge to be fulfilled ; but George III.
paid little heed to a promise which had been given
to meet a particular emergency, and which it was
now inconvenient to execute. When visited by his
1 " I found," wrote Newcastle, " that it was my Lord Rockingham's opinion
that, if this should appear to be no more than a flight in the chancellor, and
that the king would give the seals to Mr Yorke, and make some proper removals,
. . . that everything might go on with ease and success ; and that the additional
strength of having Mr Yorke chancellor, and in the house of lords, would
make a very great alteration in favor of the present administration." Add.
MS., 32976, f. 69.
•Add. MS., 35428, f. 1, f. 94.
44 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ministers he made no mention of appointing a suc-
cessor to Northington, and, though courteous and
affable, pronounced the death sentence upon the
administration by informing his hearers that he had
sent for Pitt. 1 The letter of summons had been
dispatched on July 7th, the day after Northington's
visit to court ; and Pitt was already on his way to
town. It was well known, both to the king and to
the ministers, that he was coming, not to strengthen,
but to destroy the existing government. Having
declared war upon a system, not upon individuals,
it was probable that he would retain in office some of
those who had served under Rockingham ; but the
men, whom he selected, might count upon finding
themselves associated with colleagues with whom
they were in fundamental disagreement. 2
In summoning Pitt, George III. claimed to have
acted upon Northington's advice ; 3 but what the
1 Add. MS., 32976, f. 52 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. yy.
2 In the letter summoning Pitt to town, the king remarked: " I cannot
conclude without expressing how entirely my ideas concerning the basis on
which a new administration should be erected, are consonant to the opinion
you gave on that subject in parliament a few days before you set out for
Somersetshire " (Chatham Correspondence, 2, 436). Newcastle mentions that
Pitt " will form his plan upon the declaration he has made ' to take the best
men without distinction of parties or connections,' that he will propose to keep
as many of the present ministers as he shall think will be attached to him ;
and particularly the Duke of Grafton and Mr Conway " (Newcastle's Narrative,
p. 81) ; and Horace Walpole, who was a good political prophet, remarked
that " the plan will probably be to pick and cull from all quarters, and break
all parties as much as possible." Walpole's Letters, 7, 12-13.
3 It is certain that Lord Camden was also consulted. In his letter to Pitt
Northington declares, " I have not uttered a word of this business but to Lord
Camden." George Onslow informed Newcastle that Camden had played a
part in this transaction, and when Newcastle handed on this information to
the Duke of Richmond, the latter replied : " Your Grace's information that
Lord Cambden (sic) and the chancellor negotiated this] affair is, I believe,
very true and very extraordinary, unless Lord Cambden is to be chancellor
and Lord Northington retires with a pension." It is interesting to notice
how accurately Richmond had gauged the situation. Add. MS., 32976, f. 65,
1. 67, f. 103, f. 107 ; Bedford Correspondence, 3, 340-341 ; Chatham Corre-
spondence, 2, 434-435.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 45
chancellor suggested was so completely in accord
with the royal inclinations, that no pressure could
have been necessary to induce the king to pursue a
policy which he could not but approve. He saw Pitt
for the first time on Saturday, July 12th, and probably
learnt from him the plan upon which he intended to
proceed. Though prepared to take the existing adminis-
tration as the foundation of his own, Pitt was deter-
mined to be governed in the selection of his colleagues,
not by their political connections or their constitu-
tional opinions, but by their ability for administration.
Efficiency was to be the hall-mark of the new cabinet,
and therefore Rockingham, of whom he had thought
poorly from the beginning, was to be replaced at the
treasury by Temple, and though Conway was to be
retained as secretary of state, the Duke of Richmond
was to be dismissed. 1 In such a programme there
was nothing which could give the king offence, and
much which he would find agreeable. No more effec-
tive means of breaking up the Rockingham party
could have been devised than the admission of some
of its members and the exclusion of others ; for, by
these means, dissension might be sown between men
whose union had been a menace to the authority of
the crown.
That Pitt had no use for Rockingham's services
is not surprising ; but that Temple should be chosen
to fill the vacant place is certainly not so easy of
explanation. Though connected with Pitt by mar-
riage, and by a friendship stretching back to the begin-
ning of their political careers, Temple could hardly lay
claim to any great administrative ability ; and his
1 Unfortunately no record survives of this interview, but, on the day
following it, Pitt informed Conway of the changes he proposed to make in
the administration, and it is improbable that he would have concealed from
the king what he revealed to his future secretary of state.
46 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
appointment, in any circumstances, to the first place
in the cabinet would evoke comment. Nor could it
be urged that Pitt was determined to have a first
lord of the treasury who was in the closest possible
agreement with him, for, as is well known, he and
Temple, were divided on the vexed question of the
taxation of the American colonies. Pitt had always
persistently asserted the illegality of Grenville's stamp
act, whereas Temple, not only justified that measure,
but was unsparing in his denunciations of the men
who, in order to acquire a momentary popularity,
were prepared to sacrifice the undoubted rights of the
mother country, and to give their sanction to re-
bellion. Yet, well aware as he was of his brother-in-
law's opinions, Pitt wished to see him at the treasury,
for, whatever Temple's faults might be, he had, at least,
the merit of not being identified with the Rockingham
whigs. He was intended to stand in the new ad-
ministration as a type of the change which had been
brought about ; and, effective as an emblem, his in-
fluence would not be such as to endanger Pitt's
supremacy. But such an offer can hardly be styled
attractive. Temple was to be condemned to acquiesce
in a colonial policy which he disapproved, to occupy
a position of dignity divorced from all power, and to
receive little or nothing in return for such material
concessions. It may be that he was given as much
as he deserved, but he had not a lowly estimate of
his own ability, and might well refuse to be fed
with the crumbs which fell from his brother-in-law's
table. 1
1 It is, of course, possible to contend that it was against Pitt's will, and in
accordance with the royal wish, that Temple was offered the treasury. George
III. could not but approve Temple's views on American taxation, and Conway
informed Newcastle that Pitt had said that " my Lord Temple was sent for
not by him, but insinuated by the king, as he was ; that is by my good lord
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 47
Temple arrived in London on the evening of Monday,
July 14th, knowing nothing of what had passed, save
that a negotiation for a new administration was pro-
ceeding, and that his services were required. He did
not come, however, to be treated as a pawn in the
game of his great kinsman, and it is not improbable
that he scented mischief from afar. On his way from
Stowe he had an interview with his brother, George
Grenville, with whom he was now on most intimate
terms ; and it was agreed between them that Gren-
ville's claims to a seat in the cabinet should not be
pressed. This was, undoubtedly, a most politic re-
nunciation, for it was improbable that Pitt would
consent to the inclusion in his administration of the
originator of the stamp act ; and, if the request was
made and refused, Temple might feel impelled by
loyalty to his brother to decline to take any part in
the government. 1 Nor was it only a desire to smooth
the way for Temple's acceptance that dictated Gren-
ville's self-denying policy. He might reasonably hope
that, with his brother at the treasury, the policy of
conciliating America would be abandoned, and the
colonists punished for their resistance to the stamp
act ; and thus, even if he remained excluded from
office, his exile would be sweetened by the triumph
of his opinions. Yet the ingenious device proved
unavailing, and Temple was not long in discovering
that he had journeyed to town in vain. An interview
with the king on July 15th, followed by one with
Pitt on the day after, left him fully determined to
chancellor, the amanuensis of the whole" (Newcastle's Narrative, p. 84).
This utterance, however, cannot be interpreted as meaning that Pitt was
opposed to the step ; and it must be remembered that, only a few months
before these events took place, Pitt had demanded the treasury for Temple.
1 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 340-341 ; Grenville Papers, 3, 376-377 ;
Chatham Correspondence, 2, 467-470.
48 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
refuse the offered terms. When he learnt that what
he contemptuously called " the rump of the last
ministry " was to form the foundation of the new, that
Conway, who had played so leading a part in the
repeal of the stamp act, was to continue as secretary
of state, that he was expected to work with men
with whom he profoundly disagreed, and that, while
as nominal leader he would be exposed to all the
attacks levied against the administration, he would
have little or no influence over the policy of the govern-
ment, he declined, to use his own trenchant expression,
" to come in like a child to go out like a fool." 1
In the past, Temple had often been guilty of fac-
tious conduct, but on this occasion he appears to have
been guided by a sound instinct, and to have acted
wisely. The mixed motives of men's actions are always
difficult to disentangle, and it would be the height
of rashness to assume that Temple was uninfluenced
by any jealousy of Pitt's predominance. Possibly
aggrieved that he had not been consulted earlier, and
as reluctant as Pitt to preside over a cabinet which
was not of his own nomination, he might well feel
that he had been treated as a subordinate rather than
an equal, and resent the assumption that he had no
choice but to follow in the wake of his powerful friend
and relation. The least captious of men are apt to
dislike the undue enforcement of unpleasant truths,
and Temple had never been ready to forgive an affront
to his pride. Yet it would be easy to place too evil a
construction upon his action at this crisis, and, if this
were the only blot upon his political career, he would
be deserving of more credit than is usually given him.
1 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 340-341 ; Grenville Papers, 3, 263-279,
376; Chatham's Correspondence, 2, 441, 442, 448, 467-470; Grafton's
Autobiography, 94-95 ; Add. MS., 32976, f. 161.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 49
Indeed, he could plead ample justification for his refusal
to come to Pitt's assistance. Though he disliked
the Rockingham whigs for their American policy, he
was in entire sympathy with them in their advocacy
of party government. Reared in the old political
school of the late king's reign, having won his spurs
as a member of a party, and fully appreciating the
strength which comes from union, he still adhered to
the creed which Pitt had discarded, and was not so
eager for office as to deny his faith. He preferred to
continue in opposition, rather than be obliged to work
with colleagues from whom he differed on most of the
important questions of the day ; and it is not easy
to see where he erred, unless it be a crime to practise
what has been called " the doubtful virtue of con-
sistency."
His contemporaries, however, worried little about
the morality of his action, being far more interested
to discover whether Pitt would consent to form a
ministry without him. Judging from what had
happened only a year before, it might seem that Pitt
was once more to be baffled in the attempt to come
to the rescue of the country ; but, if Temple had
counted upon history repeating itself, he was doomed
to be disappointed. In the previous year his aid
had been essential to the success of Pitt's scheme,
for, unless he accepted the treasury, that office would
fall into the hands of a member of the Rockingham
party, who would be certain to introduce into the
ministry the poison of the party system ; but, by the
July of 1766, Temple had ceased to be indispensable,
having a rival in the Duke of Grafton who, if he had not
entirely broken with the Rockingham whigs, had at least
resigned his place in their administration in order to
place himself at Pitt's disposal. Freed from the fetters
D
50 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of the party system, Grafton was eligible for the office
which Temple had declined ; and it was to him that
Pitt turned for assistance. The young duke had
indeed few and most imperfect qualifications for such
a post ; and, fully conscious of his own incapacity, he
was sincerely reluctant to undertake a task which he
could not perform : but he struggled in vain against
the fixed determination of the man he had chosen
as his political leader. With something perilously
approaching cruelty, Pitt told him that, if he refused
to take the treasury, he, himself, would decline to form
a ministry ; and thus driven between the horns of a
particularly cruel dilemma, compelled either to endure
the odium of forcing Pitt to continue out of office,
or undertake duties which he could not adequately
discharge, Grafton pursued the nobler, if not the wiser,
course, and accepted the treasury. Great as were
the evils which he was to bring upon the country, it
should always be remembered in his favour that, when
he found himself at the cross-roads of his destiny,
he knowingly sacrificed his own political reputation
to what he believed to be the good of the nation. 1
Having thus made sure of his ground by securing
the services of Grafton, Pitt addressed himself to the
task of forming a ministry, picking and choosing from
the various political camps of the day. He retained
Conway, undoubtedly one of the most efficient members
of the late government, as secretary of state, but
removed him from the southern to the northern de-
partment, possibly in order to restrict his patronage
which, it was feared, he might use to benefit his former
colleagues. The southern department, wrote the
Marquis of Rockingham, when he heard of the change,
t includes a great patronage, and would have been
1 Grafton's Autobiography, 90-91.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 51
of use to our friends, if it had been in a real friend's
hands." x Nor was this the only intimation given to
Conway that, though continued in office, he was
expected to adapt himself to new surroundings and
new companions ; and it could have been but with a
faint heart that he welcomed the appointment of Lord
Shelburne as his successor in the southern department.
Still a comparatively young man, Shelburne had begun
his political career as a supporter of Bute, and a bitter
opponent of the German war ; but, after the effacement
of the royal favourite, he had attached himself to Pitt,
and loudly proclaimed his hostility to the party system,
and his sympathy with America. When offered a
place in the Rockingham ministry, he had declined it,
declaring, like his leader, " men not measures " to be
the rule of his conduct : and thus it was only fitting
that he should be given a seat in an administration
which was intended to demonstrate the futility of the
party system. Nor was this, indeed, Shelburne's
only claim to high office. An accomplished debater,
and of a very high order of ability, he was one of the
most enlightened statesmen of his time, and seemed
destined to rise to political greatness. Yet the promise
of these early years was not to be fulfilled, and his
career was to be blasted by the reputation which he
earned for unparalleled treachery and deceit. Nick-
named " Malagrida " and " The Jesuit of Berkeley
Square," denounced by political friends and foes alike,
Shelburne was almost universally believed to be ad-
mirably adapted for playing the part of the traitor
in the camp. As early as 1763, Henry Fox had de-
nounced him asa" perfidious and infamous liar," and
Grenville, in whose ministry he had sat for a short
time, had found him intolerable as a colleague ; and
1 Add. MS., 32976, f. 253.
V
52 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
although, when Pitt selected him to be secretary of
state, Shelburne did not enjoy the full extent of the
evil fame which he was later to earn, he was only
too likely to prove an element of discord and dis-
agreement in the cabinet. That he was guilty of the
treachery and deceit, so freely attributed to him, it is
difficult to believe ; but a strained and artificial de-
meanour, an involved mode of speech, and a preference
for rather crooked ways, lent colour to the charge
which, however unfounded it may appear to us, was
almost universally believed by those who had ample
opportunities of forming an opinion. 1
Almost as much of a foregone conclusion as the
appointment of Shelburne to high office in the ad-
ministration, was the promotion of Lord Camden to
the woolsack. In addition to the claims of a friend-
ship dating back to days at school, Camden had won
Pitt's approval when, as chief justice of the common
pleas, he had ruled that parliamentary privilege
covered the offence of seditious libel, and that general
warrants were illegal ; and Pitt was determined that
this champion of the liberty of the subject and the
independence of parliament should be made lord
chancellor at the earliest opportunity. This resolution
had done not a little to embitter Pitt's relations with
the Rockingham whigs who had pressed the claims
of Charles Yorke ; but, now that his friends had been
driven from office, Yorke was obliged to relinquish all
hope, for the time being, of following in his father's
footsteps ; and the only obstacle in the way of Camden's
promotion was Lord Northington who had been lord
chancellor from the first year of the reign. Attached
to the emoluments of his office, and never allowing his
1 For an interesting discussion of Shelburne' s character, see Lecky's History
of England (Cabinet edition), v. 132-139.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 53
judicial duties to encroach upon the hours which he
reserved for his pleasures, 1 Northington might natur-
ally feel reluctant to resign his place, unless assured
of a comfortable and easy retreat ; and it is extremely
unlikely that he would have advised the king to send
for Pitt, unless he had been prepared to make way for
Camden on the woolsack, and confident that he would
be rewarded for so doing. Northington was not a
politician to take a leap in the dark, and he issued in
triumph from the transformation of the ministry.
Lord Camden became chancellor, but Northington
continued in the cabinet as lord president of the
council, the salary of that office being considerably
augmented in order to render it attractive to the ex-
chancellor who was further gratified by the promise
of a pension and the reversion of a sinecure.
Thus the promotion of Camden, upon which Pitt
had set his heart, was rendered unexpectedly easy
by Northington's adaptability ; and the remaining
places in the cabinet were filled without much diffi-
culty. The Marquis of Granby, who had been master
of ordnance under Rockingham, was made commander
in chief, and Lord Egmont continued as first lord
of the admiralty. William Dowdeswell, however,
Rockingham's chancellor of the exchequer, whom
Pitt despised as a mediocrity, was not allowed to
remain in office, his place being taken by Charles
Townshend ; and the change was not entirely for the
better. Though by no means a brilliant, Dowdeswell
was not an inefficient administrator ; and it would
have been well for the country if he had been permitted
1 There is a story, the truth of which is not above suspicion, that North-
ington asked the king's permission to discontinue the evening sittings of the
court of chancery because he was always drunk by that time of the day.
A more moderate version of the anecdote represents him as urging that an
evening sitting prevented him from sitting over his port after dinner.
54 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to continue to serve it. Steady persistence and even
dulness are sometimes of greater value than intellectual
brilliance divorced from character ; and, in spite of his
undoubted ability, it must be admitted that Town-
shend was not worthy of a high place in any administra-
tion. A ready and accomplished debater, with a great
reputation for wit in an age critical of such matters,
Townshend was cursed by defects which rendered
barren his many great gifts. Lacking in stability of
purpose, without settled convictions, and always
treating life as a game of chance, he never rose
above the level of a brilliant political adventurer ;
and neither the charm of his conversation nor the
ingenuity of his mind can be pleaded in defence of
his many and serious political failings. He was too
often inclined, we are told by a contemporary, to
play the part of harlequin ; 1 and, though eagerly
sought after as a companion, he was treated with
scant respect as a politician. But for his promotion
to be chancellor of the exchequer, it was Grafton,
and not Pitt, who was to blame; for the latter only
consented with unfeigned reluctance to an appoint-
ment which he never approved. 2 In order to mitigate,
as much as possible, the evil which Townshend might
work, Pitt insisted that he should not be admitted
into the inner cabinet ; but even this most salutary
restriction was removed in a few weeks, and the
most volatile of statesmen joined that small circle of
ministers who really ruled the country. 3
Such were the leading members of the administra-
1 Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report, Appendix, Part ix. 340.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, 92.
3 Lord Egmont reported that Townshend was vexed and disappointed at
his exclusion from the cabinet, and, on learning the rumour, John Yorke,
a younger brother of Lord Hardwicke, remarked, " I don't much wonder at it,
for he was of the cabinet when first commissioner of trade, and Dowdeswell
was so when chancellor of exchequer." Add. MS., 35374, f. 305.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 55
tion which Burke aptly compared to a piece of un-
cemented tessellated pavement, and it is impossible
to quarrel with the description. If Pitt cannot be
accused of going into the highways and hedges for his
ministers, he may, at least, be said to have drawn them
from very opposite and different quarters ; and nearly
every possible political opinion was represented in
his cabinet. Thus, though Conway and Shelburne
agreed on the American question, they had little else
in common ; and both Pitt and Camden were opposed
to the declaratory act which Conway had supported.
The Marquis of Granby had voted against the repeal
of the stamp act, and if Charles Townshend had
voted for the repeal, 1 he had also supported the measure
when it had first been introduced by George Grenville.
Moreover, Lord Egmont, the first lord of the ad-
miralty, was well known to be antagonistic to the
project of an alliance with Russia and Prussia, which
Pitt warmly favoured ; and no reliance could be placed
upon a political adventurer like Northington, devoid
of convictions and unburdened with scruples, who
would support the administration as long as it suited
his purpose, but no longer. Thus, in accordance with
his determination to destroy the party system, and
draw into the service of the crown the ablest politicians
of the day, Pitt had purposely constructed an ad-
ministration which represented everything except an
unanimous opinion. It was an experiment of no little
daring, and, though its success would reflect great
glory upon the man who had dared so much, its failure
might well cause it to be conceived as the whim of a
madman's brain. Yet there is no evidence that Pitt
feared disaster. He, apparently, had no misgivings
as to the future, no fear that the team, he had under-
1 Add. MSS., 35436, f. 31.
56 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
taken to drive, might prove too unruly to be controlled.
He was confident that, with the royal support, he would
prevail in the cabinet and parliament alike, and nothing
is more striking than his complete assurance of having
secured the favour of the crown. A few weeks after
he had taken office, he informed a friend that he " had
the king's entire confidence ; and that he had not the
least doubt or suspicion that he should lose it ; that
he depended so much upon it, that he should go for
six weeks to Bath for his health, to return by the
meeting of parliament, the beginning of November ;
that he should leave those ministers with the king
whom he could entirely trust ; that his majesty had
such confidence in him that he could propose nothing
that his majesty did not immediately agree to ; and
that no private gentleman could talk more properly
upon all subjects than the king did. That he was
very sensible of the run there was against him ; but
that did not affect him, nor should alter his conduct ;
that if his majesty was pleased ... to continue
his confidence to him, he would never desert the king,
but support him in all events, broke and old as he
was ; that he has not the least doubt of success ; and
that his administration would be a permanent one." x
These were strange words in the mouth of one
accustomed in the past to look rather to the nation
than to the court as the source of his power ; but to
use them in order to prove Pitt guilty of being a time-
server, of having descended into the role of a palace
favourite, would be a gross and malicious perversion
of the truth. He was as eager as he had ever been
for the glory and greatness of England ; but, whereas
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 41. This is taken from an account of the conversa-
tion given by a third person to Newcastle ; but there seems no reason to
doubt its substantial accuracy.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 57
when he had pursued this end in the past, he had been
obliged to stoop to an alliance with Newcastle, in order
to acquire the support of the house of commons, he
now sought assistance from the crown. Confident
of the royal favour, and still the idol of the popular
adoration, Pitt might well regard his position as
impregnable, and anticipate a speedy triumph over
his enemies both at home and abroad. It was, perhaps,
this complete faith in the security of the foundation
of his power, that encouraged him to take a step which
produced something like a panic amongst his fol-
lowers. In failing health, and unequal to the strain
of a great administrative office, he determined to
occupy the comparatively unimportant post of lord
privy seal, and to such an arrangement there could be
little objection. His influence in the ministry would
be quite independent of the office he held, and the
necessity of exercising a general supervision might be
pleaded in favour of an unusual expedient. But,
unfortunately for his popularity, and to the amaze-
ment of his colleagues, he decided to enter the upper
house as Earl of Chatham. 1 That in so doing he was
guilty of a serious tactical blunder admits of no denial.
It is true that he was probably unequal to the lengthy
and fatiguing debates of the house of commons, and
was not unlikely to be often prevented by ill-health
from attending parliament ; but the populace is
governed by imagination more than by reason, and the
affection, which had been lavished upon William Pitt,
was withheld from the Earl of Chatham. He had
acquired the trust and confidence of the nation because
he was universally believed to be supremely indifferent
to those prizes of political life, which most men so
eagerly covet, and the outcry, which had been raised
1 Grafton's Autobiography, 97.
58 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
in 1 761, when he accepted a pension from the crown,
ought to have enlightened him as to the conditions
upon which he enjoyed the affection of the people.
Unreasonable as the clamour may have been, Pitt
selected a most inopportune moment for throwing
down the glove of defiance to the nation. In the very
hour when he needed all the popularity which he
enjoyed, he chose to squander it ; and his colleagues
might well be appalled when they heard the news.
It is not impossible that Temple was partly influenced
to decline a place in the ministry by the knowledge
that Pitt was about to become a member of the upper
house ; and, if this is so, it redounds to his political
wisdom. 1 Few men have been more deserving of a
peerage than Pitt, but few men have purchased it at
a higher rate. He earned it by the many distinguished
services which he had rendered to the country, but
he paid for it by the loss of the popular affection. 2
Thus the preliminaries were finished, and every-
thing prepared for the crusade aimed at the destruc-
tion of the party system, and the establishment of the
royal authority. Though Pitt, by an act of folly, had
1 It is by no means certain that Temple actually knew that Pitt intended
to take a peerage ; but there is a significant passage in his letter to Grenville,
dated July 18th, in which he remarks, " Illuminations, city address, etc., all
preparing : whether any damp will be cast upon them I know not." Grenville
Papers, 3, 267.
2 In a letter to Lord Buckinghamshire, written in August 1766, Hans
Stanley remarked that " Though I have been much confined to my own home,
and my personal business, I have seen evident marks of the same unpopularity
in administration which you mention as prevailing in Norfolk. The cry about
the peerage will, I think, subside, for however unaccountable in point of
prudence that step may appear to me, it certainly is not a parallel case with
the Earl of Bath who deserted both his opinions and his friends. The fault
here has been of a contrary nature, men without merit or pretensions
preferred to the highest situations in this country, which I think will very
much weaken authority at home and credit abroad. . . . Upon the whole
I am thoroughly disgusted with all the late scenes of politics, and nothing
but that sentiment could have embarked me in my present undertaking.'"
Add. MS., 22359, f. 52.
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 59
thrown away the popularity which might have proved
so formidable a weapon in his hands, he still remained
a very dangerous antagonist ; and it was necessary
for the Rockingham whigs to look to their arms, and
prepare for the battle, soon to be fought in parliament.
It was open to them to go into headlong opposition,
and wage unceasing war against the ministers who
had displaced them ; but, though such a course was
possible, both its expediency and its chance of success
were open to question. On many of the questions
which would come before parliament, they were in
substantial agreement with Chatham ; and prolonged
and systematic antagonism would be difficult, unless
they were prepared to suffer the accusation of reckless
and factious opposition. Moreover, quite apart from
such a consideration, they could not hope to prevail
alone, outnumbered as they were by the supporters
of the court ; and, if they seriously intended to run
the administration close upon divisions, and possibly
outvote it, they must not flinch before an alliance
with the followers of the Duke of Bedford and the
adherents of George Grenville. But to such a union
there were, seemingly, insuperable and, certainly, serious
objections. The faction led by the Duke of Bedford
numbered some of the most rapacious and immoral
policitians of the day. Bedford, himself, if not a very
enlightened, was, at least, a respectable statesman ; but,
among his followers, Sandwich, Weymouth, and Rigby
enjoyed a most evil pre-eminence. While Rigby was
the most abandoned and brazen of place-hunters,
Sandwich startled an easy-going generation by the
immorality of his private life, and Lord Weymouth
was reported to divide his affections between play and
strong beer. But it was the public conduct rather
than the private vices of the leaders of the Bedford
60 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
party, which rendered it difficult for the Rockingham
whigs to coalesce with them. Sandwich had been
active in the attack upon Wilkes, and the Duke of
Bedford an important member of the administration
which had introduced the stamp act ; and thus,
unless Rockingham was prepared to abandon the
American colonists to their fate, an alliance with the
Bedford party would be attended by many diffi-
culties. A wider, and even more unbridgeable, gulf
separated him from George Grenville who viewed
with detestation and disgust the man whom he believed
to have sacrificed a principle to expediency ; and,
though the followers of Bedford might be driven by
their hunger for office to discard their convictions, and
come to a working agreement with the Rockingham
whigs, it was far less likely that the little band, which
had sworn allegiance to Grenville and his brother,
Lord Temple, would barter their opinions for places
in an administration led by Lord Rockingham. Thus
there was much to deter Rockingham from immediately
embarking upon a career of opposition ; and it is to
his credit that he declined to be a renegade to his
political creed, and to gain a temporary triumph by
forming a confederation which could be truly styled
factious.
Though opposition, however, might be out of the
question, Lord Rockingham and his followers were
not dispensed from the necessity of deciding upon a
plan of campaign. If they pursued a policy of drift,
of idly waiting upon events, they would certainly
encounter disaster. Their existence as a party was
openly threatened by Chatham who had sworn their
destruction ; and, if they were to be true to their
principles, it was their very life that they had to
defend. They sought to do so by securing as many
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 61
places as possible in the new administration, and by-
reducing the resignation of their friends to the smallest
possible number. 1 It was with the warm approval
of their former colleagues that both Grafton and
Conway accepted office under Chatham ; 2 and great
was the rejoicing in the whig camp when the news
was brought that Temple had declined to join the
ministry. Lord Rockingham declared himself " much
pleased, because I now think that the corps will be
kept together, which, indeed, I feared was doubtful
some hours ago " ; 3 and the Duke of Newcastle pro-
phesied that " Pitt must fling himself into us." 4
When Lord John Cavendish resigned his place at the
treasury, Rockingham regretted, and Newcastle ex-
cused, the action ; 5 and the Duke of Portland was told
that, if he left the administration, he would " ruin
all." 6 It was, of course, impossible that there should
not be some exceptions to this general rule, and Charles
Yorke, chagrined that he was not promoted to the
woolsack, declined to continue as attorney-general ; 7
but, for the most part, those members of the
1 Thus Burke writes, " I thought it was a settled point that none should
go out without the concurrence of the party." Burke's Correspondence, i , 106.
2 Newcastle's Narrative, 82-87. Newcastle wished Rockingham to remain
at the treasury, but this was obviously out of the question. Add. MS., 32976,
f- 173-
3 Add. MS., 32976, f. 161.
4 Add. MS., 32976, f. 173 ; see also f. 169.
5 Add. MS., 32976, f. 253, f. 255, f. 269.
8 Add. MS., 32976, f. 221.
7 The king was prepared to continue Yorke as attorney-general, but the
latter refused to remain in that office ; and his conduct was approved by Lord
Rockingham. " Your note of last night," wrote the marquis to him, " sur-
prized me much. I could hardly have believed that you should have been
desired to come to his majesty, and no other proposition made to you but
so unworthy a one as desiring you to continue attorney-general. ... If the
proposition had been chief justice with a peerage, I should have thought it
might require consideration. ... I am positively clear that you cannot stay
in the office of attorney-general, and that no sollicitation should weigh with
you to do it. . . . Don't by any persuasions accept the chief justiceship
without a peerage." Add. MS., 35430, f. 59.
62 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Rockingham party, whom Chatham was willing to
retain, continued to occupy the posts they had held
in the late administration.
It is not difficult to discern the motives which
inspired this policy. If Rockingham called upon
his followers to come into the wilderness of opposition,
there was a risk that he might put a greater strain
on their allegiance than it was capable of sustaining.
There could hardly fail to be many desertions, and
thus Chatham would be given a favourable opportunity
of breaking up the whig party by winning its adherents
with the bribe of office. It was to guard against this
danger that both Newcastle and Rockingham en-
couraged their friends to continue in the ministry ;
the new administration, as well as the old, must be
representative of the party system. There was no
idea of trailing the Rockingham banner in the dust,
of breaking up the organisation which had been so
laboriously achieved. There must be close and con-
stant communication between those members of the
party who continued in office, and those who had lost
their places. They must continue to act as a corps,
to work together for the attainment of a common end,
in the hope that the day would perhaps come when
Chatham, realising that he had undertaken more than
he could perform, would abandon his principle of
" men not measures," and conclude an alliance with
the Rockingham whigs. Thus the late ministers
hoped to achieve, by patient endurance and studied
moderation, more than they could have accomplished
by the most carefully designed attack. Chatham had
resolved to destroy the party system, and they were
determined to maintain it.
The issue of such a struggle could not fail to have
important consequences upon the development of the
FORMATION OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION 63
constitution. If Chatham succeeded in the fulfilment
of his hopes, the personal authority of the crown
would be firmly established, and the ideas promul-
gated by Bolingbroke realised in practice. The party
system, proved to be unnecessary, would pass away
and be forgotten, and the ministers of the sovereign
be freed from all allegiance, save to their master who
appointed them, and the law of the land. But before
this attempt to set back the hands of the clock, and
undo the work accomplished by the whigs under the
first two Georges, could be successful, the various
parliamentary parties, the Rockinghams, the Bedfords,
and the Grenvilles must be destroyed ; and thus upon
them fell the burden of maintaining the battle against
the court. Time was to show how worthy they were
of discharging such a responsible function.
CHAPTER II
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL
If it be heroism to set out upon a stormy and danger-
ous enterprise, in the full assurance of victory, and
oblivious to the possibility of failure, then at no time
of his life was Chatham more truly heroic than when
he began his unhappy crusade against the party
system. Ill and suffering, and confronted with a
task, the difficulties of which might have inspired a
lesser man with fear and a wiser man with caution,
he does not appear to have had any misgivings, any
anxiety for the future, confidently believing that,
whereas in the past he had saved his country from
her enemies abroad, so now he was destined to deliver
her from her foes at home. His self-appointed work
was to still factious strife and political discord, and to
restore England to that proud position among the
powers of Europe, to which he had formerly raised her.
Yet, glorious as the conception was, its execution was
far from easy, for Chatham could hardly count upon
his opponents abandoning the struggle, and laying down
their arms, directly he appeared in the field. Many
obstacles would have to be overcome, and many fierce
contests fought, before the political millennium, as
he conceived it, could be successfully inaugurated ; and
Chatham stands convicted of having seriously under-
rated the difficulties of the undertaking. It is true
that his parliamentary enemies were divided, and that
64
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 65
the prospect of a union between the Rockinghams,
the Bedfords, and the Grenvilles, was comparatively
remote ; but it would have been well if he had re-
membered that, however little else his opponents
had in common, they at least all believed, though in
differing degrees, in the principles of party govern-
ment, and that the time might come when they would
elect to drop their differences, and stand united in
defence of the one article of faith which they all
professed. Should this ever happen, Chatham would
indeed be in a perilous situation. Having gone far
to extinguish his personal popularity by the accept-
ance of a peerage, he was no longer the idol of the
people whose favour had meant so much to him in
the early days of his struggle for power ; and it was
to the king, rather than to the nation, that he looked
for assistance, should be ever be hard pressed. It was
not inconceivable that he might find it impossible
to reconcile his newly-found devotion for the court
with his old preference for the people.
It was not long before he learnt that his path was
not to be free from obstacles. On August 13th, Lord
Egmont, having come to the conclusion that he could
not conscientiously remain a member of an administra-
tion whose foreign policy he did not approve, resigned
his office of first lord of the admiralty ; * and, though
he was not likely to have materially increased the
efficiency or prestige of the cabinet, his resignation was
not devoid of importance, since it was a protest against
the doctrine of " men, not measures," and, moreover,
created a vacancy which had to be filled. 2 Thus, at
1 Add. MS., 32976, f. 423.
2 " Lord Egmont . . . resigned his own employment in a manner that
does him great honor, and is a great blow to this administration, and I
know it is felt by Conway." — Newcastle to Portland, August 16th, 1766. Add.
MSS., 32976, f. 423.
66 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the very beginning of his campaign, Chatham was
confronted with the writing on the wall ; but he refused
to read the message aright, and determined, in the
appointment of Egmont's successor, to maintain the
principle which, he thought, would bring salvation to
the country. An appeal was made to Lord Gower,
one of the most respectable of the members of the
Bedford party ; but, anxious though Gower was for
office, he promptly declined the invitation when he
discovered that the offer was confined to himself alone,
and that nothing was to be done for his friends and
political allies. That he acted wisely cannot be
doubted, for it would be a mistake to attribute his
refusal to the proverbial rapacity and self-seeking of
the faction to which he belonged. George Grenville,
who was taken into the confidence of the Bedford party,
and played a part in the negotiation, pointed out that
" the evident purpose of all this is to break and divide
us if possible " ; x and he was not far from the truth.
Gower was to be taken but the others were to be left,
and, as first lord of the admiralty, he would be ex-
pected to forget his friends, and forswear the party
in which he had received his political education. But
Chatham was to discover that recruits were not to be
so easily won ; and, though eager enough for power,
from which they had been too long exiled for their
own happiness, the Bedfords realised that the best
way of bringing the prime minister to acknowledge
defeat was to present a united front, and to stand
and fall together. 2
The overtures to Gower having ended in failure,
the vacant office was offered to, and accepted by, Sir
1 Grenville Papers, 3, 302-305.
2 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 342-344; Grenville Papers, 3, 302-310;
Grafton's Autobiography, 99-100; Chatham Correspondence, 3, 54, 55.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 67
Charles Saunders, a distinguished seaman, and, politi-
cally, in sympathy with the Rockingham party. Though
chagrined that Saunders had only been asked when
Gower had declined, Rockingham, in accordance with
his policy of encouraging his friends to take places in
the administration as long as they did not break with
the party, approved the appointment, 1 and, indeed,
had reason to be pleased with the change ; for Egmont,
though he had served under Rockingham, cannot be
numbered as one of his followers. Far more reliance
could be placed upon Saunders, and his appointment
strengthened Rockingham in his resolution to refrain
from opposition if it could be possibly avoided. " I
still continue anxious," he wrote at the end of August,
" that we and our friends should be quiet, and that
our only object should be to keep up a good-humoured
correspondence with those parts of the present system
who were parts of ours, and perhaps at some day we
may feel the benefit of this moderation " ; 2 and these
opinions were re-echoed by Newcastle who affirmed
that he would give " no improper opposition to this
administration, and even . . . support them if their
measures are agreeable to our conduct during the
opposition, and to those successful ones which were
followed by the last administration." 3 It was a
policy of stooping to conquer ; and, if the Rockingham
whigs abstained from attacking the ministry, it was
not from any love they bore to Chatham and his
political principles, but because they were anxious to
remain on friendly terms with their former colleagues,
especially Grafton and Conway, and to use them as
1 " I don't think the manner of Lord Chatham doing it was so obliging
to Sir Charles as to merit much even from him ; but the appearance is rather
reconciliatory towards us, and will be so represented." — Rockingham to
Newcastle, August 29th, 1766. Add. MS., 32976, f. 488.
2 Add. MS., 32976, f. 488. 3 Add. MS., 32976, f . 5 1 1 .
68 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
an avenue through which they might pass into office.
" I conclude," wrote Newcastle to Lord Rockingham,
" your lordship's view is to engage the Duke of Grafton
and Mr Conway to use all their credit with my Lord
Chatham to convince him that he can have no security
upon which he may depend, but from the friends of
the last administration " ; * and such was, doubtless,
the plan approved. Chatham was to be educated
into the belief that the support of the Rockingham
party was essential to his success, in the hope that,
having learned his lesson, he would abandon his war
against all political factions, and, by allying himself
with the Rockingham whigs, re-establish the system
of party government once again.
For the success of such a plan of campaign much
depended upon the loyalty of Conway and Grafton,
and not a little upon Chatham himself. Conway, it
is true, gave entire satisfaction, and appeared anxious
to maintain friendly and intimate relations with his
old whig friends ; 2 but far more doubt was felt about
Grafton who, though he had been secretary of state
in the late administration, had never really been in
complete accord with the party, and appeared to be
now more devoted to Chatham than ever. 3 Youthful
and impressionable, he was dazzled by the glamour
of the doctrine of efficiency, and was inclined to credit
his former associates with preferring the triumph of a
party to the welfare of the nation. The loss of Grafton,
however, could be easily borne if Conway continued
1 Add. MS., 32976, f. 511.
2 " Yesterday my Lord Rockingham called here on his way to Bath. I
had a great deal of discourse with him ; he was in very good humour, and
seemed free and open. He gave me a general account of what had passed at
two conversations with Mr Conway, with which he was very much pleased,
as indeed we have all reason to be." — Newcastle to Portland, Oct. 1 ith, 1766.
Add. MS., 32977, f. 236 ; see also f. 91, f. 215.
3 Add. MS., 32976, f. 511 ; Add. MS., 32977, f. 91.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 69
faithful, and it was in him that the Rockingham
whigs placed their trust. Yet Conway, though able
to hold out a helping hand, by no means controlled
the political situation, and it rested with Chatham
to direct the course of future events. Haughty and
dictatorial, never ready to trim his sails to the breeze,
it was very possible that the prime minister might
drive the Rockingham party into headlong opposition.
If he replied to friendly advances by deliberate insults,
open war might take the place of an armed neutrality ;
and the information, given by Conway to Newcastle
at the end of September, that " we were to expect some
further removals, and that some of them would be
very disagreeable," x was hardly hopeful of peace
in the future. Moreover, the unfavourable impression
created by such intelligence must have been intensified
by the overtures made by Chatham to the Duke of
Bedford when they met at Bath in the month of
October. 2 The vague assurances of the minister were
by no means sufficient to satisfy the leader of a
party which thoroughly understood the art of political
bargaining ; but the abortive negotiation is of interest,
inasmuch as it shows that Chatham had not the slightest
intention of throwing in his lot exclusively with the
Rockingham whigs, and was as determined as ever
to win recruits from all camps.
It would be, however, to inflict a startling injustice
upon a great statesman to imagine that Chatham had
no other design in taking office than to wage a domestic
war, or that he spent all his time and energy in futile
negotiations. He had come into the king's service
to accomplish greater things than these ; and no
sooner had he constructed his cabinet than he set to
work to repair what he believed to be the most pressing
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 91. 2 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 348 ff.
70 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
evils of the time. He found much to regret in the
position which his country occupied in Europe. When
he had retired from the coalition ministry in the
autumn of 1761, the nation stood at the very pinnacle
of its fame, triumphant over France, and allied with
the victorious King of Prussia ; but, on returning to
power five years later, he discovered that, though the
horrors of war had been exchanged for the blessings
of peace, England no longer enjoyed that proud pre-
dominance which he had formerly bestowed upon
her. Though outwardly all was quiet and at rest, the
signs of a gathering storm might be read in the political
heavens. The two Bourbon countries of France and
Spain were now united by the family compact, con-
cluded in 1761 ; and, as both these powers had
suffered many recent indignities and losses at the
hands of England, they might be expected to seek
revenge upon their conquerer at the first favourable
opportunity. No man could foretell when that
occasion would arise, but it was necessary for England
to be prepared to meet this dread event when it came.
Unfortunately, nothing was clearer than her lack of
preparation, for she stood isolated in Europe, and, if
attacked by France and Spain, might well be over-
whelmed by the mere weight of numbers. She had
quarrelled with her former ally, Frederick the Great of
Prussia, the most renowned general of his time and
the leader of an army which might safely be counted
upon to hold France in check. Into the rights and
wrongs of that quarrel, which had occurred when
Bute was prime minister, this is not the place to enter ;
and Chatham showed no disposition to rake up the
ashes of a dead controversy. 1 He looked to the future
1 For a discussion of the rupture between England and Prussia in 1762,,
see von Ruville's William Pitt, Graf, von Chatham, vol. iii. chap. 2.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 71
not to the past, and set to work to free England from
her isolation by beginning a negotiation for an alliance
with Prussia, in which Russia was to be included.
This was certainly no fool-hardy enterprise, for there
was much to encourage him to believe that the English
advances would be welcomed by Frederick the Great.
The King of Prussia was known to retain a grateful
memory of the services rendered him by Pitt during
the Seven Years war ; and, now that his benefactor was
once more in office, it might be anticipated that he
would forget his grievances, and welcome the English
overtures. This, unfortunately, proved to be a delusive
hope. Bearing in lively remembrance what he had
suffered at the hands of Bute who, he firmly believed,
had betrayed him in his hour of greatest need, Frederick
was resolved not to enter again into an alliance with
a country in which a change of cabinet might mean
a revolution in foreign policy. Many ministers had
risen and fallen since George III. ascended the throne ;
and though Chatham was now in power, and able to
lead England where he would, in a twelvemonth he
might be in opposition again, and deprived of any
influence over the destinies of the country. Nor was
it only a well founded objection to the want of con-
sistency in English foreign policy that induced
Frederick to reject Chatham's advances : an important
change had also taken place in his own situation. He
had recently become the ally of his former enemy,
Russia, and was already deeply immersed in the tangled
game of Polish politics, playing it with a skill which was
to be rewarded in a few years by the first partition of
Poland. Engaged upon such work, he was not likely to
receive, nor indeed to need, the assistance of England.
Secure against another attack by Austria who was
not disposed to appeal against the decisive verdict
72 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of the Seven Years war, and with little to fear from
France, Frederick had turned his face to the east,
and could afford to dispense in safety with the English
alliance. England, indeed, needed him far more than
he needed England ; and, although he kept Chatham
in play for some weeks, it was never his intention to
come to terms, and, before the year was out, it was
perfectly clear that it was useless to continue the
negotiation. The disappointment was serious, for,
if Chatham had succeeded in concluding the alliance,
not only would the country have been removed from
her dangerous isolation, but something would have
been done towards reviving the glorious memories of
his first administration. He had staked not a little,
including his reputation, upon a successful throw of
the dice, and fortune played him false. 1
It was hardly a happy beginning for a ministry
which, constituted as it was in direct defiance of the
political experience of the previous half-century, re-
quired to be justified by success ; and, unfortunately
for Chatham, failure abroad was accompanied by the
commission of an illegal, if necessary, action at home.
An exceptionally bad summer had ruined the harvest,
and consequently raised the price of corn ; and in
several districts the lower classes, brought to the verge
of starvation, and inflamed by the belief that their
distress was being aggravated by dealers withholding
corn from the market, broke out into riot and dis-
order, stormed granaries, and, seizing upon supplies
of grain, distributed them at low prices amongst
themselves. No government could allow such flagrant
lawlessness to continue unchecked, but, as coercion
might only increase the mischief, it was wiser to dis-
sipate the fear of famine and restore public confidence
1 Von Ruville's William Pitt, Graf, von Chatham, vol. iii. chap. 10.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 73
by forbidding any further exportation of corn from
the country. To do this, however, the intervention
of parliament was legally necessary, for under the
existing law exportation continued permissible until
the price of corn at home had risen to fifty-three
shillings and fourpence a quarter, a level which, in
spite of the scarcity, it had not yet attained. As
parliament was not then in session, much valuable
time would be wasted before the necessary statutory
change could be effected ; and the severity of the
crisis might be pleaded in favour of a course of action,
difficult to justify by the strict letter of the law.
Chatham and his colleagues were decidedly of the opinion
that no time was to be lost, and, on September 24th, the
privy council placed an embargo upon any further
exportation of corn from the country. That in so
doing the council exceeded its legal authority cannot
be doubted, since it had taken upon itself to exercise
a power of suspending law, which it certainly did not
possess ; but the necessity had been so urgent that
it might be anticipated that the ministers would escape
hostile criticism in parliament. The Rockingham
party was not at all likely to condemn the action of
the government, for Newcastle had attended the
meeting of the council, and warmly approved all that
had been done ; 1 and the Duke of Bedford was equally
reluctant to take up the cudgels against the ministers.
If it had not been for Grenville and Lord Temple,
the administration might have counted upon immunity
from attack ; 2 but, though all might remain silent,
Grenville, to whose legal and pedantic intelligence
such a point proved irresistibly attractive, was
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 160.
2 Add. MS., 32977, f. 332 ; Bedford Correspondence, 3, 353-354 ; Grenville
Papers, 3, 337.
74 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
determined to bring home to the ministers that, how-
ever great had been the necessity, they had been
guilty of a violation of the law of the land.
Parliament met on November nth, 1766. In the
king's speech the embargo was mentioned, but there
was no reference to its illegal character, and this
natural reticence was maintained in the addresses
of both houses. It is very probable that the omission
was not due to a desire to refrain from giving a point
of attack, but rather to a misconception on the part
of the ministers of the position in which they stood.
At the meeting of the privy council, which had issued
the embargo, Camden, the lord chancellor, had
declared " that the king's ordinary prerogative did
not empower his majesty to do it ; but that by the
constitution, and by all constitutions, there must be
a power to save the whole, the salus populi ; that,
if this was the case, if there was such a necessity, then
there was that power to do it." x Dangerous as such
a doctrine was, and suggestive more of the age of the
Stuarts than the Hanoverian era, the members of the
privy council may be forgiven for accepting their
law from the lord chancellor. But, if they believed
their action to be legal, they were to be quickly un-
deceived by parliament ; for, though the addresses
passed in both houses without a division, the govern-
ment was obliged to listen to some very sharp criticism ;
and the situation was not improved by Lord Camden
repeating the same theory of the constitution as he
had expounded to the privy council. Lord Mansfield,
playing the very unwonted role of a champion of
liberty, denounced the embargo as an illegal encroach-
ment upon the freedom of the subject, and Lord
Temple demanded that the ministers should introduce
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 160.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 75
an indemnity bill to cover their own illegality. In
the lower house Grenville, true to his word, branded
the king's servants as law-breakers, and it was un-
deniably fortunate for the government that both the
Bedfords and Rockinghams abstained from taking
part in the attack. When Grenville found that he
was almost alone, he inquired of Rigby what the
members of his party were going to do, and received
as an answer, " We are to do nothing, but, so help me
God, as I am a man of honour, it is not by my
advice." 1
Sharp as much of the criticism had been, Chatham
had indeed cause for exultation if he could take the
first day of the session as an omen for the future ; for
the proceedings had been characterised by the entire
absence of any co-operation between the enemies of
the administration. The Rockinghams and Bedfords
had stood aside while Grenville led the attack ; and,
if each of the various parties continued to act in
isolation, the ministers might confidently look forward
to a comfortable and easy session. An adept politician
would have carefully weighed the parliamentary forces,
and framed his conduct accordingly ; but Chatham,
who was singularly defective in political strategy, and
far too careless of details ever to be a really successful
parliamentary leader, threw away an advantage,
which he ought to have tenderly cherished, by wilfully
inflicting an insult upon the men whom he should
have conciliated. Two days after the meeting of
parliament, he informed Lord Edgecumbe, the treasurer
of the household and a follower of Rockingham, that
he must resign his office in favour of Shelley, a politician
of little account, who had deserted his uncle, the Duke
1 Grenville Papers, 3, 382-384; Walpole's Letters, 7, 72-74 ; Bedford Corre-
spondence, 3, 354 ; Hist. MSS. Comra. Stopford Sackville MSS., 1, 114-117.
76 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of Newcastle, in order to attach himself to Chatham.
It is difficult to perceive any sufficient justification for
this treatment of Edgecumbe ; and the treasurer of
the household, justly offended that so worthless a
creature as Shelley was preferred to him, was not to be
appeased by the stately compliments of Chatham who
told him that " his majesty did not mean to show
any slight or disregard to his lordship, but, on the
contrary, he hoped it would be a means of his having
him nearer his person in a more distinguished office,
and that the king for that purpose wished to have him
of his bedchamber." Aware that he was being kicked
upstairs, Edgecumbe was not to be won by fine words,
and caustically remarked that " he thought himself
rather too old to come up three hundred miles twice
or thrice in a year to have the honor of putting
on the king's shirt." x
Thus, for no apparently better reason than that
a sycophant should be given a place, Edgecumbe
was told to go ; but insults have a way of recoiling
upon those who inflict them. Chatham had indeed
made a dangerous enemy, for not only might the dis-
missed treasurer of the household take his revenge
by using his considerable electioneering influence in
the counties of Devon and Cornwall against the
government ; 2 but also, through him, his friends, the
Rockingham whigs, had been insulted, and they might
be expected to resent the affront. Indeed, the time had
come for them to take decisive action, to look to their
arms and means of defence ; for there was good reason to
believe that the dismissal of Edgecumbe was not intended
to be a solitary event, but the opening of a carefully
thought-out campaign. Hints had been dropped that
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 394.
2 Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George III., 2, 267.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 77
there might be some unpleasant changes in the
ministry, and Lord Monson, another follower of
Rockingham, had already been told that he must
resign the chief justiceship in eyre, directly a suitable
successor could be found. 1
In view of Chatham's minatory attitude, the Rock-
inghams can hardly be accused of surrendering to
panic if they foresaw danger and disaster looming
ahead. Indeed, they would have failed in their duty
if they had not seized the occasion to reconsider their
policy. It was clear that if, adhering to their original
resolution, they continued to give an unconditional
support to the administration, they would not only
lose their prestige in the political world, and acquire
an unenviable reputation for patient endurance of the
whips and scorns of the prime minister, but also run
a serious risk of complete shipwreck. They might
see their friends one by one driven from the govern-
ment, and all their hopes of winning their way into
the ministry through their allies in office brought
to nothing. They must check the evil before it had
gone too far, and clearly intimate to Chatham that
their support in parliament was strictly dependent
upon his good-will towards them. Nor were they as
powerless against the minister as might superficially
appear, for in Henry Conway they had a weapon
which, if adroitly enough used, might inflict a mortal
wound. If Conway responded to the call of his party,
and refused to continue to serve the man who had so
wantonly outraged his friends, Chatham might be
driven hard to find another secretary of state, and
discover too late that, in order to satisfy a whim, he
had destroyed his own administration.
Few statesmen have been placed in a more delicate
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 198, f. 390.
78 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and painful situation than Conway at this moment,
and few have issued more pitiably out of the crisis
of their lives. Well equipped in many respects to
play a great part in public life, intelligent, conscien-
tious, and industrious, he never succeeded in attaining
greatness, and the failure was not accidental. He
lacked that faith in himself, that confidence in his
own destiny, without which no man can rise above
mediocrity ; and, when the time of trial came, Conway
revealed his weakness, and, instead of seeking to mould
events, allowed them to mould him. Yet, much as
there is to condemn in his conduct, it must not be for-
gotten that it was a cruel and relentless fate which
called him to endure such an ordeal. Maintaining
cordial and intimate relations with his old whig
friends, and still regarding Rockingham as in a certain
sense his leader, he was torn between duty to his
country and loyalty to his party. If he continued to
act under Chatham after the treatment meted out to
Edgecumbe, he would lie open to the accusation of
treachery towards those by whose side he had once
fought and conquered ; and if, on the other hand, he
followed Edgecumbe into retirement, he must be
prepared to meet the charge of preferring the triumph
of a faction to the greatness of his country. Which-
ever course he adopted, his conduct lay open to mis-
construction, and would certainly be misconstrued ;
and, fearing to put his fate to the touch, he fell to
playing the part of the Hamlet of the political
world.
The unhappy situation of the secretary of state
was, however, a golden opportunity for his friends to
strike a blow at Chatham. Conway first heard of
Edgecumbe's dismissal on Monday, November 17th,
and at once sent for Rockingham who arrived to
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 79
find him horrified and aghast at the prime minister's
conduct, and uncertain what he ought to do.
" General Conway," Rockingham informed Newcastle,
" felt equally this dismission, both in regard to its
being of one of the corps, and also as being of a person
who had enjoyed the late Duke of Devonshire's friend-
ship, and who at my desire had brought into parliament
gratis, not more than six months ago, General Conway's
nephew, Lord Beauchamp " ; and thus a situation,
already sufficiently involved, was further complicated
by considerations of private friendship. 1 What Conway
would do, no one, least of all himself, knew, and if
the Rockingham whigs were to reap the full advan-
tage of the situation, they must drive him into taking
action. Subjected to the right amount of pressure,
properly applied, he might be induced to abandon
office, carrying Chatham with him in his fall ; 2 and the
problem before the Rockingham whigs was how
they could persuade their indecisive friend to take
so decisive a step. " What his decision will be I
cannot say," wrote the marquis. " Perhaps his con-
duct depends upon ours." 3
It was to deal with this question, and to frame
a plan of campaign, that the leaders of the party
assembled at Rockingham's house on Wednesday,
November 19th. They were informed that " something
must be done to show spirit, to keep our friends to-
gether, and to encourage Mr Conway to persist in the
good disposition he was in at present. That, if nothing
was done, the party, and all the friends of the late
1 Add. MS. 32977, f. 415. Horace Walpole, however, affirms that it was
Rockingham who reminded Conway of his personal obligations to Edgecumbe.
Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George III., 2, 267.
2 Rockingham reported that Conway had threatened resignation to
Chatham, who had replied that in that event he also would retire. Add.
MS., 32978, f- I.
3 Add. MS., 32977, f. 415, f. 421 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 19-24.
80 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
administration, would be weeded out by degrees, our
friends angry and discouraged, and everything left
to the arbitrary disposition of my Lord Chatham
without any check or control," and the truth of this
statement was too obvious to require much explana-
tion or to evoke a lengthy discussion. It was almost
unanimously agreed that four leading members of
the party, the Duke of Portland, the Earl of Scar-
borough, the Earl of Bessborough, and Lord Monson
should resign their places in the administration, that
" further resignations in the house of commons might
follow afterwards " ; and that Conway should be
informed of what his friends intended to do. Thus
the order for retreat was sounded, and it was antici-
pated that the secretary of state would feel impelled
by every instinct of honour to follow his old friends
into retirement. If they so publicly repudiated
Chatham and all his works, he would seem to have
no alternative but to do the same ; and thus Edge-
cumbe might be avenged by the downfall of the
ministry. It was still open, indeed, for Chatham
to save himself and his administration, but only at
the price of a confession of wrong-doing and the
reinstatement of the dismissed treasurer of the
household.
In the best laid schemes, however, there must
always lurk an element of uncertainty, and the success
of this method of attack upon the government de-
pended entirely upon Conway's action. It is true
that all present at the meeting, with a single exception,
believed that he would retire when so peremptorily
called upon to do so ; but that single exception was
the Duke of Newcastle who, though he assented to
the opinion of the majority for the sake of preserving
unity, did not approve the plan. He was as anxious
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 81
as those, from whom he differed, to keep the party
together, and to protect it against the onslaught of
Chatham ; but his wider and more varied acquaintance
with political life enabled him to perceive dangers
hidden from less experienced eyes. He dreaded a
fiasco, arguing with no little force that many members
of the party, dependent upon politics for a living,
might be very loath to resign their places, and that,
even if the resignations were successfully executed,
Conway, instead of being driven to retire, might take
offence at the factious conduct of his friends, and
continue in office. If indeed this came about, the last
state of the Rockingham party might easily be worse
than the first ; for Chatham, deprived of the services
of Portland and his friends, and threatened by their
avowed hostility, might purchase safety by an alliance
with the Bedford party or the adherents of Lord Bute.
Time was to prove that Newcastle was not far from
the truth ; but his arguments fell upon deaf ears, and
it could have been but sorry comfort for him to reflect
that he was wiser than his friends. 1
In accordance with the approved procedure, the
Duke of Portland waited upon Conway on Friday,
November 21st, and informed him of the storm which
was about to burst upon the administration. Though,
naturally enough, much agitated by the intelligence,
1 Add. MS., 32977, f. 445 ; Add. MS., 32978, f. 1 ; Rockingham Memoirs,
2, 19-24. A few days later Newcastle received information which confirmed
him in his opinion : " I think myself obliged to acquaint your grace," he wrote
to the Duke of Portland, " that I have great reason to fear, and indeed to know,
that the resignations will not be received by the party in the manner it was
imagined ; nor be generally or at all, followed by those in employment in
the house of commons. . . . Lord Rockingham is extremely mistaken as
to the behaviour of his friends, and particularly the Townshends upon this
occasion. Tommy Townshend of the treasury, Charles Townshend of the
admiralty, and George Onslow have agreed to act together ; they were all
against resignations, and have now, as I am informed, determined not to
resign." Add. MS., 32978, f. 51. It was from George Onslow himself that
Newcastle acquired this information, f. 64.
82 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
for he saw himself driven to make a final choice be-
tween Chatham and the whig cause, Conway evinced
no displeasure ; but he pleaded for delay, on the ground
that Grafton had been with him that morning, and
had held out hopes of Edgecumbe receiving proper
satisfaction. The request was reasonable enough,
but, though Portland acceded to it, he very explicitly
explained that " the satisfaction to Lord Edgecumbe
must be immediate, that assurances must be given
to the party of . . . respect and countenance, that
they must stand as forward to be provided for as any
other persons whatever, and that he must be admitted
to that confidence and those communications which
would alone give us security for any promises that
might be made in the present emergency." 1
To these terms Conway cordially agreed, but he
was well aware how gloomy the outlook was. He had
little reason to hope that Chatham would condescend
to reinstate Edgecumbe, or even to make him suitable
reparation ; 2 and yet, unless this was done, the resigna-
tions would take effect, and Conway would be forced
to declare himself on one side or the other. With a
sincerity, which cannot possibly be mistaken, he told
Portland that " he had not had a happy moment since
his embarking (I understood) a second time ; and that,
if he only consulted his own ease of mind and body,
he should not stay one moment in employment/' 3
Like a drowning man he was ready to clutch at any
means of salvation, and the proverbial straw happened
to float across his path. Lord Bessborough, joint
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 11 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 19-24. The letter in
the Rockingham Memoirs is misdated by one day.
2 The day before he visited Conway, Portland remarked in a letter, " all
that I learn is that Conway has been with my Lord Chatham, and finds him
inflexible." Add. MS., 32977, f. 449.
3 Add. MS., 32978, f. 11.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 83
postmaster general, and one of the four peers who
had agreed to retire in the event of Chatham proving
obstinate, suddenly proposed that, in any case, he
should give up his office, and that it should be given
to Edgecumbe who would thus receive ample com-
pensation for the loss of the treasurership of the house-
hold. Much could be urged superficially in favour
of Bessborough's suggestion, for there was reason to
believe that Edgecumbe would be more than satisfied
with such an arrangement ; and no time was lost by
Conway in submitting the proposal to Chatham. 1
But, if Conway was exultant over the change in the
political situation, seeing, at last, a gleam of hope on
the horizon, Newcastle and Rockingham were cor-
respondingly despondent. Aggrieved not unnaturally
with Bessborough for acting so precipitately without
taking them into his confidence, they repudiated his
proposal in the name of the party. This unfortunate
step in our friend, my Lord Bessborough," wrote
Newcastle, " has quite ruined everything when there
were the best appearances " ; 2 and this gloomy judg-
ment was not so very wide of the mark. Edgecumbe
might be content to have the post office, and Bess-
borough willing to put up with the bedchamber which
Edgecumbe had scornfully rejected ; but the happiness
of these two noblemen had not been the object of an
elaborate political intrigue. Bessborough had either
forgotten, or had never realised, that Edgecumbe was
simply being used as a weapon with which to wound
Chatham ; and, though the latter might possibly agree
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 130. The letter is dated Friday, November
24th, an obvious slip for Friday, November 21st, the day on which Conway
first heard the news. The letter begins, " Having this moment heard a thing,"
a phrase which he would hardly have used, if his information was already
three days old.
2 Add. MS., 32978, f. 41.
84 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to make Edgecumbe joint postmaster general, such
a concession would by no means satisfy the demands
of either Newcastle or Rockingham. They desired
some guarantee that the prime minister would not
continue to inflict insults upon their followers, driving
them one by one from the ministry ; and any con-
cordat, which omitted this fundamental condition,
might well work the destruction of the Rockingham
party. Bessborough, in spite of all his good inten-
tions, had indeed been guilty of a serious error in
tactics, and his blundering threatened to prevent
his friends from effectively stemming the tide of
Chatham's arrogance, and to give Conway an easy
excuse for continuing in office.
Yet, the alarm aroused in Newcastle and Rocking-
ham was shown to be unnecessary ; for Chatham, blind
to his good fortune, absolutely declined to consider
Bessborough's proposal, or, indeed, to make any con-
cession whatever. All hope of a reconciliation having
vanished by November 26th, 1 the four peers resigned
their places, and their example was followed by Sir
Charles Saunders, the first lord of the admiralty,
and two members of the same board, Admiral Keppel
and Sir William Meredith. That other resignations
did not follow may be attributed to a natural reluct-
ance on the part of politicians, who had secured a com-
fortable office, to cast themselves once more adrift ;
but, though numerically more restricted than had been
intended, the secession was undoubtedly a striking
demonstration against the prime minister's arbitrary
conduct. Whether, however, it was to be anything
more than a demonstration depended upon Conway.
The moment for decisive action had found him as
wavering and irresolute as ever. Shortly before
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 78.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 85
vacating his office, Portland told Newcastle that
" Conway does not resign at present, but tells me
he thinks he shall not stay, and seems further to be
of opinion that upon the principles Lord Chatham
has adopted, it is impossible for the administration
to last long " ; x but the days passed by, and Conway,
a prey to irresolution and doubt, still continued in
office. His brother, Lord Hertford, and his most
intimate friend, Horace Walpole, were urgent in per-
suading him that the whigs were using him for their
own selfish ends ; and, from the other side, Rockingham
and the Cavendishes were calling to him to resign on
grounds of honour and decency. In such circum-
stances the boldest man might have passed through
a period of doubt ; and Conway is worthy of blame,
not because he stumbled on the road, but because
he never arrived at his destination. Compelled to
make a choice between Rockingham and Chatham,
he never made it ; he was neither for God nor for the
Devil. Though he continued as secretary of state,
the thought of resignation was never out of his mind,
and twice in the house of commons he significantly
described himself as a passenger in the administration. 2
Nor, if Horace Walpole is to be trusted, did he ever
forgive Chatham : " the wound rankled so deeply in
Mr Conway's bosom, that he dropped all intercourse
with Lord Chatham ; and, though he continued to con-
duct the king's business in the house of commons,
he would neither receive nor pay any deference to the
minister's orders, acting for or against as he approved
or disliked his measures." 3
Thus, though Conway continued to sit in the
cabinet, his value to Chatham was seriously diminished ;
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 78. 2 Grenville Papers, 3, 396.
3 Memoirs of the Reign of George III., ii. 273.
86 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and this was not the only consequence of the dismissal
of the treasurer of the household. The Rockingham
whigs, who had previously been disposed to refrain
from opposing the ministry, were now inclined to
adopt a more hostile attitude. They had sought
peace, and had been insulted for their pains ; and
the natural conclusion to draw was that the time
had come to exchange the olive branch for the sword.
It was necessary to wait for a fitting opportunity for
attack ; but, when that moment came, there would be
nothing to restrain Rockingham and his followers
from entering upon the battle into which they had
been provoked. It was better to perish fighting than
to be led like victims to the slaughter.
Yet, in spite of the threatening danger, Chatham
appeared almost magnificently careless of the future.
Except for the loss of Sir Charles Saunders and Admiral
Keppel, whose services he valued, he troubled little
about the withdrawal of the Rockingham whigs from
the administration. He looked to the court for help
in his time of trouble, assuring Grafton, panic stricken
by the rising storm, that " the closet is firm, and there
is nothing to fear." * He was as determined, as when
he had originally taken office, that his ministry should
reflect the opinions of all political parties ; and, to fill
the vacancies caused by the recent resignations, he
began a negotiation with the Duke of Bedford. The
restricted character of his offer, for it was only proposed
that Gower should be master of the horse, Lord Wey-
mouth postmaster, and Rigby cofferer, conclusively
condemned it in the eyes of the Bedfords who coveted
the first lordship of the admiralty', left vacant by the
resignation of Sir Charles Saunders ; but neither
George III. nor Chatham were prepared to forego
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 107.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 87
their crusade against the party system for the sake
of acquiring the support of the Woburn confederation.
' A contrary conduct," wrote the king at this time,
" would at once overturn the very end proposed at
the formation of the present administration ; for to
rout out the present method of parties banding
together, can only be obtained by a withstanding
their urgent demands, as well as the engaging able
men, be their private connections where they will." *
This might be true enough, but the effect of such a
policy was to drive George III. and Chatham into the
highways and hedges for ministers ; and, failing to come
to terms with the Bedfords, they filled the vacant
places, for the most part, with adherents of Lord Bute.
It is true that Sir Edward Hawke, who succeeded
Saunders at the admiralty, was a most distinguished
seaman, and cannot be counted as belonging to any
political party ; but both Jenkinson and Brett, who
succeeded Keppel and Meredith on the admiralty
board, were well-known followers of Bute, and when
Bute's heir, Lord Mount Stuart, moved Jenkinson's
new writ in the house of commons, members smiled
at one another. 2 But, though men might smile to see
Chatham conferring places upon such insignificant
politicians, they might well weep when they saw Lord
Despenser introduced into the administration in the
capacity of joint postmaster general. Better known
by his earlier title of Sir Francis Dashwood, Despenser
had not only obtained a widespread and almost un-
rivalled reputation for profligacy, but had also given
ample proof of his administrative inefficiency during
the time that he served Bute as chancellor of the
exchequer. If the consequence of the destruction of
the party system was to be that politicians of this
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 137. 2 Add. MS.. 32978, f. 168.
88 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
stamp were to be given a voice, however subordinate,
in the government of the country, wise men might
begin to look back with affectionate regret upon the
worst days of whig supremacy. It was quite certain
that the changes in the ministry were not directed to
the promotion of efficiency, nor likely to elicit the con-
fidence of the nation : The strength the government
will acquire by all these promotions," wrote Portland
to the Duke of Newcastle, ' I leave your grace to
judge of ; it cannot want any comment." *
Yet, when parliament rose on December 15th for
the Christmas holidays, Chatham appeared to have
more than held his own, and to have triumphed over
his enemies. But, victorious though he had been,
the session had not been free from incidents which
might have suggested to the more thoughtful sup-
porters of the government that it was time to pause.
In order to protect from legal proceedings the custom
house officers who, acting under the illegal order of
the privy council, had prevented the exportation of
corn, Conway had introduced an indemnity bill,
thus affording Grenville an opportunity for con-
tinuing the attack which he had begun on the first
day of the session. Nor were his criticisms without
effect. As originally framed, the bill only applied to
those who had acted under the embargo ; but, in the
course of its passage through the lower house, Conway
was obliged to extend it to those who had advised the
measure, thus overthrowing Camden's constitutional
defence of the ministerial action, and emphasising,
somewhat unpleasantly, that the king's servants, how-
ever justified they had been by necessity, had been
guilty of a breach of the law to which they at first
had been unwilling to own. And this was not the only
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 135.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 89
change that was made. In the original preamble to
the bill it was affirmed that the embargo could not
be justified by the strict rules of law, an ambiguous
and undoubtedly misleading statement which did not
escape Grenville's notice, and which was finally
amended by the omission of the word " strict." 1
Thus, though the bill was carried by substantial
majorities, success had not been achieved without mak-
ing somewhat damaging concessions ; and, although
the ministers might plume themselves upon a victory,
they owed it in no small degree to the support they
received from the majority of the followers of Bedford
and Rockingham. But there was little assurance that
such assistance would be continued in the future. 2
The indemnity bill, save to a man like Grenville bent
upon opposition at all cost, was hardly a contentious
measure ; and the Rockingham whigs, originally well
disposed towards the government, had, in the course
of the session, been driven by Chatham himself to
think more of attack than of conciliation. They were
biding their time, and, when that time came, they
would not fail to strike.
Thus, in view of the actual situation, Chatham
might have gained applause for his political wisdom
if he had confined his activities within a narrow and
non-disputatious sphere, and carefully abstained from
pursuing a policy likely to provoke opposition or alarm
vested interests. But, whatever were his faults, and
they were many, he was never deficient in courage, or
wanting in obedience to his sense of duty ; and no man
was less disposed to refrain from action for fear of
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., i, 114-117.
2 Edmund Burke and Rigby sometimes joined Grenville in opposing the
government, and if the preamble had not been amended, Rockingham wa
prepared to attack it in the house of lords, and was anxious for Newcastle
to do the same. Add. MS., 32978, f. 204, f. 208, f. 215, f. 221.
90 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
giving a handle to his enemies. He had issued from
his retirement into the glare of public life, inspired
by no selfish seeking after power, but convinced that
there was work to be done for England, which no one
but he could do ; and no sooner had he taken office
than he addressed himself to a task which, if success-
fully accomplished, would materially add to his re-
nown, but which was undeniably attended by many
and great dangers. This undertaking was no other
than an inquiry into the affairs of the East India
Company, with a view to revising the existing rela-
tions between that corporation and the state ; and
the enterprise was not only fraught with dangers
and difficulties, but might easily afford an opportunity
for an attack upon the government, in which the
Rockingham whigs might join and thus revenge them-
selves for what they had suffered at the hands of
Chatham. The minister was well aware of the perils
of the voyage on which he was setting out, of the
strange and stormy seas he would be obliged to
traverse ; but he believed himself called upon to meet
an urgent necessity, and took his political life into
his hands.
Time had indeed wrought a change in the fortunes
of the East India Company, and most impartial men,
though differing as to its scope, agreed in thinking that
some sort of an inquiry was necessary. Originally
a purely trading association, the company had become
possessed, more by chance than by design, of terri-
torial power, and, from comparatively humble begin-
nings, had risen to be the ruler of a vast and increasing
dominion. As the result of the Seven Years war,
Bengal and the adjacent states passed under its in-
fluence ; and the overthrow of the French in India,
which was a consequence of the same conflict, removed
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 91
the last effective barrier to the extension of its
authority. With revenues now swelled from other
sources than those of trade, connected by treaties
with native princes, and deeply immersed in the
tangled and tortuous politics of the east, the company
was burdened with new and weighty responsibilities
which it was not well adapted to discharge. It is
proverbial that traders are rarely qualified for the
enjoyment of independent political power, since their
immediate aim being the acquisition of wealth they
are under the temptation to sacrifice everything that
stands in the way of the attainment of this end. Nor,
indeed, was there any reason to believe that the East
India Company would prove an exception to this rule ;
on the contrary, every indication existed to show how
unworthy it was to be entrusted with the government
of what might one day develop into a mighty empire,
and that, however successful it had been in trade,
it was incompetent and inefficient as a sovereign ruler.
A mutiny among the company's native troops in the
spring of 1766 pointed a moral which had already be-
come sufficiently clear, and it was seriously anticipated
that an empire, which had been acquired by valour
and skill, would be lost by mismanagement and cor-
ruption. Nor were these the only evils that the state
was called upon to redress. The majority of English-
men, unable to distinguish between public and private
gain, and dazzled by the spectacle of men returning,
after a comparatively brief sojourn in the east, en-
riched beyond the wildest dreams of avarice, were
led to believe that the company was as wealthy as
its servants. As nothing was known, everything was
believed, and every nabob, who returned to flaunt his
opulence in the face of an envious and credulous public,
helped to confirm and spread the legend of the vast
92 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and inexhaustible resources of the company. In any
civilised community it needs but a spark to fire the
gambling spirit latent in all men, and, as speculation
in East India stock had already begun, there was no
little danger of a repetition of the catastrophe of the
South Sea Bubble. It was the imperative duty of the
state to check the evil before it attained more danger-
ous proportions; and therefore, both on grounds of
policy and morality, the government was called upon
to undertake a scrutiny into the affairs of the company.
The perils attending such an inquiry would, how-
ever, be many. Those whose interests were con-
cerned in allowing the company to fill its coffers from
the revenues of Bengal, those who thought more of
plenty than of power, and were indifferent to what
happened as long as their capital earned a substantial
return, bitterly resented any interference by the
government ; and the most determined opposition
might be expected from the city, once the stronghold
of Chatham's influence. The cry was certain to be
raised that the rights and privileges of all corporations
were endangered, that the attack upon the East India
Company was only the first of a series, and that soon
charters would be of no greater value than the parch-
ment upon which they were written. That not a little
selfish greed, ignorance, and malice, lay at the bottom
of this outcry did not make it any less formidable ;
but Chatham, though he had used the support of
the people as a stepping-stone to power, was not of
the order of demagogues who defer to public opinion
in and out of season. He emphatically declared that
the question of the company was " the greatest of all
objects, according to my sense of great," J and this was
no bombastic utterance but the expression of a fully
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 101-102.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 93
formed determination. Action speedily followed upon
words ; and, at the end of August, the Duke of Grafton,
acting as Chatham's spokesman, informed the chair-
man and deputy chairman of the company that East
India affairs would, in all probability, be brought before
parliament in the forthcoming session. 1 The directors,
appreciating the significance of the hint, understood
that the most politic course to pursue was to refrain
from giving any further handle to their critics ; but the
proprietors of stock were far less discreet, and at a
general court, held on September 24th, a dividend of
ten per cent, was declared as a mark of defiance to the
government, and in direct opposition to the wishes of
the directors. This was a singularly futile proceeding,
for it neither inspired the public with confidence nor
intimidated the ministers. 2 On November 25th, Beck-
ford, well known to be in Chatham's confidence, intro-
duced a motion into the house of commons for exam-
ining into the company's affairs ; and, shortly before
parliament rose for the Christmas holidays, it was
resolved that copies of the grants made to the com-
pany, and statements of the revenues it enjoyed, should
be laid before the house. 3
Thus the attack was begun, and Horace Walpole
was able to write that the session had ended " very
triumphantly for the great earl." 4 The triumph,
however, was but on the surface ; and it would appear
that Chatham, however laudable his courage, was
guilty of undue haste and precipitation, and failed to
obtain success in this daring venture because he did
not deserve it. The ministers were divided on the
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 57-60; Grenville Papers, 3, 322-323.
2 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 344-346 ; Grenville Papers, 3, 323-325 ;
Chatham Correspondence, 3, 90-93.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 144, n. 1 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 287-290.
4 Walpole's Letters, 7, 77-79-
94 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
question of the proper policy to be pursued in regard
to the affairs of the east, and can fairly be charged
with beginning a serious and important undertaking
too much in the spirit of haphazard enterprise.
Chatham, himself, was convinced that an essential
preliminary to any successful negotiation with the
company was a parliamentary decision upon its right
to the revenues it received as a territorial ruler ; while
Charles Townshend and Conway were in favour of
leaving this point, which would certainly prove con-
tentious, out of consideration, and coming to terms
with the company without delay. 1 Such a funda-
mental divergence of opinion necessarily brought with
it divided counsels, and militated against success ;
and this was not the only danger which menaced the
future safety of the administration ; for what threatened
to be a sword of division to the ministers seemed likely
to prove a bond of union to their opponents. It was
ominous for the future that in the division, which
concluded the debate on November 25th, many of the
Rockingham whigs were found in the minority, fight-
ing side by side with George Grenville and the fol-
lowers of the Duke of Bedford. Both Charles Yorke
and Edmund Burke distinguished themselves by the
fierceness of their opposition to the government, 2
and their conduct was well pleasing to their leaders.
Newcastle declared himself " convinced upon most
mature consideration, that the general inquiry into the
private state of a great company, acting under a legal
charter, without any fact alledged, or the least com-
plaint made, is of most urgent consequence," and was
delighted to find that Rockingham shared the same
opinion. 3
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 109; Grenville Papers, 3, 331-336.
2 Add. MS., 32978, f. 86. 3 Add. MS., 32978, f. 244, f. 404.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 95
The leaders of the ministry might indeed regard
the future with anxiety. Rockingham, driven to
abandon his pacific attitude by Chatham himself,
was now in favour of what he called a general opposi-
tion, though he was careful to explain that by " general
opposition he always meant upon such points only as
were wrong in themselves." * This limitation, however,
was not likely to prove very restrictive in practice,
and would certainly not prohibit a defence of the East
India Company which the marquis and his followers,
apparently conscientiously, thought to be unjustifiably
attacked. Moreover, in championing the rights of
that corporation, they could count upon the assistance
of Grenville and Bedford ; and it might reasonably
be contended that the time had now come for the
different sections of the opposition to unite. However
much they differed, they were at least agreed on the
East India question which seemed likely to absorb
public attention for some time to come ; and, as it was
certain that if they continued to fight separately, and
without any common plan or organisation, the ad-
ministration would prevail, it might be well to sink
their differences, and unite in defence of what they all
believed to be a righteous cause. Newcastle, taught
by his rich political experience, was warmly in favour
of an alliance with the Duke of Bedford who was
rumoured to be quite prepared to come to terms ;
but the difficulty in the way was George Grenville. 2
It was extremely unlikely that Bedford would agree
to any alliance in which Grenville was not included ;
for close and friendly relations existed between their two
camps, and they had much in common, especially on
questions where they differed from Lord Rockingham.
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 404.
' Add. MS., 32978, f. 15, f. 27, f. 35, f. 281, f. 285, f. 309.
96 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Grenville had been first lord of the treasury, and
Bedford president of the council, in the adminis-
tration that had imposed the stamp act which
Rockingham had repealed; and thus they had the
same grievance against the party which had reversed
their measure. But Grenville was far more identified
than Bedford with the taxation of America, and far more
bitterly hostile to the colonial policy of the Rockingham
ministry ; and it was assumed that, if he was ever
given an opportunity, he would continue the work
which he had begun with the imposition of the stamp
act. Thus Rockingham and his followers were con-
fronted with a difficult situation calling for delicate
handling. They were prepared to conclude an alliance
with Bedford, and even with Grenville ; but it was
reported that the latter, in the event of an administra-
tion being formed, demanded the treasury either for
himself or his brother, Lord Temple, 1 and such a
request would, indeed, prove a stumbling block. Valu-
able as was the support of the Bedford party, the
promise of the treasury to Grenville was a very heavy
price to pay for it, and Rockingham was able to point
out " how strange it would appear to the public . . .
to make him a principal, after you had spent a whole
session in tearing to pieces all that he had done while
in the treasury." 2 That the objection was well founded
is undeniable, for Rockingham and his followers would
have forfeited the respect of all honest men if they
had consented to sit in an administration presided
over by Grenville. But it was by no means certain
that the Duke of Bedford was prepared to espouse
Grenville's claim to the treasury ; and Newcastle,
understanding that, without some addition to their
1 Add. MS., 35362, f. 48 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 28-29.
2 Add. MS., 32978, f. 299 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 31-32.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL
97
parliamentary strength, it was very dangerous for his
friends to begin a contest with the government, pressed
for overtures to be made to Woburn ; but to this scheme
Rockingham was opposed, favouring postponement
in the hope of " making a better bargain about
George Grenville." * But it was Newcastle's opinion
which at first prevailed ; for, though Rockingham still
continued to believe that Bedford would demand the
treasury for Grenville, and that the wisest policy was
to do nothing, it was decided at a meeting, held at
Claremont on December 17th, that Lord Bessborough
should approach Lord Gower. 2 At the last moment,
however, this scheme was abandoned ; for when it was
imparted to Portland and Albemarle, they both loudly
protested against it, arguing that if overtures were made
to the Bedfords, they would gain an exaggerated idea
of their own importance, and consequently raise their
terms ; 3 and, as Portland and Albemarle were important
members of the party, whose opinions could not be
safely disregarded, Newcastle was compelled to relin-
quish his much-cherished project, and seek comfort
in the reflection that an alliance with the Bedford
party might have driven him and his friends head-
long into factious opposition. 4 Rockingham was,
naturally enough, well pleased that what he had never
approved should not be done ; 5 but, when all that
could be said in favour of inaction had been urged, it
remained undeniably true that the Rockingham whigs
were in an unpleasantly dangerous situation. They
had broken with Chatham, and were determined to
oppose his East Indian policy ; but they were no
stronger in parliament than before, and Newcastle
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 299.
» Add. MS., 32978, f. 378, f. 414.
6 Add. MS., 32978, f. 418.
G
s Add. MS., 32978, f. 404.
4 Add. MS., 32978, f. 484.
98 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
must have found much sorrowfully to agree with in
Bessborough's frank statement that " as things stand
at present, you certainly have no plan at all, no system,
nor do we know one another's minds : all is afloat,
excepting in a very small set of men, who can make but
a very small appearance in any division, and though
honest and men of honour, yet they make but a very
insignificant figure in regard to any material business
in parliament, and are, 'tis true, laughed at, and all
this arises from a want of knowing one another's minds,
and being properly connected, and knowing what to
do, for we have neither plan, system, method, or
scheme." x Hard as these words were, they were
only too bitterly true ; and though it was easy for
Rockingham, ever inclined to look on the bright side
of things, to declare that " in regard to the ideas
among our friends in the country . . . they are
as right as right can be," 2 good intentions, alone,
are apt to be of little value when brought into
contact with the hard facts of parliamentary life.
However great the determination to oppose the
evil deeds of the government might be, 3 the
ability to render opposition effective remained very
doubtful.
Yet, evil as was the plight of the Rockingham
whigs, there were some of the ministers who thought
their own fate to be but little better. On the rising
of parliament for the Christmas holidays Chatham
set out for Bath, where he was to remain for many
weeks ; and, in his autobiography, Grafton deplores
that his leader was " not sensible, nor would he be
persuaded, of the many difficulties under which his
administration labored, though they were viewed
1 Add. MS., 32978, f. 488. * Add. MS., 32979, f. 143.
3 Add. MS., 32978, f. 436 ; Add. MS., 32979, f. 143.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 99
with real concern by the nation at large." 1 Nor were
the difficulties slow in making themselves felt. In
the absence of the prime minister, detained week
after week by a more than usually acute fit of gout,
it fell to Grafton, as first lord of the treasury, to
preside over the cabinet ; and, though always " pleased
the Almighty's orders to perform/' the young duke
was certainly deficient in that power which " rides
in the whirlwind and directs the storm." He was
destined to experience to the full all the evils of a
divided and ill-assorted administration, and to be-
come a plaything in the hands of fate and Charles
Townshend. For it was now that Townshend, freed
from all effective control, and careless of conse-
quences, began to play the part of a mischievous
sprite, and to teach the country that too heavy a
price might be exacted for the privilege of having
a witty and high-spirited minister. Down to its
final doom the government passed with headlong
force ; and, when Chatham returned to London in
the spring of 1767, he was to find his ministry
in full enjoyment of the discredit which it richly
deserved.
It was in the affairs of the East India Company
that Townshend first displayed a tendency to pursue
a policy independently of Chatham. Believing, unlike
the prime minister, that it would be wise to conclude
immediately a bargain with the company, and waive
the question of its right to its territorial revenues, he
found himself favoured by circumstances ; for at a
general court, held on the last day of the year, 1766,
the directors were empowered " to treat with ad-
ministration upon all such points, in the general state
of the company, as they shall judge to be most re-
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 109.
100 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
quisite and conducive to the extending their commerce,
securing their possessions, and perpetuating the pros-
perity of the company." Acting upon these instruc-
tions, the chairman and deputy-chairman presented.
Grafton on January 8th with a paper, specifying the
points upon which they were prepared to treat with
the government ; and, as might have been expected,
while they asked for a renewal of their charter, their
right to the revenues they drew from subject pro-
vinces was not included amongst the questions for
discussion. 1 Chatham, to whom the offer was sub-
mitted at Bath, did not conceal his disgust, and
rightly attributed the unfavourable turn events had
taken " to the unfortunate original difference of
opinions among the king's servants . . . which shook
the whole foundation of this great transaction." 2
Worse news was to follow ; for when East
India affairs were under discussion in the house
of commons on Tuesday, January 20th, and the
following Thursday, Townshend, not only revealed
that a negotiation with the company was on foot,
but frankly avowed his difference of opinion with
Chatham. He roundly declared that " the East
India Company had a right to their territorial
revenues," and, according to Beckford, " uttered
so many kind and comfortable words for their con-
solation, that the stock rose the next and the succeed-
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 149, 163 ; Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report,
Appendix, Pt. ix.; Donoughmore MSS., p. 260; Weston Underwood MSS.,
401. It is impossible to say with certainty that Townshend had any part
in persuading the company to make overtures to the government ; but that it
should do so was certainly in accordance with his policy, and it is not without
interest that on January 7th, Newcastle informed Albemarle that the ministers
" are in the highest spirits about their success in the East India affairs. It
is certainly all Charles Townshend's doing, who triumphs beyond measure
upon it." Add. MS., 32979, f. 107.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 113.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 101
ing day six per centum." Nor was the chancellor
of the exchequer the only mutineer, for Conway
had also declared that he was reluctant to permit
the company's territorial rights to be decided by a
parliamentary vote. 1
Chatham, delayed by illness at Bath, might well be
appalled at hearing of the conduct of his rebellious
lieutenants ; and he was obliged to acknowledge the
unpalatable truth that they had succeeded in cutting
the ground from under his feet, at least for the time
being. It was impossible to expect the house of
commons, now informed that a negotiation had been
begun, to set to work to discuss an abstract question
of right ; and Chatham, though he did not abandon
his point, was compelled by Charles Townshend's
indiscretion to alter his plan of procedure. ' I hear,"
he wrote to Shelburne, " that Mr Townshend has
declared in the house that a proposal from the com-
pany was upon the point of being made. After this
declaration, and during the pendency of a transaction
with the company, so avowed, I am clearly of opinion
that a question for deciding the right would not be
duly supported : it is therefore become necessary to
delay going into the consideration in the committee
till the proposal is made; after that, and when the
proposal is before the house, the whole matter will
be under the contemplation and ripe for the decision
of parliament. ... I have advised Mr Beckford,
by this post, to put off the consideration for a
fortnight." 2
Thus was Chatham obliged to trim his sails to the
breeze created by his subordinates, and it still re-
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 176; Hist. MSS. Comm. Lothian MS.,
V- 2 74-
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 181.
102 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
mained uncertain whether his government would
succeed in weathering the storm. On February 7th,
the directors presented their definite proposals to the
cabinet, and, encouraged perhaps by Townshend's
conciliatory attitude, they did not err on the side of
excessive moderation. In return for the payment of
the sum of £500,000, and the promise of an annual con-
tribution to the state, they asked for the renewal of
their charter for a term of fifty years, and that " their
late acquisitions, possessions, and revenues should be
annexed by act of parliament to the term to be given
in the exclusive trade." 1 However objectionable
such proposals might be, and whatever ambiguities
they might contain, 2 it was the duty of the ministers,
if they were to execute Chatham's wishes, 3 to submit
them to parliament before coming to any decision
upon them; but both Conway and Townshend were
in favour of continuing the negotiation with the
company, and waiting, until some final conclusion
had been reached, before calling upon parliament for
its advice and ratification. 4 In this, however, they
were overruled, and it was agreed to lay the company's
terms before parliament, even though the negotiation
was but barely begun. Accordingly, Beckford, on
March 6th, moved that the proposals should be laid
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 114 ; Chatham Correspondence, 3, 196.
2 A good deal of time was occupied by the ministers in clearing up, not
very successfully, doubtful points in the proposals. Grafton's Autobiography,
1 18-120.
3 " I now come," wrote Chatham on February 9th, " to the papers of the
6th of February from the committee of directors. I shall not enter into the
merits of the proposal. Parliament is the only place where I will declare
my final judgment upon the whole matter, if ever I have an opportunity to
do it. As a servant of the crown, I have no right or authority to do more
than simply to advise that the demands and the offers of the company should
be laid before parliament, referring the whole determination to the wisdom
of that place." Grafton's Autobiography, p. 116.
4 Add. MS., 32980, f. 207 ; Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS.,.
1, 11S ; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 121.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 103
before the house, and that the papers of the company,
which had been already submitted to parliament, should
be printed. Both motions were carried without a
division, and further consideration of the question was
postponed for a fortnight ; but, though the ministers
had been apparently victorious, the debate had been
not a little damaging to them by revealing their
dissensions. Charles Townshend did not scruple to
utter his objections to the course proposed ; and Con-
way, though more moderate and restrained, argued
that, as the proposals had neither been approved nor
rejected by the cabinet, the time had not yet come to
submit them to the judgment of the house of
commons. 1
If Grafton's anxiety for the future was intensified
by the part played by Townshend and Conway in the
debate on March 6th, the Rockingham whigs had
equally little cause to feel satisfied. There had been
an opportunity of attacking the ministry upon a
question, on which they were in agreement with the
Grenvilles and the Bedfords, and they had failed
even to bring the motions to the test of a division.
' We are much laughed at," wrote Newcastle, " for
our conduct on Friday, and not making use of the
advantages we had from Charles Townshend and
Conway " ; and he could have been but ill pleased
to learn from George Onslow that " yesterday was a
great day for the administration ; that they carried
their point ; that they have put off the East India
affair for a fortnight ; in which time they will make
up everything with Charles Townshend." 2 If such
was indeed the case, the enemies of the administration
1 Add. MS., 32980, f. 217 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 213 ; Walpole's Letters,
7, 89-92 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 304-305.
2 Add. MSS., 32980, f. 224, f. 238.
104 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
must strike a blow before it was too late ; and fortune
favoured them. Rockingham, much to his joy, dis-
covered that the order to print the company's papers,
submitted to parliament, was objected to, not only
by his friends, but also by the followers of Grenville
and Bedford ; x and he was therefore encouraged to renew
the attack by a reasonable chance of success, and in
the hope that something might be done towards
promoting a permanent alliance between the parties
in opposition. Newcastle, as eager as ever in his old
age for the fray, was delighted to see what he took
to be the " beginning of concert between Lord Rock-
ingham and the Bedford party," and emphatically
and truly enough declared that " nothing can be done
without it, either for the publick or the party." 2
Under such favourable conditions a plot was quickly
hatched ; and in accordance with an idea, which
apparently originated with Rigby, it was arranged
that on Monday, March 9th, one of the directors of
the company should present a petition to the house
of commons, asking that the papers called for should
not be printed. The government, taken by surprise,
found itself confronted by an exultant and united
opposition. Dowdeswell, Burke, Rigby, Grenville, and
Charles Yorke all spoke on behalf of the company,
and how nearly they approached victory is shown
by the fact that the ministerial motion, to adjourn the
debate until the following Wednesday, was only carried
1 Add. MS., 32980, f. 220. " I have seen," wrote Rockingham to Charles
Yorke, " several who are ready to revive the subject, and oppose the printing,
etc. Sir Laurence Dundas, after he had been with me, saw Rigby. Rigby
went to G. Grenville, and I met Rigby to-night at Arthur's . Rigby is eager,
and assures me that G. Grenville is so, and will support and vote heartily.
They have suggested that the best way of bringing the matter on again would
be by getting the directors to apply to parliament, begging that the papers
may not be printed." Add. MS., 35430, f. 166.
* Add. MS., 32980, f. 238.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 105
by the slender majority of thirty-three votes. 1 Even
this, however, was more of a temporary check than a
defeat of the opposition who looked forward to resum-
ing the debate on March nth, and nursed high hopes
of victory. " I don't think," wrote Lord Rockingham
on the day between the two encounters, " a majority
of thirty-three on a question of adjournment a mighty
matter of exultation for administration. ... I think,
with some pains, we may add a few more, and I think
the Bedfords and Grenvillites may also add, and I
hope for some out of the 180." 2 But his expectations
were disappointed, for, when March nth came, the
government frustrated its adversaries by beating a
retreat. It was proposed that only the charters and
treaties, and not the correspondence or accounts of the
company, should be printed, and the opposition,
deprived of a contest, was reluctantly obliged to
allow the motion to pass without a division. The
ministry had triumphed by playing the old game
of defeating your antagonists by embracing their
opinions. 3
The course of East India affairs had certainly,
up to this point, not run any too smoothly for the
ministers; and, although they had succeeded in re-
maining afloat, they had not done much more. The
debates in the house of commons had revealed the
dissensions in the cabinet to the outside world; and
it was not only in its handling of this delicate and
intricate business that the ministry had lost in pres-
tige and weight. It had been defeated in the house
of commons on a financial measure. When, on
February 27th, Charles Townshend had proposed that
1 Add. MS. 32980, f. 248 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 306-307 ; Walpole's
Letters, 7, 89.
2 Add. MSS., 32980, f. 250. 3 Add. MS., 32980, f. 262, f. 264.
106 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the land tax should be continued at the existing rate
of four shillings in the pound, William Dowdeswell,
formerly Rockingham's chancellor of the exchequer,
brought forward an amendment reducing the tax
to three shillings ; and the amended motion, sup-
ported by all sections of the opposition, and by not a
few country members who, though generally support-
ing the government, were anxious, with a general
election looming in the near future, to please their
constituents, 1 was carried against the ministry by
eighteen votes. 2 This attack was certainly not due
to the inspiration of the moment, for it had been
carefully prepared beforehand by the Rockingham
whigs. Hearing that Grenville intended to propose
a reduction of the land tax, and alarmed lest he should,
in consequence, acquire too much popularity, 3 they
agreed to forestall him, and Newcastle was active in
whipping up supporters for Dowdeswell's motion. 4
That their conduct was factious, and entirely un-
worthy of their reputation for honesty and fair dealing
must be frankly admitted by all impartial inquirers.
It is true that Dowdeswell was able to make out a
plausible case for the reduction ; but the best of
politicians are only too adept at defending a bad
cause ; and the heaviest condemnation of the Rock-
ingham whigs, for their surrender to the desire for mere
factious success, came from members of their own
party. Burke, Charles Yorke, and Lord Albemarle,
1 George Cooke, who, though joint paymaster general, voted for the amend-
ment, defended his action to Chatham on the ground that " his particular
situation as member for Middlesex, and being chosen by the unanimous and
affectionate voice of my constituents, rendered it impossible for me not to vote
for the three shillings." Chatham Correspondence, 3, 222 ; see also 224.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 224 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 211 ; Hist. MSS.
Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., i, 119; Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 298 fL
Grenville dates the debate February 25th.
3 Add. MS., 32980, f. 138.
4 Add. MSS., 32980, f. 147, f. 149, f. 151, f. 153.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 107
all disapproved in different degrees of the action of
their friends ; and if Admiral Keppel agreed to
support the motion, it was only after making the
damning confession that, if Dowdeswell proposed the
reduction, " he believed he should be for it ; but if
Mr Grenville moved it, he should certainly be
against it." x
A ministry, which deserved and enjoyed the con-
fidence of the country, might have afforded to despise
such an unworthy triumph ; but Chatham's adminis-
tration was not in a position to endure with safety
even a defeat which reflected so little discredit. The
land tax was the first important measure lost by a
government since the fall of Sir Robert Walpole ; 2
and the catastrophe had overtaken a cabinet which
was torn by internal dissensions, and was pursuing, in
its negotiation with the East India Company, so
tortuous a road that it was impossible to guess at its
destination. If additional burdens were added to its
already heavy load, it seemed that it must collapse
under a weight, already far too heavy for its shoulders ;
and it was an ironical stroke of fate that imposed upon
an administration, which had already proved its in-
efficiency up to the hilt, the exceedingly difficult task
of restoring peace and order in America. Unfortun-
ately it is always easier to begin than to stop a revolu-
tion, and the colonial policy of the first Rockingham
administration has perhaps been credited with a greater
success than it actually achieved. The imposition of
the stamp act had set ablaze a fire of rebellion in
America, which was by no means utterly extinguished
by the repeal of that measure. Agitators who had
1 Add. MS., 35362, f. 63, f. 65 ; Add. MS., 32980, f. 144 ; Hist. MSS. Coram.
Stopford Sackville MSS., 1, 119; Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 298 ff.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 301.
108 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
profited by the late disturbances, revolutionary spirits
who, while willing to accept all that England had to
give, resented every demand of the mother country
as a grievance, and sincere devotees of freedom, who
believed that the majority of English statesmen
harboured a dark design against colonial liberty, all
combined to maintain an atmosphere of restless
suspicion. Though Rockingham had repealed the
stamp act, he had not been able completely to
obliterate the past ; and his successors in office
were soon to learn that the colonial problem had
received no final solution. Early in February, 1767,
it was known in England that several of the
colonies had refused obedience to the mutiny act
extended by Grenville to America, that many of
the sufferers by the riots over the stamp act were
still anxiously awaiting compensation for the losses
they had incurred, and that the province of New
York had petitioned parliament to be relieved from
the main restrictions imposed by the navigation
acts. 1
No wise observer could be blind to the fact that
the American problem called for delicate handling,
or be surprised that the colonists had not instantly
resumed a submissive and deferential attitude to-
wards the mother country. Those who, like Lord
George Sackville, believed that the stamp act ought
never to have been repealed, of course saw " the fatal
consequences of yielding to riot and ill-grounded
clamour " ; 2 but more impartial and judicious ob-
servers perceived in these events the last dying efforts
of a diminishing storm. Yet it would be a mistake
to imagine that those, who took the more conciliatory
view, were in favour of granting the colonies all
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., i, 118. » Ibid.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 109
that they chose to ask, and of winning peace by further
and further concessions. As determined as their
adversaries to maintain the supremacy of the mother
country, they differed from them, more in the
means they adopted, than in the end they sought.
Their first and greatest object must be to restore
the confidence of the colonists in the mother
country, and that could be best achieved by a
happy blending of moderation and firmness. The
storm must be stilled, not forcibly repressed ;
and, above all, no occasion given to the Americans
to believe that they would forfeit their ancient
rights and privileges by remaining under English
rule.
That such a policy was difficult no one could deny,
but that it was impossible would be hazardous to
assert. That all the revolutions, which have occurred
in history, were inevitable from the beginning may be
a convenient doctrine to hold, but it certainly does
not bear the test of historical investigation ; and,
amidst much that is doubtful and open to question,
it is abundantly clear that, in the year 1767, an over-
whelming majority of the American colonists had
never contemplated the idea of severing the connection
with the mother country. Though restless and dis-
contented, and only too likely to become the prey of
agitators who would, given favouring circumstances,
work them up to the revolution level, they still re-
mained for the most part loyal to England ; and on
this foundation might have been based a restoration
of those harmonious relations which had so recently
existed. Moreover, with Chatham in power, there
seemed a reasonable chance of such a policy being
pursued. Not only the prime minister, but Grafton,
Shelburne, and Conway, were well known to be favour-
110 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
able to the colonists, and, from his place in the house
of commons, Chatham had denounced the stamp act
as actually illegal, and had applauded the resistance
which it had encountered in America. Drawing a
distinction between an external tax imposed for the
sake of regulating commerce, and an internal tax levied
in the country itself for the purpose of obtaining a
revenue, he had declared, while justifying the former
class of impositions, that the latter was a gross and
unlawful infringement of the liberties of the colonists
who could claim, as well as Englishmen, to be free from
taxation by any body in which they were not
represented.
That the distinction drawn by Chatham had very
little ground in fact, and is hardly capable of a serious
defence, would be readily allowed at the present day ;
for it is impossible to contend that the duties imposed
by parliament upon colonial trade were not taxes
upon American wealth. Yet, arbitrary and unreal
as such a doctrine was, it was not without value at the
time it was enunciated ; for, while permitting the
mother country to continue to restrain colonial trade
in her own interests, it entirely differentiated from
such impositions an internal tax levied within the
country ; and thus the colonists, happy in the entirely
fictitious belief that they were not being taxed by
the mother country, might continue to submit quietly
to the various commercial restrictions imposed by
parliament. The delusion was ruthlessly exposed
by Charles Townshend who, on January 26th,
1767, declared in the house of commons that
the distinction between internal and external taxa-
tion was illusory and nonsensical, that he knew
a way of taxing the colonies without giving
offence, and that, in order to increase the revenue
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 111
from America he was prepared to put it into
effect. 1
Few men have been simultaneously so right and
so wrong as Townshend on this occasion. In ridicul-
ing the doctrine maintained by his leader, he had
scored a sound academic point, and he could justify
himself by the undeniable fact that the American
revenue had been sadly depleted by the repeal of the
stamp act and the removal of certain prohibitive
duties upon American commerce ; 2 but anything less
statesmanlike or more reckless than his conduct it
is difficult to conceive. Without consulting any of
his colleagues, or giving them the slightest intimation
of his intention, 3 he had not only directly defied the
prime minister, but definitely pledged himself to
impose taxes upon the colonies with the object of ob-
taining a revenue ; and the promise was eagerly wel-
comed by a listening and astonished house. Whether
those taxes were internal or external was now of little
importance, for Townshend, by his criminal folly, had
destroyed a distinction which, however baseless in
fact, might have served an useful political turn. The
colonists, having eagerly accepted the doctrine of.
" no taxation without representation," now knew
that a commercial duty could be made as productive
of a revenue as an internal tax, and that a weapon
was being forged for use against them, which, without
being open to the same objection as the stamp act,
would cut quite as deeply into their purses and their
liberty. That they might have been more willing to
contribute towards the expenses of the empire, and
1 Add. MS., 32979, f. 343; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 126; Hist. MSS.
Comm. Lothian MSS., 274; Weston Underwood MSS., 402; Chatham
Correspondence, 3, 176, 182.
2 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 402.
3 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 126.
112 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
displayed a greater readiness to participate in its
burdens as well as in its privileges, may be allowed,
but this does not excuse Charles Townshend. His
crime is not that he violated a constitutional principle,
or sought to fetter the colonies in slavery to England ;
but that, at a time when it behoved a wiser statesman
to tread warily and with caution, when everything
should have been done to disarm American suspicion,
he recklessly, and entirely on his own responsibility,
fanned into active flame the embers of a dying griev-
ance. His fault was not what he did, but the time
he chose to do it.
At the present day, such behaviour in a subordinate
would be promptly and justifiably met by dismissal
from the cabinet ; but Chatham was secluded at Bath,
and, as Grafton sadly admits, " no one of the ministry
had authority sufficient to advise the dismission of
Mr Charles Townshend, and nothing less could have
stopped the measure." x Saddled with such a col-
league, the youthful first lord of the treasury, still
only in his thirty-second year, might well scan the
future with anxiety. Whatever business he under-
took, whether he dealt with the old world or the new,
he was confronted by the chancellor of the exchequer
bent upon the pursuit of a policy in direct conflict with
the wishes of the prime minister. If worse evils were
not to follow, it was time that Chatham returned to
piece together the shattered fragments of his authority.
Starting from Bath about the middle of February, he
was seized on the road by an attack of gout, and obliged
to rest at Marlborough. There he remained many
days, lying at the inn of the town ; and it was not
until March 2nd that he arrived in London. Much
had happened during his absence ; and it was no
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 126.
THE MINISTRY ON ITS TRIAL 113
peaceful prospect that faced him on his return. Ill
and suffering as he was, he would be obliged, if his
hopes were to be saved from shipwreck, to perform
a task which, if successfully accomplished, would
rank with his greatest achievements in the past ; but
it remained to be seen whether he was equal to such
an undertaking.
CHAPTER III
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION
Chatham's arrival in London, at the beginning of
March, 1767, forms a notable landmark in the history
of his ill-fated and disastrous administration. No one
had more eagerly awaited his return than Grafton who,
convinced that his leader would be able to restore
order out of chaos, looked to be rewarded for having
toiled against hope in the hour of adversity. Nor
can his expectation be considered in any way un-
reasonable or unfounded. Though no longer the
object of that almost idolatrous veneration which
had once been paid him, Chatham, illumined by the
lustre of his past achievements, was still regarded as
differing in kind, as well as in degree, from the other
politicians of the day, and accounted capable of ac-
complishing feats which to most men would be well
outside the range of possibility. That supreme self-
confidence, which had once allowed him to justify his
proud boast that he alone could save England, might
be expected to nerve him in the present crisis ; for
surely never did the trumpet-call to action louder
sound. Stretched before his eyes lay the ruins of
the administration, built by himself according to
principles which, though derided by other political
architects as eccentric and bizarre, he believed to be
just and sound ; and it was for him to repair the
edifice shattered in his absence. Inspiring by his
114
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 115
presence those in whom hope was almost dead, rooting
up the evils which menaced the safety of the state,
and routing the enemy who had taken heart while
he dallied at Bath, he might by these means rejuvenate
a ministry which had fallen into the last stage of
decay. Few statesmen have been granted a more
favourable opportunity of increasing an already glorious
reputation ; and, if the task was arduous, the prize
was proportionately great. Ten years had elapsed
since the country, threatened by enemies abroad and
incompetence at home, had turned to William Pitt
for deliverance ; and now again he was needed to
repair the mischief which other men had wrought.
But the hopes raised by the prime minister's return
to the capital were doomed to a speedy and crushing
disappointment ; for he came back to his labours a
changed and broken man, incapable of performing the
work which lay ready to his hand. He stood on the
eve of a complete nervous break-down, and betrayed
all the wonted symptoms of mental distress. His
friends, unaware of the disease which, day by day, was
fastening its grip upon him, were astonished to find
that all his old vigour and determination had fled.
He declared himself unequal to the transaction of busi-
ness, and, after making a fruitless attempt to remove
Townshend from the chancellorship of the exchequer
in favour of Lord North, relapsed into a complete state
of inaction, rarely seeing his colleagues, and only once
visiting the king. For a few weeks he remained in
London, doing nothing to set right the disorganised
machinery of the government ; but it was not long
before he finally succumbed, and retired to Hampstead.
There, in a house situated in a remote corner of the
Heath, and effectively screened from all passers-by,
he lived for many months secluded from the world,
116 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
a prey to an agony which, if they had witnessed it,
would surely have moved his bitterest enemies to com-
passion. Without the power of making the most
trifling intellectual effort, the least call upon his energy
sufficed to throw him into a paroxysm of distress ;
and the statesman, who had controlled and dominated
a world- waged conflict, now shuddered at the slightest
reference to politics or affairs of state. Sometimes he
might be seen riding out upon the Heath, but it was
but seldom that he took such active exercise ; and, for
the greater part of the day, he remained within doors,
sitting with his face buried in his hands, but rarely
speaking, and generally alone. 1 His contemporaries,
unskilled in differentiating between the varying degrees
of mental affliction, either thought him mad or sham-
ming madness ; but he was neither insane nor a
hypocrite. He was but paying the price of a body
and mind overtaxed in the past ; and outraged nature
took her revenge at the moment most inopportune
for the country's welfare.
Thus the restoration of the ministry, so confidently
expected by many, was not to come to pass ; and if
Charles Townshend had cause for exultation in the
removal of the one man who could have kept him in
check, the burden of disappointment fell upon the
unfortunate first lord of the treasury. What had
promised to be the dawn of salvation suddenly turned
into the midnight of despair ; and Grafton was left to
preside over a ministry which he had already shown
that he could not control. It would have been well
for the country, and well for his own political reputa-
tion, if he had declined the task thus imposed upon
him ; but it should always be remembered to his
credit that it was no unworthy craving for power
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 118.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 117
that induced him to remain at his post. It was im-
possible to predict the hour when Chatham would have
sufficiently recovered to resume command, and Grafton
believed it to be his duty to keep the ministry together,
waiting his leader's return. If he had resigned, he
might have acquired peace and security, and escaped
the censures of historians ; but, ignorant of what the
future was to bring forth, he feared by retirement to
destroy the administration, and thus cast Chatham
once more adrift in political life. If he acted wrongly,
he, at least, had the courage to persist in a noble, if
fatal, journey along the path of greatest resistance.
With all the fervent devotion of a young man, he
sincerely, almost passionately, believed that Chatham
alone was capable of bringing salvation to a distraught
nation, and shrank from a course of action which might
effectively prevent his hero's return to power. If
he had viewed the situation from a more critical, and
less partial, standpoint, if he had thought less of
Chatham, and more of his own incapacity to rule, it
would have been better ; but, whatever were his faults,
they were those of the understanding, not of the heart.
Yet, much as he idolised Chatham, even that de-
votion might not have sufficed to steel him to under-
take the task if he had fully known its magnitude ;
and the tragedy of his career lies in the fact that he
so completely failed to attain the end for which he
endured the distasteful burden of power. Chatham
was destined never to return to office ; and, though
Grafton continued as first lord of the treasury, it
was Charles Townshend who ruled in the cabinet,
and dictated the ministerial policy. Thus the stone,
which the builder had wanted to reject, became, in
that builder's absence, the head of the corner ; and, in
a famous passage in a famous speech, Burke, referring
118 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to Chatham's temporary eclipse, has described " how
even before this splendid orb was entirely set, and
while the western horizon was in a blaze with his
descending glory, on the opposite quarter of the
heavens arose another luminary, and for his hour
became lord of the ascendant." That luminary was
Charles Townshend ; and England has deep cause to
regret that ever such a star shone in the political
heavens. Playing politics as a gambler might play
a game of cards with no money on the table, " unfixed
in principles and place," brilliant in debate, and
ready to say anything which would serve his turn
at the moment, 1 he could inspire every sentiment
except confidence, and be everything except consistent.
Nothing could possibly be a severer condemnation
of the practical application of Chatham's much-
vaunted principle of "men, not measures ,: than the
only too apparent fact that, with the single exception
of the prime minister, there was not a member of the
cabinet capable of staying Townshend in his erratic
and perilous course. Grafton might, indeed, bare his
breast to the storm, but only to be overthrown and
swept away like a piece of wreckage. Conway, quite
apart from the fact that on certain points he was in
agreement with his turbulent colleague, was far too
uncertain of his own opinions, too prone to waver and
hesitate, to withstand an antagonist who had at least
the merit of knowing what he wanted ; and, more-
over, there was little inducement for Conway to plunge
into such a fray, as he had already determined upon
retirement at the end of the session. 2 Lord Shelburne,
the other secretary of state, was indeed made of
1 He did not scruple to encourage the Rockingham whigs to believe that
he was about to throw in his lot with them. Add. MS., 32980, f. 296, f. 333 ;
Chatham Correspondence, 3, 240.
3 Add. MS., 32980, f. 300 ; Chatham Correspondence, 3, 240.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 119
sterner stuff, amply furnished with convictions, and
the least likely of men to submit to the will of another ;
but, instead of battling against the storm, he preferred
to discontinue his attendance at cabinet meetings,
confining himself to the duties of his office. 1 Thus,
with no one to say him nay, Townshend was able to
strike for independence, and reap to the full all the
advantages which might be gleaned from Chatham's
illness.
If, at such a moment, the ministry, bereft of its
leader, and shaken to its foundations by one too
powerful member, had been called upon to meet the
attack of a united opposition, the end might have
been quick indeed in coming. Nor was the danger
so remote as has sometimes been imagined. No
settlement had yet been reached with the East India
Company, and it was not improbable that a common
sympathy for that threatened corporation might
serve as a bond between Rockingham, Grenville, and
Bedford, leading them to form a permanent alliance
against the government. There is no doubt that all
three leaders were in favour of a parliamentary union
if certain difficulties could be accommodated ; and a
negotiation was set on foot about the end of March.
But, though all might be convinced that they could
never succeed, unless they organised themselves for
the battle, it was by no means easy to plan the dis-
tribution of the spoils which would follow upon the
hoped-for victory. Rockingham was determined that
neither Grenville nor any of his followers should be
given the treasury ; and, although at first there seemed
to be a fair prospect of success, Grenville showing
himself unexpectedly conciliatory, the sky quickly
1 It was after the meeting on March 1 2th that Shelburne ceased to attend
the cabinet. Lord Fitzmaurice's Life of Shelburne, ii. s8.
120 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
became overcast. In George Grenville's heart burned
a steady flame of suspicion of the men who had re-
versed his American policy ; and, imagining that they
intended to use him as a tool for their own ends, he
raised his terms, and, after asking for the treasury
for Lord Temple, allowed the Bedfords to demand it
for himself. The request, objectionable as it might
be to those to whom it was made, was emphatically
not unreasonable, for Grenville had better claims
than Rockingham to the first place in the government.
A more varied experience of political life, a far more
extensive knowledge of parliamentary procedure, a
far greater readiness in debate, and an equally un-
sullied reputation for honesty and integrity, could
all be pleaded on behalf of the contention that he
should lead and Rockingham should follow. Yet, if
he was right to ask, the young whig marquis was
equally right to refuse, and to break off the negotia-
tion when he understood that the demand would not
be withdrawn. It was no personal spite, no petty
or selfish impulse, that led him to abhor the prospect
of Grenville at the treasury ; but a deep-rooted and
well-founded conviction that the statesman, who had
introduced the stamp act, might, if given a favour-
able opportunity, revive it. When Rockingham
stipulated that his own party must have a majority
in any cabinet that was formed, that Grenville must be
rigorously excluded from all dealings with the colonies,
and that the policy of the late administration towards
the trade and commerce of America must be con-
tinued, he revealed what he feared from an alliance
with the men whose work he had undone. 1 Between
1 Add. MS., 32980, f. 450. For the negotiation generally, see Add. MS.,
32980, f. 374, f. 376, f. 384, f. 386, f. 398, f. 410, f. 418, f. 424, f. 438, f. 440,
f. 450, f. 454 ; Add. MS., 32981, f. 1, f. 24 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 218-220.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 121
him and Grenville lay a clear and fundamental diverg-
ence of opinion on a question still unsettled ; and it is
to their credit that they refused to sacrifice principles,
which they believed to be true, to a policy which they
knew to be expedient.
Yet, though the negotiation had proved abortive,
the different parties in opposition were prepared to
work together against the government ; for, whatever
their differences might be, it was to the interest of all
to overthrow the existing ministry. The demand of
the treasury for Grenville had been declined in friendly
and polite terms ; x and no little pains were taken to
maintain amicable relations between those who had
failed to arrive at a common understanding. Gren-
ville assured Lord Mansfield, who quickly passed the
information on to Newcastle, that he intended to
refrain from proposing any measure, in regard to the
American colonies, which would clash with Lord
Rockingham's views ; 2 and although Bedford was
reported to be angry at the negotiation having failed,
and to have said that, had it succeeded, " he would
have done nothing upon the American affairs that
could be disagreeable to us ; but that being over, he
will push his own opinion as far as he can " ; in con-
versation with Newcastle he displayed a more con-
ciliatory spirit, declaring himself in favour of a " solid,
cordial agreement and union" between all parties in
opposition. 3 Newcastle, himself, was strongly of the
same opinion. " We have," he wrote in April, " three
parties ; one, the administration, I will have nothing
to do with ; the remaining two I most sincerely wish
united for the sake of the nation and the whig cause.
I am not clear that either party is much pleased with
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 1. 2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 28.
3 Add. MS., 32981, f. 65, f. 156.
122 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
me for my way of thinking . . . which is to try to have
it in my own way, and that of my friends, if I can ; but
if not, if the union is necessary, as I think it is, I wish
it made any way almost rather than no way." * A
few weeks later, he repeated the same sentiments,
affirming his belief in a " coalition and union which
I think can alone save this country " ; 2 and even
Rockingham, who appeared to be so hostile to Gren-
ville's influence, 3 began to think more kindly of a
possible combination of forces. 4 Newcastle, indeed,
in his anxiety for union, went further than Rocking-
ham and a good many other members of the party ;
but there were some who agreed with him, and amongst
them was Sir William Meredith. " He differs," wrote
Newcastle to the Duke of Portland, " more with our
friend, the marquess, about union and coalition, than
your grace and I do. He thinks it so necessary, that
he intends (as he says) to sit by George Grenville in
the house of commons, to use himself to it," 5 — a
self-denying ordinance which was a doubtful com-
pliment to Grenville.
Thus, though no formal alliance had been con-
cluded, the parties in opposition were inclined to sink
their differences for the time being, and to unite against
the ministry ; and the parliamentary conflict might
well prove arduous and exhausting for a government
rent by internal dissensions and deprived of its leader.
The inquiry into the affairs of the East India Company,
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 254. 3 Add. MS., 32982, f. 148.
3 •' I know no news," wrote Newcastle to Lord Grantham on April 17th,
" and am not very curious about any. My Lord Rockingham made me a
visit, ... I showed him my account of what passed with the Duke of Bedford.
He said not a word upon it ; neither seemed pleased nor displeased : but
stopped at every place where George Grenville was named, against whom
and my Lord Temple . . . he seems more picqued than ever." Add. MS.,
32981, f. 197.
4 Add. MS., 32982, f. 148. 5 Add. MS., 32982, f. 146.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 123
and the condition of the American colonies, offered
many easy points of attack ; and the members of the
cabinet could not but regard the future with some
degree of trepidation. But to stand still was im-
possible, and the papers of the East India Company
were discussed and examined by the house of
commons. After a lengthy and tedious inquiry, there
occurred, on April 14th, the first important struggle
between the government and the opposition, since
Chatham's return from Bath. The battle was opened
by Sir William Meredith who moved that an end be
put to the committee on the affairs of the company.
If he carried his motion, the ministry would, indeed,
suffer a crushing and humiliating defeat. It would
be compelled, at the dictation of its enemies, to aban-
don a task over which it had expended much time and
trouble, and which Chatham had placed in the very
forefront of his programme. The laborious examina-
tion of the company's papers had been undertaken
in order to furnish Beckford, who was recognised as
Chatham's mouthpiece in this question, with informa-
tion upon which to found the resolutions he was
prepared to submit to the house ; and, if Meredith
triumphed, this intention would be frustrated, and
the company secured from all further molestation.
No more direct challenge to the administration could
possibly have been contrived, and it had all the de-
fects of a frontal attack. The ministers strained
every nerve to avert defeat on so final an issue, and
it was hard for impartial men to believe that the ex-
amination had revealed nothing to justify further
proceedings ; and yet, unreasonable as Meredith's
proposal essentially was, it was not until after a lengthy
discussion, continuing until the early hours of the
following morning, that a ministerial motion, adjourn-
124 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ing the debate until May ist, was carried by a majority
of fifty-six. 1
But, though the opposition had been defeated,
there was no reason why despair should prevail in
its ranks. The minority had numbered one hundred
and fifty-seven, no inconsiderable number on what
was described as so " unfavourable a proposition"; 2
and there was, therefore, a hope that, if more favourable
ground was selected for the next conflict, a victory
might even be won. Moreover, there was another,
and indeed a weightier, reason for the enemies of the
government, to persevere in the attack : while they
had stood united, the ministerialists had clearly
revealed their internal differences. Voicing the
avowed sentiments of the absent leader, Beckford
had announced that his resolutions would deal with
the legal right of the company to the territories it
had acquired, while Townshend and Conway had
maintained their old contention that the question of
the right should be waived, and a speedy and amic-
able settlement be made. 3 The moment was indeed
critical. If Beckford moved his resolutions, he would
encounter the hostility, not only of the opposition, but
also of two leading members of the administration ;
and it might well be that he would incur defeat, and,
perchance, inflict a mortal wound upon the. ministry.
Grafton believed in the policy which Chatham and
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., i, 122; Walpole's Memoirs,
iii. 1 ft.
2 Grenville Papers, 4, 10.
3 Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., 1, 122 ; Weston Underwood
MSS., May 2nd, 1767 ; Walpole's Memoirs, iii. 1 ff. It is nowhere actually
stated that Conway and Townshend said what is attributed to them in the
text ; but Walpole records that they took part in the discussion, and Lord
George Sackville states that " in the course of the debate, the ministry thought
proper to disclaim all violence and hostility against the company, and seemed
to decline the question of right."
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 125
Beckford favoured ; but, if he was true to this con-
viction, he ran the risk of destroying the administration
which, he was sincerely convinced, it was his duty
to uphold until Chatham's return. It was no easy
decision which he was called upon to make, for both
surrender and defiance could be supported by argu-
ments based upon principles ; and no blame attaches
to his final resolution to surrender to his colleagues, in
order to avert a disruption in the cabinet, and to
deprive the opposition of a formidable weapon against
the government. He may have erred, but it was
from no unworthy motive, and the heavier guilt lies
upon the shoulders of his rebellious subordinates.
But it was they who enjoyed the triumph of the hour.
When, on May ist, the house of commons met, expect-
ing to hear Beckford move his resolutions, Boulton,
one of the directors of the company, announced that
fresh proposals had been made by his company to the
government, which seemed likely to result in a final
settlement ; and he therefore asked the house to
delay the discussion of East Indian affairs for another
week, in the hope that by that time terms might have
been arranged, which could be submitted for its ap-
proval. The motion, supported as it was by Town-
shend and Conway, was carried ; and consequently
the opposition was deprived of the privilege of falling
tooth and nail upon Beckford's resolutions. 1
The terms offered to the government were not such
as Chatham would have approved, deviating as they
did from that " right forward road " which he had
always wished to tread. 2 In return for certain com-
mercial concessions, the company undertook to make
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS. ( 405 ; Walpole's Memoirs,
11-13-
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 125.
126 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
an annual payment of £400,000 to the state for a term
of two years. No mention was made of the vexed
question of the territorial rights of the company,
which was still left as open as it had been when
Chatham first put his hand to the plough ; and the
most favourable of its critics could hardly have re-
garded the agreement as a permanent settlement of
a difficult problem. In character not unlike a
huckster's bargain, nothing could have less resembled
the policy which Chatham had outlined when he took
office ; and, if Grafton had saved the ministry, he had
equally betrayed the opinions of his leader. Moreover,
he was to discover that what he had striven to avert
was yet to come to pass. As though pursued by a
malign destiny, he was to be robbed of much of the
benefit he had anticipated from his surrender, by an
unforseen incident which was to delay a final settle-
ment for many weeks, and once more plunge the
ministry into internecine strife. When it became
known that the company had undertaken to make
an annual grant to the state of so substantial a sum
as £400,000, the proprietors of stock began to fear a
sensible reduction in the dividends, and displayed all
the customary greed of shareholders. Thinking of
nothing but their own pockets, and of no one but
themselves, the general court of the company, at a
meeting on May 6th, voted a dividend of 12J per cent,
for the ensuing half year, and, in so doing, bade open
defiance to the directors and the state. 1
The bearing of such an incident upon the course
of the negotiation can be easily appreciated. It was
as clear as noonday that if the company continued
to enjoy the right of voting what dividends it pleased,
the annual payment to the state would be seriously
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 16.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 127
imperilled. The proprietors of stock would be driven
by every impulse of self-interest to secure themselves
against financial loss, and only a small minority could
be expected to be tenacious of the honour of the cor-
poration. What they had already done, they might
well repeat in the future ; and, therefore, every con-
sideration of wisdom and foresight dictated that,
before any final settlement was arrived at with the
company, its power of voting dividends should be
restricted within reasonable limits. The actions of
politicians are seldom guided, however, by the light
of pure reason, and when, on May 8th, Jeremiah Dyson
asked leave to introduce a bill, providing that the
dividends of the company were not to exceed ten per
cent, until the next session of parliament, that veteran
placeman discovered that he had started a hare which
many were eager to hunt ; and, though the bill was
ultimately carried in both houses, its passage was not
unattended with difficulty. In the house of commons
both Conway and Townshend frankly avowed their
dislike of a measure which they regarded as tyran-
nical ; x and in the house of lords the leaders of the
opposition, deprived by the action of the government
of bigger game, took their revenge by attacking the
dividend bill. 2 Yet, supported by the king, Grafton
prevailed ; and, after the bill had been passed, the
terms agreed upon between the ministry and the
company were embodied in an act which received the
sanction of parliament.
Thus a lengthy and troublesome business was
brought to a temporary conclusion ; but the ministry
had little cause for triumph in the very moderate
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 224; Hist. Comm. MSS. Weston Underwood MSS.,
405; Stopford Sackville MSS., 1, 123; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 125;
Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 36.
2 Ibid., and Add. MS., 32982, f. 148, f. 192, f. 194-
128 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
success which it had achieved. Divided and dis-
cordant counsels, the absence of the prime minister,
and the recklessness of certain members of the cabinet,
had marred the execution of a great work ; and, if
Grafton and his colleagues had done nothing more
during the session, they would still have borne ample
testimony to their incapacity to rule. Unfortunately,
however, for the ill-fated first lord of the treasury,
he was called upon to deal with the American colonists
who were showing a fixed determination to resist
what they regarded as the aggressions and encroach-
ments of the mother country. The assembly of New
York refused to enforce the mutiny act, on the ground
that that measure, by compelling the provincial
assemblies to arrange for providing the troops with
quarters and a few of the common necessities of life,
was in reality a tax in kind if not in money, and New
York did not stand alone in rebellion ; for the assembly
of Massachusetts took upon itself to grant an indemnity
for all offences committed during the popular agitation
against the stamp act, and in so doing certainly passed
beyond the limits of its legal authority.
Such were the facts as they lay before the ministers,
and seldom has any government been confronted
with a more delicate and responsible task. If a
policy of inaction was pursued, if nothing was done,
and open defiance met by passive acquiescence in the
seemingly inevitable, the colonists would be led to
believe that they could ask for nothing which would
be refused. The repeal of the mutiny act would follow
the repeal of the stamp act, and be followed by the
repeal of the navigation laws, against which complaints
had already been raised : each concession would
form a precedent for the next, and America acquire
her independence at the hands of a government which
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 129
was neither firm nor conciliatory, but only weak.
It is possible to contend, at this distance of time, that
such a solution of the difficulty would have been by
far the wisest and happiest ; but it was certainly not
a course which recommended itself to any statesman
of the period ; and nothing is more unfair than to judge
the men of the past by the ideas of the present.
Whatever may be said of morality, political wisdom
is certainly ambulatory. Yet, if a stand was made
against rebellion, and a clear intimation given that
the repeal of the stamp act was to be the exception
and not the rule of English policy, no little care
would have to be taken to keep within the limits of
absolutely necessary coercion. If an unduly peremp-
tory attitude was adopted by the English ministers,
the colonists, already dangerously alienated in sym-
pathy from the mother country, might easily be
precipitated into rebellion. The cry would be raised
that England denied to her sons across the seas that
liberty which she had acquired for herself at home;
that American freedom would soon be but a glorious
memory of a bygone age ; and that the generations
to come would never forgive the men who, from a
craven love of peace and quiet, had allowed the fetters
of tyranny to be riveted upon themselves and their
children. Unfair as such an outcry might be, it would
be none the less potent ; for men, and above all the
champions of freedom, are often swayed by windy
sentiment and bombastic declamations ; and it behoves
wise statesmen to consider how their policy will appear
to imaginations aglow with excitement and rhetoric.
Thus, both coercion and conciliation presented
dangers, and the wisest, though not the easiest, course
to pursue was, probably, a judicious mixture of both.
Such, indeed, was the method adopted by the cabinet
130 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
when it met on Thursday, March 12th. It was decided
to introduce a bill prohibiting the governor, the
council, and the assembly of New York from passing
any bill until the mutiny act had been complied with ;
and all the ministers present, with the single exception
of Conway, approved of this proposal. Grafton, in
after years, described it as a " temperate, but dignified
proceeding, and purposely avoiding all harsh and
positive penalties " ; x and Shelburne, the friend of
America, has left it on record how at this time he
believed that " some measures . . . ought to be taken
of so bold and decisive a nature, as to convince the
Americans that the long patience of Great Britain
has been by no means owing to timidity, and yet the
ends of those measures should be so manifestly just
and important, as to leave no room for jealousies and
fears in the minds of the sober and well-disposed, and
thereby give no pretence for common measures of
resistance, and it would be still more desirable if these
measures could be directed against a particular pro-
vince." 2 Camden, the lord chancellor, who had
formerly denounced the stamp act not only as in-
expedient but as actually illegal, was now in favour
of a stand being made against the colonists' demands,
hinting, in a speech in the house of lords, that his
opinions might not be as lenient as they previously
had been ; 3 and though Chatham was not present at
this meeting of the cabinet, it is probable that he
quite approved the decision of his colleagues. On first
learning of the resistance offered by the New York
assembly, he roundly denounced such conduct.
" America," he wrote, " affords a gloomy prospect.
A spirit of infatuation has taken possession of New
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 126. 8 Shelburne' s Life, 2, 50-55.
3 Walpole's Memoirs, 2, 318.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 131
York : their disobedience to the mutiny act will
justly create a great ferment here, open a fair field
to the arraigners of America, and leave no room to
any to say a word in their defence." Nor was he any
more sympathetic towards the New York merchants
who had petitioned to be relieved from certain re-
strictions upon their trade, describing the request as
" highly improper : in point of time most absurd ;
in the extent of their pretensions most excessive ;
and in the reasoning, most grossly fallacious and
offensive " ; and, when informed of the indemnity
granted by the Massachusetts assembly, he oracularly
remarked : " New York has drunk the deepest of
the baneful cup of infatuation, but none seem to be
quite sober, and in full possession of reason." x These
were trenchant utterances in the mouth of one who had
openly proclaimed his joy at the resistance offered
by the Americans to the stamp act ; and it is clear
that, whatever Chatham had thought in the past, he
now believed that the time for concession was past.
This change in his opinions, if change it can be called,
was not long in becoming known. Early in April,
Newcastle informed Rockingham that the prime
minister favoured the adoption of strong measures
against the colonies ; and the Duke of Bedford was
apparently convinced that, in pressing for the punish-
ment of those who had dared to resist the authority
of parliament, he could count upon the sympathy of
Chatham. 2
Thus, with the exception of Conway, the ministers,
from the leader downwards, were in favour of check-
ing the growing spirit of turbulence in the plantations ;
and it is hard to accuse them of wrongdoing. While
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 188, 190, 193-4.
2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 34, f. 65.
132 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the Americans were justified in throwing off a yoke
which crippled and fettered their development, the
English ministers would have been more than human,
and something very different from what they actually
were, if they had been willing to accept, without a
struggle, the lesson which it was destined that they
should receive at the hands of the colonists. Every
step along the road of liberty is an innovation upon
what already exists ; and, at this critical juncture,
Grafton and his colleagues, trained in the old school
of colonial policy, conceived it to be their duty to
maintain the traditional relations between England
and the American plantations. The interpretation
which condemned the mutiny act as a violation of
the principle of no taxation without representation,
was capable of very indefinite extension ; and, if the
action of the New York assembly was condoned, fresh
and more exacting demands might be anticipated upon
the patience of the mother country. Nor, with any
show of reason, can the measure adopted by the
ministry be viewed as unduly tyrannical or oppressive.
A provincial legislature had defied the supremacy of
the English parliament, and the offence called for
punishment. The penalty, touching as it did the
legislative powers of the rebellious assembly, and
leaving untouched the life and property of those
who had not participated in the crime, was confined
in its operation to the actual offenders ; and, though
Conway might plead for conciliation, proof is lacking
that such a policy would have earned any greatermeasure
of success. Indeed, it might be argued, as it actually
was by Shelburne, that " if Great Britain does not
in some shape put forth her dignity on this occasion,
she may end by losing all credit and reverence in
America, and lose likewise her power there, which
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 133
is, and must be, in a great measure, founded on
opinion." x
Yet, however reasonable the ministerial proposal
might be, parliamentary criticism must be expected ;
for an opposition, which had harried the government
upon the affairs of the East India company, would not
be likely to remain quiescent when the colonies were
under discussion. But the danger, which confronted
the enemies of the administration, was that they might
fail to agree upon a programme of attack ; for between
Rockingham and Grenville lay a difference of opinion
on colonial policy, which could not be easily bridged.
But a yawning chasm, which cannot be crossed, can
sometimes be avoided ; and Grenville and Bedford,
aware of the necessity of standing united against the
government, had already assured the followers of Lord
Rockingham that they would refrain from making pro-
posals likely to offend the men who had repealed the
stamp act. 2 For a little time Rockingham declined
to show his hand, leaving his supporters, as Newcastle
somewhat bitterly remarked, to shift for themselves ; 3
and the evil consequences of such untimely reticence
were not long in making themselves felt. On April
ioth, the Duke of Bedford moved in the house of
lords that the king should be addressed to instruct
the privy council to consider the legality of the in-
demnity granted by the assembly of Massachusetts ;
and, although all his hearers were agreed in thinking
the indemnity illegal, the Duke of Grafton, interpreting
the motion as a vote of want of confidence in the
government, moved the previous question, and carried
it by a substantial majority of twenty-seven votes.
There is no doubt that the Rockingham whigs were
1 Shelburne's Life, 2, 55. 2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 28, f. 65.
3 Add. MS., 32981, f. 65.
134 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
largely responsible for the ease of the ministerial victory.
With no instructions from their leader, with no definite
plan of campaign, they knew not what to do, and were
as sheep without a shepherd. Rockingham, himself,
supported ,the government ; others, including Lord
Grantham, voted with the Duke of Bedford; and
Newcastle, Portland, Albemarle, and Bessborough
were amongst those who went away, before the division
was taken, in order that they might not be compelled
to oppose their friends. 1
Such was not a favourable opening for the opposi-
tion campaign which demanded union as an essential
condition of success ; and Grenville and Bedford,
after the assurances they had given, were, naturally
enough, somewhat chagrined at the conduct of the
Rockingham whigs. Nor was Newcastle any less
disappointed, for he bitterly regretted the loss of such
a golden opportunity of placating the Duke of Bedford. 2
The mischief, however, was not irreparable ; and, four
days after the debate in the house of lords, Newcastle
called upon the Duke of Bedford in order to apologise
for the conduct of his friends. His excuse was that,
as Bedford had not communicated his intentions,
Rockingham and his followers were taken unawares,
and each man obliged to do what was right in his
own eyes ; but, in reply, Bedford pointed out that, if
there had been communication, Conway, who was
known to be in frequent and intimate intercourse with
many members of the Rockingham party, might have
got wind of what was intended, and revealed the plot
to his colleagues in the cabinet. The hit was palpable,
but Newcastle was far too experienced a negotiator
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 112, f. 125 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 222; Walpole's
Memoirs, 2, 322, 323.
2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 127.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 135
to be driven away by the first rebuff. " I insisted
strongly," he reported, " that for the future proper
previous communications should be made on both
sides during the remainder of the session, in which
I thought His Grace entirely agreed." 1
Newcastle, in the course of a long life, had often been
doomed to go on many fruitless errands, but on this
occasion, at least, he was rewarded by success ; for
Bedford was as good as his word. On Sunday, May
3rd, Lord Gower, happening to meet Rockingham at
Arthur's, informed him that, on the following Wednes-
day in the house of lords, the ministers would be asked
to explain what they had done in the matter of the
Massachusetts assembly ; and Rockingham assured him
that he thought " it very fair and very right." The
fruit of this communication was seen on Wednesday,
May 6th, when Lord Gower moved for an account of
the proceedings of the privy council upon the action
of the Massachusetts assembly. The ministers opposed
the motion, alleging that the business would not be
finished until the end of the week ; but though they
carried the day, it was only by nine votes. The
increase in the numerical strength of the opposition
arose from the Rockingham whigs having thrown in
their lot with the Bedfords and the Grenvilles ; and
thus Newcastle could congratulate himself upon a
timely and successful visit to Bedford House. 2
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 156.
2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 313; Grenville Papers, 4, 11. Grenville gives the
government a majority of ten. It is nowhere distinctly stated that the
Rockingham whigs voted in the minority, but the assumption is justified
by their subsequent conduct, by the increase in the numbers of the opposition,
and by the approval which Rockingham had extended to Gower's plan. It
would be, moreover, a mistake to imagine that Rockingham was inclined to
be sympathetic towards the action of the Massachusetts assembly. In a
letter, dated May 1 ith, 1767, and addressed to a collector of customs at Boston,
he mentions his dissatisfaction " with the behaviour of the assembly in
136 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
The united attack upon the government, having
once begun, was not relaxed ; and it was in the upper
house that the surest hopes of victory for the opposi-
tion lay. Bedford and Newcastle had carefully
scrutinised the different parties in the assembly to
which they belonged, and agreed that they " had a
majority, or very near it, in the house of lords against
my Lord Bute and my Lord Chatham " ; * and thus
there was every inducement to continue the struggle.
Nor were they to be stayed by any concession on the
part of the ministers. Though the privy council
had annulled the indemnity, and though a record of
the Council's proceedings was to be submitted to the
house, this was not enough to satisfy an opposition
determined upon attack. The indemnity, though
annulled, had not been declared null and void ab
initio, and this omission supplied an excuse for an
onslaught upon the ministry on May 22nd. All was
carefully arranged beforehand ; 2 and the contest, when
it came, was exciting enough, a motion by Lord Gower
being only defeated by six votes. Rockingham and
Newcastle fought side by side with Bedford and
Temple, and the ministry was brought within an
ace of defeat. The opposition just failed to attain
success, but Newcastle was almost as much delighted
with the result as if it had been a victory. " I hope
you have not suffered," he wrote to Lord Rockingham
on the following day, " by your long attendance yester-
day. The good appearance we made has done me so
much good that I have not been so well, or slept so
well, of some time as I did last night. If all of us take
regard to tacking of their indemnity bill to the compensation bill. The
power of pardoning crimes of the nature of which the assembly has done, is
not only much beyond the limits of their constitution, but, in fact, would be
dangerous for themselves," Grenville Papers, 4, 12.
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 156. 2 Add. MS., 32982, f. 32.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 137
proper care, we shall beat them in the committee on
Tuesday, if the court don't bring down greater numbers
than they did yesterday." x Newcastle's high hopes,
however, were to be disappointed ; for, in the debate
on the following Tuesday, the ministry just succeeded
in holding its own, though only by the very narrow
majority of three votes. 2
These proceedings in the upper house are not
unworthy of attention, and it is much to be regretted
that our information concerning them is so scattered
and fragmentary. We know enough, however, to be
certain that Bedford, Rockingham, and Grenville had
agreed to sink their minor differences, and to act
together against the government ; and, in so doing,
they gave an useful lesson in the art of constitutional
opposition. Instead of intriguing in the royal closet,
as statesmen in the previous reign had so often done,
they sought to expel the ministers by depriving them
of parliamentary support, and thus paid indirect
homage to the sovereignty of the people. Moreover,
there is no reason to believe that Rockingham sacri-
ficed a single principle in order to gain the assistance
of Bedford or Grenville ; for such an accusation can
only be supported on the assumption that he was in
favour of conciliating the colonists at all costs, and
conceding all their demands. But such was certainly
not the case. If he was opposed to that system of direct
taxation which Grenville had introduced, and he had
abolished, he was equally opposed to compliance with
every request that the Americans chose to make. He
has left on record his views on the situation as it
existed in the year, 1767 : "a system of arbitrary rule
1 Add. MS., 32982, f. 95, f. 99 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 224 ; Walpole's
Memoirs, 3, 34.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 34.
138 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
over the colonies," he wrote, " I would not adopt
on this side ; neither would I do otherwise than strenu-
ously resist when attempts were made to throw off
that dependency to which the colonies ought to sub-
mit, not only for the advantage of this country, but
for their own real happiness and safety." 1 Thus
thinking, he was able to unite with Grenville and
Bedford in demanding the nullification of the Mas-
sachusetts act of indemnity, and, at the same time,
retain a man's most precious possession, his moral
integrity.
The united opposition, which had thus come into
being in the house of lords, also existed in the house
of commons which, on May 13th, was the scene of a
great debate upon the preliminaries of the ministerial
bill suspending the legislative powers of the New
York assembly. For many days before, it was known
that such a measure was in contemplation, and Rock-
ingham was not willing to allow such an opportunity
for an attack upon the government to slip. " I
understand from the Duke of Richmond," he wrote
on May 4th, " that the intention of administration
to-morrow in the house of commons is to propose a
bill to direct all the governors in North America not
to give their assent to any bill from their respective
assemblies until the assembly has made provision for
the due compliance in the quartering bill. Some
time ago, his grace mentioned this when Mr Charles
Yorke was here, who then seemed to think the mode
improper. I hope to see him to-day, and that he will
continue of that opinion. I mentioned this report
at that time to Lord Mansfield, who also seemed to
disapprove it. I hear General Conway much dislikes
this, but this is a secret. If so, and the different corps
1 Greuville Papers, 4, 13.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 139
concur in thinking the mode etc., improper, to-morrow
may be a curious day." 1
It is clear from this declaration that Rockingham
was anxious for his party to attack the bill when
it was submitted to the house of commons ; and
there was indeed much to encourage him to organise
an opposition. The hostility of Bedford and Gren-
ville to a measure, which in their eyes would not go
far enough along the road of coercion, could be counted
upon ; and it would be a fatal mistake for the Rocking-
ham whigs not to lend their support to their old
comrade Conway when he was in conflict with the
rest of his colleagues. Yet, favourable as the occasion
might, superficially, appear, Lord Rockingham and his
followers found themselves in a somewhat dangerous
situation. Grenville and Bedford were opposed to
the bill because it did too little, and Conway because
it did too much ; and the Rockingham whigs, anxious
to maintain their union with Grenville and Bedford,
and most reluctant to give needless offence to Conway,
sought for a comprehensive plan of attack, in which
all opponents of the government's proposal might take
part without scruple. It is to the credit of their
political strategy that they discovered a way of re-
conciling the seemingly irreconcilable. At a meeting
at Rockingham's house on May 12th, attended by
Dowdeswell, Sir George Savile, and Sir William Mere-
dith, it was decided that objection should be taken
to the bill and that Dowdeswell should propose that
the mutiny act be amended and enforced. The in-
genuity of this plan cannot but evoke admiration,
for to Dowdeswell's proposal Conway, and all sections
of the opposition, could subscribe in equal good faith.
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 287. It will be noticed that Rockingham was mis-
taken in believing that the bill was to be introduced on May 5th.
140 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Those who believed that the mutiny act should be
modified, and those who believed that it should be
rendered more exacting, could all agree in the vague
proposition that it should be amended and enforced ;
comprehension, indeed, could no further go. 1
The debate on May 13th was opened by Charles
Townshend who submitted to the house the three
resolutions which had been agreed upon by the cabinet
two months before. He moved that the province of
New York had been disobedient, that the act of its
assembly was void, and that the governor of that
colony should not give his assent to any bill until
after " a complete and entire submission to, and execu-
tion of, the billeting act throughout the province."
Debate centred round the last of these three resolu-
tions. Grenville, as might have been anticipated,
declared that such a penalty was far too light, arguing
that when resistance was offered to the authority of
parliament there should be no question of mercy.
He taunted the ministers with fearing to use against
the provincials that force which they had used at
home to prohibit the exportation of corn, and asserted
that, if he had his way, not a single person in America
should ever be allowed to hold an office unless prepared
to swear to the superiority of Great Britain. Charles
Yorke and Sir George Savile argued on the same
lines, declaring that no punishment could be too
severe for rebellion while Conway, separating him-
self from the other ministers, constituted himself the
champion of America, and spoke on behalf of mercy
and forgiveness. In accordance with the plan pre-
viously agreed upon, Dowdeswell urged that the
mutiny act should be amended and enforced, and this
proposal was moved as an amendment by George
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 365.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 141
Grenville. On a division being taken the ministry
was victorious by eighty-two votes ; but in the
minority were to be found Conway and the adherents
of Bedford, Grenville and Rockingham. Thus a
question, which might easily have plunged the opposi-
tion into internecine strife, was diverted by skilful
handling into a bond of union, and this diplomatic
triumph must have sensibly mitigated the sting of the
parliamentary defeat. 1
Townshend's resolutions having been reported to
the house on May 15th, the promised bill Was intro-
duced, and became law before the end of the session. 2
Of the debates, which it occasioned in both houses of
parliament, we know next to nothing, and the same
obscurity hangs over an even more important measure
for which the chancellor of the exchequer must bear
almost all the responsibility. As has been mentioned
before, on January 26th, he had informed an eagerly
listening house of commons that he regarded the
distinction drawn between internal and external
taxation as illusory and absurd, and that he knew
of a way of taxing America without giving offence.
In response to pressure from Grenville he went further,
and pledged himself to provide a revenue from the
colonies, and, unhappily for this country, he fulfilled
his promise. At the cabinet meeting on March 12th
he informed his colleagues that, unless he was allowed
to levy taxes upon goods imported into America, he
would resign his office ; and they reluctantly sub-
mitted to the will of one whom they were powerless
to control. Early in April, he told the house of
commons that " he had formed his opinion for assert-
1 Add. MS., 32981, f. 375 ; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 176; Walpole's
Memoirs, 3, 21 ff.
u Parliamentary History, vol. xvi. ; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 179;
Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 29, 30.
142 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ing the superiority of the crown, and endeavouring to
lay a foundation for such taxation as might in time
ease this country of a considerable burden " ; x and, in
the course of the debate on May 13th, he, for the first
time, gave specific details of his plan. He announced
that " he was clear in opinion that this country had a
power of taxation of every sort, and in every case.
That he could never distinguish between internal and
external, but that such taxation should be moderate
and prudent . . . Would mention some taxes, not as
chancellor of the exchequer, but as a private man,
for the future opinion of this house in a committee
of ways and means " ; and he then proceeded to out-
line a scheme for the levy of import duties upon various
articles, and for the establishment in America of a
board of customs, charged with the collection of the
revenue arising from these imposts. 2 Unfortunately,
we know nothing of the debates upon these proposals
when the house sat in a committee of ways and means ;
the degree to which they were opposed, or by whom.
Alterations were indeed made, other articles being
added to those originally named by Townshend ; but
our information is limited to the resolutions approved
by the house on June 2nd. On that day it was re-
solved that duties of varying amounts should be laid
upon paper, glass, red and white lead, and painters'
colours imported into the colonies, that a duty of
threepence a pound should be imposed upon all im-
ported tea, and that " the said duties, to be raised
in the said colonies and plantations, be applied in mak-
ing a more certain and adequate provision for the
charge of the administration of justice, and the sup-
1 Add. MS., 32936, f. 321. This paper is wrongly endorsed April 3rd, 1762.
2 Add. MS., 32981, f. 375 ; Grafton's Autobiography, p. 176; Walpole's
Memoirs, 3, 21 ff.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 143
port of civil government, in such of the said colonies
and plantations where it shall be found necessary ; and
that the residue of such duties be paid into the receipt
of his majesty's exchequer, and there reserved, to be,
from time to time, disposed of by parliament, towards
defraying the necessary expenses of defending, protect-
ing, and securing, the said colonies and plantations." x
Such was the final form of Townshend's unhappy
project, and, for what he did, he has stood in the pillory
for nigh upon a century and a half. Upon him has
devolved the main load of the responsibility for the
loss of the American colonies. He stands accused
of having rendered more critical an already critical
situation ; but the greatest criminals are seldom without
some defence, and the chancellor of the exchequer
could plead a certain measure of justification for his
action. He had not imposed these new taxes, as
Grenville had imposed the stamp act, to assert a right,
but to meet a necessity. It was undeniably true that
the American revenue was insufficient to meet the
financial requirements of colonial government, that
the new taxes were far from oppressive, and that
every penny which they produced was to be spent upon
the country on which they were imposed. Though
he had originally intruded his scheme without notice,
and in a measure forced it upon his colleagues, they
had, at least, sanctioned it, and their acquiescence
did not spring entirely from fear. " The right of the
mother country," wrote Grafton in his old age, " to
impose taxes on the colonies was then so generally
admitted, that scarcely anyone thought of questioning
it, though, a few years afterwards, it was given up as
indefensible by everybody." 2 There is no evidence
1 Parliamentary History, xvi. 376.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 127.
144 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
that Lord Rockingham and his followers attempted
to stay Townshend in his headlong course, and most
men warmly approved a plan which promised to relieve
the mother country of what might, in the near future,
become an intolerable burden. Where we see blind
wilfulness and reckless vanity, contemporaries detected
enlightened statesmanship ; and Edward Sedgwick
was certainly not alone in applauding the chancellor
of the exchequer " for having provided for the expense
of the whole civil administration in the colonies, and
made the several officers concerned in it independent
of the people." 1
Yet, in spite of all that can be urged on his behalf,
in spite of the approval of contemporaries, it remains
true that Townshend was guilty of a fatal and irre-
trievable blunder. He forgot that government is an
art as well as a science. It was clear that the relations
between England and her colonies had undergone a
change, that the stamp act had provoked an entirely
new attitude in America towards the mother country,
and that, if peace was to be maintained, coercion and
conciliation must go hand in hand. The suspension
of the powers of the New York assembly, and the
nullification of the Massachusetts act of indemnity,
however justified such measures of repression might
be by necessity, could hardly fail to fan the flames of
discontent in the colonies ; and yet this was the
moment selected by the chancellor of the exchequer
for reviving the question of taxation. His action was
essentially untimely and also unnecessary. Better
would it have been for England to have continued
to bear more than her fair share of the financial
burden of colonial government. It was of little
account that the new taxes were import duties, for
1 Hist. MSS. Comru. Weston Underwood MSS. 406.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 145
they were sufficiently differentiated from such imposts
in the past by being imposed for the sake of revenue ;
and Townshend must have been strangely ignorant
of human nature if he believed that the colonists would
be reconciled to these new exactions because they
could be described on paper as external taxes. Indeed,
they would be driven to further aggressions ; for, if
both external and internal taxes could be made to
yield a revenue, and violate the principle of no taxa-
tion without representation, these custom dues must
follow the way of the stamp act. If the English
ministers thought to chop logic with the Americans,
they would discover that the latter were not in a mood
to abide by delicate distinctions, and cared too much
for their freedom to be mindful of their consistency.
Thus the seed of conflict and dissension was sown,
destined to produce a plentiful crop of mischief in the
future ; but, for the time being, Grafton thought less
of the gathering storm in the colonies, and more of
the parliamentary struggle at home, which threatened
the safety of his administration. By the end of May
it was common gossip that the ministry was being
hard pressed, especially in the house of lords where
it sometimes only carried divisions by very narrow
majorities. The opposition appeared to be as united
on colonial policy as it had been on East Indian affairs ;
and, while harmony prevailed among its enemies, the
ministry was torn asunder by strife and distrust.
Shelburne, who had ceased to attend the meetings
of the cabinet, was not unnaturally regarded with
suspicion by his colleagues * ; and both Conway and
Townshend had not scrupled to act in opposition to
1 The king, in writing to Chatham on May 30th, refers to " the great
coldness shown those three ministers (Grafton, Camden, and Northington) ,
by Lord Shelburne, whom they, as well as myself, imagine to be rather a
secret enemy." Chatham Correspondence, 3, 260-262.
K
146 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the rest of the cabinet. Though, so far, the ministry-
had escaped actual defeat, its prolonged existence,
threatened as it was by dissensions within and attacks
without, seemed very problematical ; and Grafton,
fearing that at any moment he and his colleagues might
be engulfed in the rising storm, turned for advice
to the prime minister in his gloomy seclusion at
Hampstead. He asked for permission to visit him,
but the request was promptly refused, Chatham reply-
ing that " nothing can be so great an affliction to him
as to find himself quite unable for a conversation,
which he should otherwise be proud and happy to
embrace." * Grafton, however, was convinced that
the time for half measures was over, and, accompanied
by Northington, visited the king on May 28th, to warn
him of what might happen if a policy of drift was
pursued. The two ministers drew a sufficiently lurid
picture of the actual situation. They elaborated the
evil circumstances of the administration, ' in one
house acting, from the beginning of the session, in
direct contradiction to all cabinet decisions : in the
other, by the prevalence of faction, brought to such a
crisis, as to carry questions in a very full house, by
majorities of three only, and even those made up by
the votes of two of the king's brothers, and some lords
brought down from their very beds." 2 This doleful
tale, enforced by a threat from Grafton that he would
not continue in office unless something was done,
had the desired effect, and the king undertook to
ask Chatham to grant the first lord of the treasury
an interview. The royal letter was in the true
heroic vein. After referring to the narrow ministerial
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 255-256; Grafton's Autobiography,
pp. 132, 133.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 134.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 147
majorities in the upper house, and the discord within
the cabinet, the king struck the note of defiant con-
fidence : " My firmness," he declared, " is not dis-
mayed by these unpleasant appearances ; for, from
the hour you entered into office, I have uniformly
relied on your firmness to act in defiance to that
hydra faction, which has never appeared to the height
it now does, till within these few weeks. Though your
relations, the Bedfords, and the Rockinghams, are
joined with intention to storm my closet, yet, if I
was mean enough to submit, they own they would not
join in forming an administration ; therefore nothing
but confusion could be obtained. I am strongly of
opinion with the answer you sent the Duke of Grafton ;
but, by a note I have received from him, I fear I cannot
keep him above a day, unless you would see him and
give him encouragement. ... Be firm, and you will
find me amply ready to take as active a part as the
hour seems to require. Though none of my ministers
stand by me, I cannot truckle." 1
Such an appeal was enough to stir all the old warrior
spirit left in Chatham's veins. The suggestion that
the monarchy was on the point of being enslaved
by the whig oligarchy risen from its ashes, that Grafton
was about to retire and, perhaps, precipitate a dis-
solution of the ministry, and that once more faction
would resume its sway over the destinies of the country,
induced him to make a great effort. He consented to
see Grafton who visited him on the last day of May. 2
It was the first time that Grafton had seen his leader
since his retirement to Hampstead, and he was dis-
mayed to find how broken and prostrate was the great
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 257-262 ; Grafton's Autobiography, pp.
134-5-
2 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 1 30-139-
148 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
statesman who had once caused Europe to tremble.
Every dictate of human sympathy inclined the duke
to refrain from entering upon the discussion of business
which could not but cause additional pain and grief
to one already in the depths of affliction ; but, com-
pelled to speak when he would gladly have been silent,
he sketched the events of the last three months,
and earnestly implored Chatham for " his advice as
to assisting and strengthening the system he had
established, by some adequate accession, without which,
they were confident, it could not, or ought not, to
proceed." Yet, explicit as such a declaration was,
Chatham seemed to fail to understand in what a
parlous way were the affairs of the state. Aware
that his ministry still enjoyed the favour of the king,
he despised, as he had done from the first, the danger
that might arise from an union of the parties in opposi-
tion ; and he was far more exercised at the prospect
of Grafton's resignation. All the little energy that
remained to him he used in dissuading his first lord
of the treasury from taking such a fatal step, arguing
that if he, Northington, and Camden, did not retain
their offices, " there would be an end to all his hopes
of being ever serviceable again as a public man."
To such a plea, coming from so great a man thus
circumstanced, the most selfish and stony-hearted
of politicians could not have listened unmoved ; and
Grafton, the ready victim of a generous impulse,
did not hearken undisturbed to so direct and personal
an appeal. It is true that he did not pledge himself
to remain in office, but he urged that, if he was to
continue to bear the irksome burden of unwelcome
power, the administration must be strengthened.
" A junction with the Bedfords or the Rockinghams,"
he states in his account of this interview, " appeared
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 149
to me to be the only steps that could now be effectual :
to which his lordship assented, though he inclined to
prefer entering into negotiation with the former."
Thus ended a meeting, indescribably painful to
both parties ; and Grafton returned to London with
his leader's permission to enter upon a negotiation
with the Bedfords. That Chatham should have given
the preference to that faction is not surprising, as the
Rockingham whigs were the foremost champions
of that party system whose destruction he had vowed ;
and though the king, fearing perhaps that the Bedfords
might demand the treasury for Grenville, from whom
he had suffered too much in the past to wish to have
him again as his first minister, favoured overtures
being made to the followers of Rockingham, 1 Chatham's
wish was religiously observed, and Lord Gower was
approached. 2 At the outset it was rendered clear
that, though the Bedfords were to be admitted into
place, Grenville and his friends were not to be included
in the negotiation ; and Gower, aware that the aim
of the ministers was to divide the opposition, refused
to discuss such a restricted offer. For the time being,
nothing more was done, and Grafton continued, until
the end of the session, without the assistance which
he, himself, had declared to be essential. And, as
is not surprising, the outlook grew more gloomy as
the days passed by. The ministry, indeed, was not
so hard pressed in the upper house as formerly 3 ; but
the danger of a dissolution of the cabinet waxed
perceptibly greater. Conway had for some long time
declared that he would resign at the end of the session,
and his hour was almost come ; Northington, having
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 139.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 41, 42.
3 " The majority in both houses being now very handsome." The king
to Lord Chatham, June 25th, 1767. Chatham Correspondence, 3, 275-6.
150 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
undermined his health by a lifelong devotion to port,
was anxious to quit his employment ; Townshend
declared that he would not be left to perish in the
wreck which seemed fast to be approaching ; and
Grafton, having abandoned all hope, only continued
in office because Chatham's words rang in his ears. 1
Again the king appealed to Hampstead for instructions
how to meet the tempest ; and all that the prime
minister could advise was that, if the threatened
resignations took effect, men, agreeable to Grafton,
should be chosen to fill the vacant places. " The
very little my state of nerves enables me to offer,"
he wrote, " is, that if the Duke of Grafton can be
prevailed upon to remain at the head of the treasury,
with such a chancellor of the exchequer as is agreeable
to his grace success to your majesty's affairs would
not be doubtful ; this being, in my poor opinion, the
vital part, and indispensable." 2
Such was the political situation when the session
was brought to a conclusion on July 2nd ; and, on the
same day, Grafton presented the king with a paper
composed by Northington and himself. 3 This document
stated that it was hopeless to fill the expected vacancies
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 275-6.
2 Ibid., 3, 277-8.
3 As the paper in question is not over lucid, it may be worth while to re-
produce it, in order to support or disprove the interpretation placed upon it
in the text. " The President and the Duke of Grafton, after the most serious
consideration and explicit conversation in the closet, having fully urged the
impracticability for them to form, in the critical circumstances of this country,
a temporary administration from any collection of individuals which they
should think fit to recommend to his majesty, it becomes now essential
for his majesty, though unwillingly, to ask of the Earl of Chatham, whether
he can devise any plan, by which the immediate execution of government can
be carried on ; for they cannot with honour make any application to any
divisions of men, unapprized of his lordship's ideas thereupon ; which, with the
resignations in effect made, must leave this country without any government."
Chatham Correspondence, 3, 267. This paper is dated June 2nd, but for the
reasons to believe that the proper date should be July 2nd, see Grafton's
Autobiography, p. 150, n.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 151
in the cabinet with wanderers in the highways and
hedges of political life, that an appeal must be made
to one of the parties in opposition, and that Lord
Chatham should be asked for his opinion upon such a
proceeding. Thus, urged by his advisers, the king
again wrote to Chatham, and in even stronger terms
than before. " I earnestly call upon you," he wrote,
" to lay before me a plan, and also to speak to those
3'ou shall propose for responsible offices. You owe
this to me, to your country, and also to those who
have embarked in administration with you. If after
this you again decline taking an active part, I shall
then lie under a necessity of taking steps, that nothing
but the situation I am left in could have obliged to."
Fervent, and even minatory, as such an appeal was,
it failed to rouse Chatham from his despondency, and
once more he implored " compassion and pardon from
his majesty, for the cruel situation which still deprives
him of the possibility of activity, and of proving
to his majesty the truth of an unfeigned zeal, in the
present moment rendered useless." *
Thus Chatham, in the clutch of a fell disease, showed
himself a broken reed ; and, denied his counsel,
the king, as he, himself, had said, lay " under a neces-
sity of taking steps, that nothing but the situation I
am left in could have obliged to." Throughout a long
reign George III. was to show that, whatever his
faults might be, he was not lacking in courage ; and
never was he more courageous than at this moment.
Chatham, in whom he had placed his trust, was lost,
for a time, perhaps for ever, to political life ; his
ministers threatened to desert him ; and, from afar,
he could hear the shouts of an united opposition
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 266 ff. These letters are also antedated
by a month.
152 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
clamouring to be admitted into place and power.
Yet he never blenched, never thought of surrender.
To give up his servants, because they had been attacked
in parliament, would have been to destroy all that he
had so laboriously achieved since the beginning of
the reign, and to submit once more to that condition
of servitude under which his grandfather had fretted.
Whatever he might be called upon to endure, that
humiliation, at least, he was determined to avoid ;
and he is deserving of whatever credit attaches to
high resolve and steady purpose, for his conduct in
a crisis which would have strained the nerves and
taxed the ingenuity of the most adroit and experienced
of politicians. Dark and devious were the ways
he trod, but the royal gaze, however circuitous the
course, never wandered from the goal upon which it
had been set from the first.
The problem, confronting him at the beginning
of July, was simple enough to state, but exceedingly
difficult to solve. If Grafton was allowed to resign,
the ministry might fall, and the opposition storm the
cabinet at the point of the sword. This, the worst
disaster that could happen, must be averted at all
cost, and Grafton must continue in power in order
to preserve the government. But, time and time again,
Grafton had declared that he would retire unless the
administration received an accession of parliamentary
strength ; and therefore the king found himself
obliged to sanction a negotiation with those in opposi-
tion. The danger of such a proceeding is sufficiently
obvious. During the session just concluded,
Rockingham, Grenville, and Bedford had fought side
by side against the government ; and it might well
be that, when approached by the court, they would
refuse to be separated, and demand the construction
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 153
of a ministry representative of all parties in opposition.
To allow this, would be for the king to make an abject
surrender to what he deemed the forces of faction ;
and this he was certainly not prepared to do. But,
no longer an inexperienced boy, he detected the weak
link in his adversaries' armour. Convinced that the
union of the opposition leaders was essentially unreal,
the offspring of an occasion and not the result of
community of principles, 1 he determined to break up
the alliance which threatened his safety. On Saturday,
July 4th, he commissioned the Duke of Grafton to
inquire from Lord Gower whether there was any hope
of the Duke of Bedford and his followers joining the
administration. Taking profit by Gower's attitude
a few weeks before, the king no longer confined the
offer to the Bedford party alone, being willing that
both Temple and Grenville should be given places
in the cabinet. But, though this much was conceded,
it was expressly stipulated that Grafton must remain
at the treasury ; and the object of this condition is
not hard to understand. With Grafton continuing
at his post, any changes, which might be made, would
' bear the appearance of an accession to, and not a
defeat of, the present administration " ; and thus it
could never be said that the king had surrendered to
his enemies. 2
Armed with the royal authority, Grafton visited
Gower without delay, and found him in a concilia-
tory mood. He seemed to think that both Bedford
and Temple would be ready to discuss terms, and
would raise no objection to Grafton continuing at the
treasury ; and, if no more had been said, a negotiation
might have been actively begun. But Gower was
' Chatham Correspondence, 3, 260, 262.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 151.
154 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
careful to add that whatever place Temple might
accept in the cabinet, he would claim equal authority
with Grafton ; for, continued Gower, " how can he think
of having less weight in this, than in one last year, which
he would not enter into unless pari passu with Lord
Chatham ? " * It is clear that this new and some-
what unexpected demand alarmed both the king and
Grafton when they discussed the situation together
on Sunday, July 5th. It would be of little profit
that Grafton should continue at the treasury if he was
obliged to share his supremacy with Temple ; and
George III. was quick to see that, if such terms were
granted, the transformed cabinet would be far less
the old re-cast than a new administration presided
over by Temple. He did not take long to makeup
his mind, and Grafton was dispatched to inform
Gower that his terms had not been approved at court.
Before, however, the first lord of the treasury left the
royal presence, the king intimated that he desired
to see Conway. 2
This wish was not due to the idle whim of the
moment. Having come to the conclusion that it was
vain to expect assistance from the Bedfords, he was
anxious to discover what " possibility there might
be of finding Lord Rockingham's friends practic-
able " ; 3 and he knew that Conway could give him
the information he sought. For, like the cautious
political archer that he was, George III. had been
careful to have two strings to his bow ; and, at the
same time that a formal offer was made to Lord
Gower, a more or less subterraneous negotiation was
being carried on with the Rockingham whigs. On
Friday, July 3rd, Conway informed Rockingham that
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 146, 151 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 33, 36.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 152. 3 Ibid.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 155
he and his party would probably be approached by
Grafton if they could pledge themselves not to demand
either the removal of Camden from the woolsack or
Lord Granby from the post of commander-in-chief ; 1
and, though no mention was made of the king's name,
it is impossible to believe that such a message was
given without the royal sanction or approval. Neither
Grafton nor Conway would have dared to have taken
such a step on their own authority ; and, in approaching
the Rockingham party in this informal way, the king
displayed no little craft and cunning. If the negotia-
tion with the Bedfords proved successful, he could
easily disavow what Conway had done, since his name
had not been mentioned ; 2 and, if Gower and his
friends proved obdurate, then it was open to the
king to continue what Conway and Grafton had
begun. And great was the advantage which George
III. might reap from a negotiation with the Rockingham
party. If brought to a successful conclusion, Conway,
delighted at being reconciled to his old friends, would
almost certainly remain in office ; and all might not
be lost even if the negotiation should prove abortive.
In the event of failure it would be to the royal ad-
vantage to throw all the blame upon Lord Rockingham
and his followers, to represent their demands as
excessive, and their aim as the enslavement of the
monarchy rather than the safety of the nation ; for
then, Conway, disgusted at such factious conduct,
might consent to remain in office, even though his
friends continued in opposition. It was a bold game,
and boldly did the king play it.
1 Newcastle's Narrative, pp. 104, 108.
2 " Nothing that has dropped," wrote Rockingham on July 4th, " seems
to '40 further than towards a treaty with us ; and nothing drops in regard
to his majesty, but only as the Duke of Grafton's opinion that his majesty'.-,
preference is to us." Add. MS., 329S3, f. 55.
156 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Rockingham lost no time in imparting to his sup-
porters what Conway had told him ; and a few of the
leading members of the party, 1 together with Conway,
dined at his house on the evening of July 3rd. To
reject the overtures, without further parley, would be
unduly precipitate, and most certainly hazardous,
for Rockingham had been given a hint that, if he and
his allies " were shy, and would not show a readiness
to treat, the probability was that the treaty might
be carried on elsewhere " ; 2 and it did not need
much insight to understand that the reference was to
Woburn. No more effective spur could have been
applied. ' I think, if the negotiation is thrown into
our hands," wrote the Marquis to Newcastle, " we
may possibly succeed in persuading the Duke of
Bedford's friends to take part with us. If, on the
contrary, the negotiation is thrown into the Duke of
Bedford's, etc., they must of course naturally make their
point George Grenville ; and in that case George Gren-
ville and Lord Temple will take the lead in administra-
tion." 3 The reasoning was just, and all gathered round
Rockingham's table agreed in thinking that it would
be a great mistake abruptly to refuse to treat. The
demand that Granby must be retained as Commander-
in-chief could be easily fulfilled, for Lord Albemarle,
the only member of the Rockingham party who might
justly aspire to that office, was quite prepared to
forego his claims ; and although Charles Yorke,
baffled once more in the hope of obtaining the greatest
prize of the legal profession, might well be offended
if Lord Camden continued as lord chancellor, it was
suggested that he might be consoled by a peerage and
1 The Duke of Portland, Lord Winchelsea, Lord Albemarle, Dowdeswell,
Lord John, and Lord Frederick Cavendish, were the guests.
•Add. MS., 32983, f. 55-
3 Add. MS., 32983, f. 55 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 104.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 157
the office of lord president of the council. 1 Yet,
though unwilling to make unnecessary difficulties,
the Rockingham whigs displayed no feverish anxiety
to accept whatever the court might choose to offer.
All concurred in thinking that as yet too little informa-
tion had been given to enable a definite answer to be
framed, and that no further steps could be taken
until it was ascertained " whether a general and solid
plan was the object." 2 If it was only intended to
change the occupants of two or three offices, keeping
the administration much as it was, they agreed that
they " would much prefer seeing any set, or sets, under-
take administration, on such a foot, than be the under-
takers ourselves." 3
This cautious reserve concealed a well-founded
suspicion that the king was sounding his way by
separate negotiations with the different parties in
opposition, 4 so as to break up that union which
threatened the safety of the ministry ; and the Rock-
ingham whigs were determined not to be trapped
in the royal snare. The experience of the last two
years had impressed upon them the inadequacy
of their own parliamentary strength, and the necessity
of an alliance with the Bedford party ; and Rock-
ingham quickly communicated what Conway had
told him to Gower and Weymouth. 5 He acted
wisely in so doing. Such frankness was certain
to assist in maintaining the friendly relations which
1 Add. MS., 32985, f. 55. Newcastle, however, was less sanguine. " The
two points insisted upon," he wrote to Rockingham, " of Lord Granby and the
chancellor, are, I believe, the Duke of Grafton's own. As to the first, if my
Lord Albemarle is satisfied with it, I can have no objection to it. As to
the other, your lordship knows more of the Yorkes than I do ; but so much
I think I know that they will never be satisfied till Charles Yorke has the
great seal." Add. MS., 32983, f. 59.
2 Add. MS., 32983, f. 59 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 104.
3 Ibid. * Ibid. G Ibid. ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 108.
158 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
had existed between the two parties during the par-
liamentary session, and might possibly lay a founda-
tion for further action. Uncertain of much else,
all those, with whom Rockingham had taken counsel,
were of the opinion that if they were expected
to form a ministry, they must " talk with the
Bedfords." 1
Such was the political situation when, on Sunda}*-,
July 5th, the king determined to abandon the negotia-
tion begun with Lord Gower, and sought information
from Conway. It may be surmised that the secretary
of state's report was favourable, 2 for, on the day follow-
ing Rockingham learnt that Grafton would see him
on July 7th, " and," added Rockingham, " as I under-
stand, authorised by his majesty." 3 When they met,
Grafton inquired whether Rockingham and his friends
were ready to " come into administration along with
the remains of the present administration," and, if
so, the king desired that they would submit a plan
of government. On inquiring whether the offer ex-
tended to the Bedford party, Rockingham was informed
that it did ; but the same favour was not shown to
Grenville and his friends who were subjected to what
Rockingham described as an 'implied exclusion."
When the treasury came under discussion, Grafton
mentioned that Rockingham might have that office,
and that he himself would sit in the cabinet or remain
outside " according as it might appear to us advantage-
1 " That it was wished by us to know whether a general and solid plan was
the object, and in which case (though under no engagements) we should desire
to talk with the Bedfords." Add. MS., 32983, f. 55 ; Newcastle's Narrative,
p. 104 ; see also p. 109.
2 In his memoirs (3, 46) Walpole gives a jejune, and not very trustworthy,
account of this interview. Conway is represented as informing the king that
Rockingham would expect to be given the treasury ; but he could not have
learnt this at the meeting on July 3rd, for no specific demands had been made.
3 Add. MS., 32983, f. 125 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. no.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 159
ous for the administration." 1 Nothing indeed could
have been more gracious and yielding than Grafton's
behaviour at this interview ; but a distinguished
politician, who knew well the race of which he was so
illustrious a member, has told us that speech was given
to men to conceal their thoughts ; and it is well nigh
impossible to believe that the king really intended
that Rockingham should have the treasury. Such
a concession was contrary to his fixed determination
that any changes, that were made, must " bear the
appearance of an accession to ; and not a defeat of, the
present administration " ; and it is far more probable
that Grafton, weary of office, either gave the promise
on his own responsibility or with the sanction of the
king who hoped that the occasion would never arise
when he would be called upon to fulfil it. 2 Nor was
this the only hidden obstacle, for the " implied exclus-
sion " of the Grenvilles was pregnant with mischief.
Both the king and Grafton must have been well aware
that the permission granted to Lord Rockingham to
include the Bedford party in the negotiation was
indeed a barren gift if Grenville and his followers
were to be excluded ; and even Rockingham, generally
1 Add. MS., 32983, f. 127 ; Add. MS., 35430, f. 85 ; Newcastle's Narrative,
p. 1 10.
2 Certainty on this point is unfortunately out of the question. There is
no doubt that Rockingham was quite convinced that he had been offered
the treasury (Add. MSS., 32983, f. 127; Add. MS., 35430, f. 85). When,
however, on July 22nd, he thanked the king for the offer, the latter replied,
" that it was not an offer ; that the Duke of Grafton might understand it so.
but the king did not mean it as such." On the day following, Grafton ex-
plained to Rockingham " that his majesty meant to convey that he had not
offered the treasury (which he could not do out of delicacy to the Duke of
Grafton) but that there was no mistake in understanding it as intended "
(Rockingham Memoirs, 2. 50; Newcastle's Narrative, pp. 150, 154). It is
difficult to weave a consistent tale out of these cryptic and conflicting utter-
ances. It is possible that the king may have said that if Grafton persisted
in his determination to resign, Rockingham might succeed him: thus the
promise was only conditional upon Grafton's resignation which the king was
resolved to prevent.
160 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
so optimistic, was troubled by the vague phrase, "the
remains of the present administration." When
pressed for further explanation, the first lord of the
treasury explained the remark as having special
reference to Lord Camden, but he was careful to add
that there must be " much caution in regard to others,
by way of preventing at this moment it being said
that his majesty gave up A, B, or C, etc." When the
interview was over, Rockingham was frankly puzzled
over the extent of the authority which had been
granted him, informing Newcastle that he could
" consider this only more as an opening, than as yet
anything on which a judgment can be formed. The
material matter is, how far his majesty will incline
to allow us to introduce a number sufficient to give
real strength. If that can't be, I own, I shall have
no desire to be a part." 1
Time would have been saved, and much future
trouble averted, if Rockingham had cleared up his
doubts before proceeding further ; but thinking that
there was a sufficient chance of success to justify
action, he sent off an express to Lord Albemarle, who
was staying at Woburn, informing him of what had
passed, and instructing him to impart the news to his
host. 2 Moreover, he held a meeting of his followers
at his house on the evening of July 7th, when dis-
cussion, for the most part, centred round the pro-
scription which had been placed upon George Grenville ;
and, although few of the Rockingham whigs had any
love for Grenville, 3 they realised that the Bedfords
would never move without him. Understanding, as
they did, that Grenville had been proscribed in order
to render an alliance between the Bedfords and them-
1 Add. MS., 32983, f. 127 : Newcastle's Narrative, p. no.
2 Newcastle's Narrative, p. no. 3 Ibid., p. 109.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 161
selves impossible, two courses were open to them —
they might either refuse to enter upon the negotiation
unless Grenville was included in it, or they might
disregard the restriction imposed by the court. Un-
fortunately, they chose the latter alternative, and,
although no formal understanding was arrived at, it
was more or less generally agreed that, if the Duke
of Bedford pressed the claims of Grenville and Temple,
they should be given places in the cabinet, provided
that neither of them was first lord of the treasury or
secretary of state for the southern department which
included the American colonies. 1
Such a decision, justified though it might be by
necessity, certainly laid the Rockingham whigs open
to the charge of exceeding the limits of their instruc-
tions ; but the hope of once more coming into office
inclined them to minimise the obstacles which lay
between them and their goal. And, for the time being,
there appeared to be every inculcation of ultimate
success. From Woburn Lord Albemarle wrote that
" the Duke of Bedford most sincerely wishes to join
with you in the great plan of removing the favourite
and his friends from court. This end, his grace
thinks, cannot be attained without the junction
and hearty concurrence of Mr Grenville, and asked me
if you would have any objection to treat with Mr
Grenville. I ventured to say that you certainly would
not, provided it was through his grace as one of his
friends. He is very sanguine in his wishes. The
treasury they look upon as yours." 2 Such reassuring
1 Newcastle's Narrative, pp. Ill, 118, 120. Portland and Newcastle were
in favour of Grenville and his party being included whether Bedford pressed
their claims or not, on the ground that it was very doubtful " whether a total
exclusion of my Lord Temple, and his brothers, and of my Lord Lyttelton,
will quite answer the view and plan of settling a lasting administration which
should go on with ease and success."
3 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 46 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 130.
162 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
information decided Rockingham to visit Woburn
in person ; but, before leaving London, he was visited
by Rigby who undertook to convey to Grenville that
the Bedford party was quite prepared to allow Rock-
ingham to have the treasury, and to endeavour " to
prevail upon him to support, if not to take a part in, an
administration formed of the Duke of Bedford's and
your grace's friends." A safer envoy than Rigby might,
perhaps, have been chosen. He had always favoured
Grenville rather than Rockingham as the suitable ally
for his leader, the Duke of Bedford, and he frankly de-
clared himself in favour of Grenville's colonial policy. 1
With Rigby at Wotton, and Rockingham at Woburn,
the negotiation was transferred from London into
the country. On Friday, July ioth, Rigby discussed
affairs with Grenville who declared that, though he
would not take office himself, he was ready to give
his support to any administration which pursued
a colonial policy he approved ; 2 and, when he heard
what Grenville had said, Rockingham was more
sanguine than ever. He seems to have paid little
attention to the reference to America, which might
justly have alarmed him, and to have been more than
satisfied that Grenville was prepared to support
the ministry when formed, and cherished no designs
upon the treasury. He must have been still more
elated when Rigby, who had been sent over to Stowe
for the purpose, returned with the information that
Temple had declared his readiness to unite " in a plan
to extirpate the influence of Lord Bute, though neither
he nor his brother were thought on by the king to be
at the head of this new administration." 3
1 Newcastle's Narrative, pp. 126, 130; Grenville Papers, 4, 227 ff.
2 Grenville Papers, 4, 48 ; Bedford Correspondence, 3, 365.
3 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 365.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 163
On Sunday, July 12th, Rockingham was back again
in London, delighted at the progress that had been
made. ' I can only now say," he wrote to Newcastle
on his arrival, " that appearances are more and more
favourable. The Duke of Bedford most cordial, and
the result of Rigby's visit at Wooton and Stowe adds
much to the general promising aspect." x " Lord
Rockingham," Hardwicke informed Charles Yorke,
' is come back with flying colours from Woburn, a
most successful negotiation." 2 But the real tussle was
now to begin, and the clear divergence, between what
Rockingham desired and the king intended, to be
revealed. At an interview with Grafton on July
15th, Rockingham requested to know whether the
king was prepared to allow him to form an administra-
tion on a comprehensive plan, and to grant him a
preliminary audience for the discussion of details.
Grafton started at the word comprehensive, pointing
out that, if the Rockinghams, the Bedfords, and even
the Grenvilles were to be admitted into office, this
was hardly consistent with " his majesty's most gracious
opening to his lordship where the remainder of the
present administration, together with the chancellor,
was to be the foundation of it." Rockingham ap-
parently allowed the force of this contention, but
still asserted that neither he nor his followers would
join any ministry without " Bedford and his friends,
such of Mr Grenville's also as chose to come into
office ; for as to particular determination thereupon
of Lord Temple or his brother personally, his lordship
did not take it upon him to answer." 3
Grafton might well start at the word comprehensive,
for grave was the situation which confronted him and
1 Newcastle's Narrative, p. 133. 2 Add. MS., 35362, f. 129.
3 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 146 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 54, 58.
164 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
his master, threatened as they were, apparently, by a
union of all the different parties in opposition. What
they had schemed to avert x seemed to have come to
pass in defiance of all their efforts. If they had hoped,
as indeed they almost certainly had, that the pro-
scription of Grenville would prove an insurmountable
barrier to an alliance between the Bedfords and the
Rockinghams, great must have been their disappoint-
ment at the turn events had taken. Moreover, they
might feel justly aggrieved ; for, if there was a breach
of faith, it was on the part of Lord Rockingham.
He had included Grenville in the negotiation after
he had been forbidden to do so ; and he had acted
on the assumption, which he well knew to be at least
unproven, that an entirely new administration was to
be formed. 2 But, however threatening might be the
aspect, George III. was resolved to defend his closet
against those who ^nought to take it by assault, and
never to forego his royal right of choosing his servants
in accordance with his own will, not at the dicta-
tion of parliament. " After having delivered to his
majesty the answer which your lordship communicated
to General Conway and myself this morning," wrote
Grafton to Rockingham, " I was commanded to
acquaint your lordship that the king wishes your lord-
1 " In the present moment," wrote Charles Yorke to Hardwicke on July
nth, " the court means to divide the opposition which they see cementing,
and which, in consequence of that cement, will prove as formidable in the
house of commons hereafter as it showed itself in the house of lords at the
close of the session. And they believe the points of power to be irrecon-
cilable, and the rocks on which the opposition will split." Add. MSS.,
35362, f. 126.
2 " I have just seen the marquess," wrote Lord Weymouth on July 15th,
" who did not see the Duke of Grafton till this morning. He told him what
was agreed at Woburn, and said that he now hoped to be able to form a
ministry upon a comprehensive plan ; but as this differed a little from the
first proposal of his grace, he could not properly desire an audience till he
knew whether his majesty was disposed to receive a plan on this compre-
hensive idea." Grenville Papers, 4, 58.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 165
ship would specify the plan on which you and your
friends would come into office in order to extend and
strengthen his administration." x This was a polite
way of intimating to Rockingham that he had ex-
ceeded his instructions, and that he had never been
called upon to construct a new ministry ; but, confident
that he could count upon the support of Grenville
and Bedford, he still adhered to his original demands.
' I hope your grace will do me the honour," he wrote
in answer to Grafton, " to explain to his majesty that
the principle, on which I would proceed, should be to
consider the present administration as at an end,
notwithstanding the great regard and esteem which I
have for some of those who compose it. If his majesty
thinks it for his service to form a new administration
on a comprehensive plan ... I should then humbly
hope to have his majesty's permission to attend him,
in order to receive his commands, it being impossible
to enter into particulars till I have his majesty's leave
to proceed upon this plan." 2
Thus, the antagonists stood face to face, each able
to take the measure of the other's sword ; but the
king never wavered in the determination to save his
ministry from overthrow. Yet, if he absolutely refused
Rockingham's demands, Conway, affronted that his
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 144. This letter was composed by Conway,
his brother, Lord Hertford, and Grafton, and submitted to Horace Walpole,
who objected to it. He argued that the opposition, knowing that they would
disagree when it came to a discussion of details, wanted an excuse for breaking
off the negotiation, and that this letter, by indirectly refusing the demand
for the formation of a comprehensive administration, gave them the oppor-
tunity they sought. He therefore drafted a letter in which Grafton was made
to say, " that the king wishes your lordship would specify to him the plan
on which you and your friends would propose to come in, in order to form an
extensive and solid administration " ; but this revised version, though ap-
proved by the ministers, was rejected at the last moment, probably because
the king withheld his sanction. Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 51, 52.
2 Ibid.
166 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
friends had not received better treatment, would
execute his threat of resignation, and Grafton would
almost certainly follow him into retirement. Thus
it would appear that, whichever course the king took,
the dissolution of the ministry would come to pass ;
but he was by this time too experienced a politician
not to know that there is always more than one way
out of a difficulty. The loophole of escape lay in
pursuing a policy of stooping to conquer. It might
be well to grant Rockingham the desired permission
to form a comprehensive plan, for that might turn
out to be the most effective way of shattering the
opposition alliance into fragments. There was a
reasonable prospect that, when the opposition leaders
came to discuss details, they would fall out both over
men and measures, and fail to agree upon the much
vaunted comprehensive scheme. If they were allowed
this rope to hang themselves, Conway could feel no
grievance, and might even consent to remain in office ;
and thus, what force could not accomplish, guile might
effect. 1
It is in the light of this policy of craft that one
must view the change in the attitude of the court,
which took place at this juncture. Apparently
abandoning his previous position, Grafton, in a letter
to Rockingham on July 17th, declared that " the king's
gracious sentiments concur with your lordship's in
1 " I understand," wrote Grafton to Northington on July 19th, " that
they are now employed in making out their plan to be offered to his majesty's
consideration, a work which, before it can be brought to birth, seems open
to so many accidents, that I am, I own, not without thinking it possible that
it may disunite parties freshly and loosely cemented, and that some one
among them may find it for their interest, as well as credit, to fall in honor-
ably with the present administration. If resentment comes in aid on account
of too little consideration shown to some, or too much power grasped at by
another, this event may still be the more likely." Grafton's Autobiography \
pp. 146-8.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 167
regard to the forming of a comprehensive plan of
administration, and that his majesty, desirous of
uniting the hearts of all his subjects, is most ready and
willing to appoint such a one as shall exclude no
denomination of men attached to his person and
government." x No surrender could have been,
superficially, more complete, and Rockingham imme-
diately set to work to prepare a plan which he could
submit to the king. On the evening of Monday,
July 20th, most of the leading politicians in opposition
assembled at Newcastle's stately residence in Lincoln's
Inn Fields. The Rockingham party was represented
by its leader, Newcastle, Richmond, Dowdeswell,
and Keppel ; and the Duke of Bedford was accom-
panied by Sandwich, Weymouth, and Rigby. Neither
Grenville nor Temple was present, but they were
represented in their absence by Rigby, and had no
reason to complain of his zeal. When all had assembled,
Rigby read a letter from Grenville couched in a haughty
and menacing tone. He demanded that steps should
be taken to assert and establish the sovereignty of
Great Britain over the colonies, that, though neither
he nor Temple desired to take office, their friends
should have a becoming share of employments ; and
that a certain number of places must be left vacant,
which they would divide among their followers if
they approved of the general plan agreed upon. It is
not surprising that such demands provoked a fierce
and heated discussion. If, in order to conciliate
Grenville, the Rockinghams agreed to assert and
establish the authority of England over the colonies,
they might find themselves committed to the revival
of the stamp act ; and weighty arguments were
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 144. The letter was actually composed
by Horace Walpole. Memoirs, 3, 53.
168 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
urged against the fulfilment of so unreasonable a
request. Rockingham, anxious to keep the peace,
contended that no such declaration was needed, and
that " future differences on that head might be
avoided." " Such a declaration," he continued,
" might have been expected if they were treating
with Lord Chatham and Lord Camden, but he and his
friends had repealed the stamp act in the particular
circumstances of the crisis, with the strongest salvo
jure imaginable." Dowdeswell, endeavouring to pour
oil upon the troubled waters, suggested the substitu-
tion of " maintain and support " for " assert and
establish " ; and the Duke of Bedford, also on the
side of peace, endeavoured to mitigate the acerbity
of Grenville's declaration. Finally, after a lengthy
debate, general approval was given to a form of words
drawn up by Bedford who was instructed to submit
his amended draft to Grenville ; but at this point
Rigby again intervened, asserting that Bedford's
compromise would never be accepted by Grenville.
Weary of a discussion which had lasted nigh upon four
hours, it was decided to leave the question unsettled,
and to pass on to the distribution of the ministerial
offices.
The change of topic did not bring with it, however,
a more conciliatory spirit. Rockingham was justly
indignant at Grenville's outrageous demand that a
certain number of places should be left vacant for his
friends to take or refuse, inquiring of Newcastle
whether, in all his rich and varied experience of
political negotiations, he had ever known such a
request advanced. More trouble was caused, however,
by Rockingham's declaration that, in the ministry
about to be formed, Conway must be secretary of state
and leader of the house of commons. The Duke of
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 169
Bedford at once stoutly opposed such an arrangement,
and refused to listen to Rockingham when he urged
that, if he was to be first minister, the leader of the
lower house must be one whom he could implicitly
trust. His arguments fell upon deaf ears, Bedford
contending that Conway was a bad leader, that he did
not approve his policy, and that it had never been
intimated to him that such an arrangement was in
contemplation. For hours the wrangling continued,
and it was not until two o'clock in the morning
that the meeting broke up, nothing having been
settled. 1
Those skilled in reading the signs in the political
sky must have known that little hope remained of
arriving at a pacific settlement ; and, on the morning
after the meeting, Rockingham and Bedford agreed
in regarding "the negotiation as absolutely at
an end." 2 Yet, in order that no stone should be
left unturned, Newcastle, Rockingham, Dowdeswell,
Bedford, and Rigby, met again at Newcastle House
on the evening of July 21st ; but with no better
results than before. Though a somewhat softer note
was struck in the discussion of colonial policy,
Rockingham still insisted that Conway must remain
the leader of the house of commons, and Bedford and
Rigby still asserted that to this they could never
agree. Thus, no settlement was possible, and the
meeting was brought to a conclusion with an announce-
ment by Lord Rockingham " that each party was
from that time discharged from any engagement
to each other, and at full liberty to take whatever
1 Add. MS., 32984, f. 130; Add. MS., 35362, f. 139; Grenville Papers,
4, 71, 80; Bedford Correspondence, 3, 382; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 50;
Newcastle's Narrative, p. 141 ; Phillimore's Life of Lord Lyttelton, 2, 726.
2 Newcastle's Narrative, p. 147.
170 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
part they pleased " ; and to this declaration Bedford
assented. 1
Nothing more remained for Rockingham to do than
to inform the king that he had failed to accomplish
what he had hoped ; and on Wednesday, July 22nd,
he visited the court for that purpose. There was
little left for him to say, save to explain how he came
empty-handed, 2 and the tidings he brought could not
have been but welcome to the king. For George III.
now enjoyed his moment of personal triumph. He had
played for high stakes and had won ; what he had
hoped might happen had actually come to pass, and
he was now able to reap the fruit of his prescience.
Rockingham came to court a humiliated man. The
very foundations on which he had built, the support
of Grenville and Bedford, had proved as shifting and
unstable as sea- washed sand ; and, convinced by hard
realities of a truth to which he had long been blind,
it seemed possible that he might now consent to that
which he had formerly scorned, and throw in his lot
with the existing administration. The king, indeed,
did not broach this question to the whig leader at the
interview on July 22nd, but the omission was probably
due to forgetfulness ; 3 for, on the day following,
Rockingham was summoned to meet Grafton once more
at Conway's house, and, when he arrived, was informed
that " the treasury was again open, that it was wished
that I and our friends would come in, that it was his
majesty's desire ; and the Duke of Grafton wished
I would open and try whether with him and General
Conway some plan could not be hit off that might bring
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 71, 80 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 50 ; Newcastle's
Narrative, 147 ; Phillimore's Lyttelton, 2, 726.
2 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 50 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 150.
3 Newcastle's Narrative, p. 150.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 171
our friends into administration." * But Rockingham,
even in this moment of despair, refused to forsake
the principles he had enunciated from the very outset
of the negotiation. He could not forget what he had
suffered when, two years before, having no support
but his own comparatively scanty following in parlia-
ment, he had come to the king's assistance ; and he
was resolved never to repeat the experiment. Deter-
mined that when he next came into power it should be
at the head of a party which would make him in-
dependent of the intrigues of the court, he refused to
link his fortunes, and those of his followers, with the
existing administration, and politely declined Grafton's
offer. 2
Yet, as though to reward him for the courage with
which he had faced his adverse situation, fortune
continued to smile upon the king; for Conway con-
sented to remain as secretary of state. Ever since
the beginning of the month, that unhappy man had
been on the rack of self-torment. Every dictate of
reason and honour called upon him to withdraw from
a ministry whose policy he disapproved ; but, as
always happens, the arguments were not all on one
side. He knew that Grafton would follow him into
retirement, and that, therefore, upon him would rest
the responsibility for the downfall of the government ;
but even this did not cause him to alter his determina-
tion. He still pined for the society of those with whom
he had fought the good fight against Grenville, Bute,
and the phalanx of placemen in the pay of the court ;
and it had been in the hope that he would consent
1 It should be noticed that the treasury on this occasion was not offered
to Rockingham, but was only mentioned as " open," which may be interpreted
as meaning that Grafton still contemplated immediate resignation.
2 Add. MS., 32984, f. 34 ; Newcastle's Narrative, p. 154.
172 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to remain, if his friends were admitted into office, that
the negotiation with the Rockingham whigs had been
begun. On the failure of that negotiation, Conway,
if he had been true to his original resolution, would
have promptly retired ; but, in an evil moment for
his fame, he listened to the counsels of his brother,
Lord Hertford, and his friend, Horace Walpole. They
presented to his dazzled eyes a highly coloured and
distorted picture of what had recently happened.
They urged that Rockingham had now thrown in his
lot with Bedford and Grenville, the very men most
bitterly antagonistic to Conway, that he had sought
to storm the closet at the point of the sword, and that,
when an offer had been made to him that he and his
party should join the government, he had unhesitat-
ingly refused it. Surely, these advisers were able to
urge, Conway was now absolved from all allegiance
to a leader who had so frankly identified himself
with the forces of faction ; and, hearkening to their
advice, he consented to remain. 1 That he was uneasy
about his conduct is shown by his refusal to continue
drawing the salary of his office ; 2 but such scruples
of conscience mattered little to the king, flushed with
a great triumph. The Duke of Grafton, assured that
Conway would still be his colleague, abandoned all
thought of resignation; and thus, out of the turmoil
of the conflict, George III. emerged victorious over his
1 "On the Wednesday Lord Rockingham asked an audience — as every-
body did, and must think to offer his services. . . . The marquis behaved
sillily and impertinently, and then wondered he was not pressed to accept.
Great offence was taken at his behaviour ; and yet there was coolness and
prudence enough left to permit another offer to be made. This condescension
did the business. The weak man took it for weakness, and thinking that he
should force more and more, lost all. In short, he refused — and then Mr Conway
found himself at liberty. He and the Duke of Grafton have jointly undertaken
the administration." Walpole's Letters, 7, 123-125.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 286; Walpole's Letters, 7, 141-144-
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 173
enemies who had thought to take advantage of his
hour of necessity.
While the king triumphed, the opposition was
busily employed in allotting the blame for the catas-
trophe. Reflecting in after years upon this abortive
negotiation, Lord Hardwicke came to the conclusion
that it was Lord Rockingham who was to blame.
" I have always thought," he wrote, " that Lord
Rockingham managed it ill. He differed with the
Bedfords for the sake of Mr Conway . . . and he never
came close enough to the point with the Duke of
Grafton to have seen what he could make of that." x
Newcastle was much of the same opinion, declaring
that " jealousy and suspicion of Mr Grenville, artfully
worked up by young men, and particularly one forward
young man, in our house, 2 have brought that good
young man, the marquess, into this final resolution " ; 3
and, in a note to the Duke of Portland, he pathetically
described the failure as " our own doing, and God
forgive those who are the occasion of it " 4 He
informed Rockingham that the breach was entirely
due to the " insisting upon Mr Conway " ; 5 and to
the Archbishop of Canterbury he declared that, how-
ever much Bedford and Rockingham might have
differed about details, they ought to have agreed
upon a plan of administration for presentation to the
king; for "if his majesty had been advised to reject
that plan (as most probably he would), the union
would then have remained entire, and would have
been strengthened by the refusal on the part of the
court ; whereas it now breaks off from my Lord
Rockingham insisting at our last meeting that Mr
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 1 ; Harris' Hardwicke, 3, 459-460.
2 Unfortunately, it is impossible to identify this forward young peer.
3 Add. MS., 32984, f. 1. 4 Add. MS., 32984, f. 14.
6 Add. MS., 32984, f. 36.
174 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Conway should remain civil minister in the house of
commons, contrary to what everybody understood
to have been his own intention and frequent declara-
tion." 1 If, however, Hardwicke and Newcastle agreed
in thinking that Rockingham had blundered, Lord
Albemarle and Rockingham himself believed that
George Grenville was the culprit, 2 a compliment which
the latter was not behindhand in returning ; 3 and,
while the Duke of Richmond could not be persuaded
" of the propriety of not accepting the late offers, or
at least of not having gone further than you did, so
as to put all the ministers in the wrong, by driving
them to avow more of a closet system than they would
willingly profess to the world," Burke was emphatic
in his declaration that it was the sincerity of the court
that was at fault. 4
Thus, mutual recriminations followed upon defeat ;
but contemporaries are not always the best critics,
and, suffering under the smart of a recent disappoint-
ment, Newcastle and others might take a somewhat
jaundiced view of the motives and actions of those
whom they held responsible for the downfall of their
hopes. That Rockingham was guilty of undue pre-
cipitation may be allowed. He built too much upon
impressions gleaned from a flying visit to Woburn,
and thought too little of that significant remark
dropped by Grenville that he would only support an
administration which pursued a colonial policy which
he approved. Nor can he escape blame for exceeding
the authority entrusted to him ; for it was never
contended that, in the first instance, the king had
1 Add. MS., 32984, f. 62.
2 Add. MS., 32984, f. 8, f. 10 ; Bedford Correspondence, 3, 387 ; Newcastle's
Narrative, p. 155.
3 Hist. MSS. Comm., Various Collections, vol. vi., pp. 250-252.
4 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 132-144.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 175
authorised him to construct a new ministry in the
place of the old. Neither George III. nor Grenville
was perhaps guilty of the degree of insincerity in this
transaction with which they have sometimes been
credited. Extravagant as were the demands pre-
sented by Grenville at the meeting on July 20th,
there is no evidence that he purposely exaggerated
them in order to ruin all chance of agreement ; and
the king, though descending to deceit in the last stages
of the negotiation, cannot be convicted of never having
seriously intended to give office to Rockingham and
his followers. Indeed, the cause of failure lay far
deeper than the Machiavellian schemings of factious
politicians ; success did not reward the laborious
endeavours to attain it, for the simple, though not
at the time obvious, reason that the impossible was
being attempted. In the purely destructive work
of parliamentary criticism, it had been comparatively
easy for the various parties in opposition to sink their
differences, and to unite in an attack upon the govern-
ment ; but, when they approached the work of con-
structing a ministry and a policy, harmony was
quickly succeeded by discord. George Grenville and
his followers still regarded Rockingham as the states-
man who, frightened by a few riots and seditious
speeches, had bartered away the control of the mother
country over the colonies ; and they had, not un-
naturally, demanded that he should formally renounce
principles which they deemed pernicious. Nor was
the suspicion entirely on one side. Rockingham had
not forgotten that it was Grenville who had supported
the peace of Paris, had defended the cyder tax, had
prosecuted Wilkes, had strained every nerve to pre-
vent general warrants being declared illegal, and, to
fill the cup of his iniquity, had introduced the stamp
176 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
act ; and it was because he so profoundly dreaded
the influence of the man, against whom all these
misdeeds could be charged, that he was so persistent
in the demand that Conway should be leader of the
house of commons. If Conway was not given that
post, there was no one who could compete for it with
Grenville ; and Rockingham, not unreasonably, feared
what such a lieutenant in the lower house might do.
Separated as they were by measures rather than by
men, divided by the yawning chasm of the American
question, neither Rockingham, Grenville, nor Bedford
had any cause to blush for their conduct : each did
what was right in his own eyes ; and, if they failed to
come to an understanding, it was largely because they
were fighting for principles not for places.
Thus, the unhappy dispute with the American
colonies had plunged a poisoned dagger into the very
heart of the parliamentary life of the country ; and,
when every allowance has been made for the king's
courage, his perseverance, and his capacity for in-
trigue, it still remains true that he could hardly have
accomplished what he actually did, had it not been
for the divisions among his enemies. The men, who
should have stood united against the crown, drew
their swords upon one another at the critical moment ;
and Newcastle, who had more political wisdom than
has sometimes been allowed him, understood that,
unless those swords were quickly sheathed, the royal
victory was assured. In the moment of despair and
disappointment he still continued to preach unity
and concord : and it was because he cherished such a
lively fear that Rockingham might fall apart for ever
from Grenville and Bedford, that he so bitterly re-
gretted the former's farewell words at the meeting
on July 21st. " The great thing, my lord, that hurt
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 177
me the most," he wrote to his leader, " was the strong
declaration your lordship made to the Duke of Bedford,
and his grace's assent to it, that each party was at
full liberty to take what part they pleased, without
consulting or considering what the sentiments of the
other party might be " ; * and to the Duke of Portland
he deplored the " unfortunate end that is put to an
union and connection between the Bedfords and us." 2
Lord Albemarle, with equal emphasis, asserted that
all would be lost unless friendly relations with the
Bedford party were maintained, implored Rockingham
not to break off intercourse with Bedford, and, rather
unnecessarily, pressed the same advice upon Newcastle :
" For God's sake, my dear lord," he wrote, " don't
lose sight of the Duke of Bedford." 3 Nor were
Newcastle and Albemarle mere voices in an other-
wise silent wilderness. Rigby assured Lord Albemarle
that the Bedford party was eager for opposition and
for union with the Rockingham whigs ; but, and
the inquiry was significant, he expressed great anxiety
to know whether Rockingham was " clear of Mr
Conway and all connections with the present adminis-
tration." Albemarle was, naturally, unable to give
a final answer to such a query, and could only say
that he hoped Rockingham was free from such en-
tanglements ; but to Newcastle he confided that it
would be " very necessary to have that point thoroughly
known before any steps can be taken towards a re-
newal of the negotiation with the Duke of Bedford
and his friends." 4
Necessary it might be ; but some time was to
elapse before Rockingham clearly showed his followers
what line he intended to take. A few days after his
1 Add. MS., 32984, f. 36.
3 Add., MS., 32984, f. 8., f. 10.
II
2 Add. MS., 32984, f. 14.
* Add. MS., 32984, f. 356.
178 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
interview with the king, he politely informed Newcastle
that he was desirous of keeping up a good understanding
with the Duke of Bedford, though he was unwilling
to be " too courting " ; 1 but such a declaration was
capable of very different interpretations, and, at the
end of August, Newcastle was alarmed to learn that
Burke, whose influence over Rockingham was notorious,
was not in favour of breaking off all relations with
Conway. 2 Convinced that no greater catastrophe
could befall his party than to lose touch with the
Bedfords, and that this dire event would surely happen
unless it was clearly demonstrated that Conway
was no longer the protege of the Rockingham whigs,
Newcastle, without delay, dispatched a letter to
the marquis, inquiring about plans for the future. 3
About a month elapsed before Rockingham, who was
a dilatory correspondent, replied ; and Newcastle
occupied the interval in picking up intelligence from
different quarters, endeavouring to smooth away
difficulties, and complaining not a little of his treat-
ment by certain members of the party. Meeting
Bedford at dinner at Gunnersbury House, he was
delighted to find the duke " cool, dispassionate,
and reasonable/' anxious for a union with the
1 Add. MS., 32984, f. 49.
2 " I long to have the honor," wrote Newcastle to Lord Albemarle on
August 29th, " of seeing your lordship to acquaint you with a very long con-
versation that I have had this morning with Mr Bourke, I am sorry to say
as totally different from my sentiments, and what I apprehend also to be your
lordship's, as is possible. He thinks my Lord Rockingham's honor con-
cerned in not dropping Mr Conway, as he calls it, or suffering him to go out to
the army. ... I despair, as it is so, to find things mend much at Wentworth,
for, if my Lord Rockingham was in honor obliged to support Mr Conway
in the manner he did, I should apprehend that his lordship will continue to
do the same, tho' indeed Mr Bourke did make a distinction between that
time and the present time." Add. MS., 32984, f. 358.
3 No copy of Newcastle's letter has apparently survived, but its general
drift can be gathered from Add. MS., 32985, f. 306, f. 406 ; Burke's Corre-
spondence, 1, 144.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 179
Rockinghams, but still as determined as ever that
Conway should not be secretary of state or leader
of the house of commons. 1 A few days later,
however, Newcastle was in the depths of despair
over the conduct of Lord Frederick and Lord John
Cavendish, who were opposed to any union with the
Bedfords ; and still more chagrined when he learned
that Rockingham had definitely declared that he
would have nothing more to do with Grenville. " If
so," cried Newcastle in his sorrow, "it is vain for
his lordship to think of an union with the Duke of
Bedford." 2
While Newcastle was thus alternately rejoicing and
despairing, Rockingham, withdrawn into the country,
was thinking over a plan for his future conduct. He
informed the Duke of Portland that, as the policy
of the party in the past had always been directed
towards restraining the influence of Lord Bute,
and preventing Grenville from acquiring supremacy
in the state, he believed that those principles should
dictate their actions, in the future ; and he confided
1 " I dined yesterday at Gunnersbury with the Duke and Dutchess of
Bedford, and my Lord and Lady Waldegrave ; and when her royal highness
and when the ladys were retired, I had a great deal of very material conversa-
tion with the Duke of Bedford upon the present situation. I found his
grace in the very disposition that I, and every true friend to this country, could
wish. Cool, dispassionate, and reasonable upon every point. Expressing
the same ardent zeal for a most thorough union and friendship with my Lord
Rockingham and all our friends : talking in the most proper manner upon
the subject of George Grenville, and instead of imagining that Mr Grenville
intended or wished to break off the negotiation with Lord Rockingham,
mentioned some circumstances to me that shewed that George Grenville was
determined to acquiesce, even tho' Lord Temple should not so easily come
into it as he did. In short, the simple point is Mr Conway." Add. MS., 32985,
f. 13.
2 Add. MS., 32985, f. 88. On September 19th, Lord Frederick Cavendish,
writing to Newcastle to excuse himself for not having called at Claremont on
his way to Goodwood, remarked : "I am afraid my excuse will be worse than
my fault. I went with Mr Secretary Conway, and returned with him, and, so
circumstanced, I fancy your grace will not think I judged much amiss not
to call." Add. MS., 32985, f. 136.
180 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to Lord Frederick Cavendish that " the thing he wished
was an union with Bedford House, not totally exclusive
of our old friends ; but if that could be attained by no
other means than by making Mr Grenville the minister,
he would never subscribe to it, and in that case he
should stay all the winter in the country and mind
his farming, which was much better funn " (sic). 1
Yet, though determined that Grenville should not be
" the minister," which may be taken to mean that
he should neither occupy the treasury nor lead in
the house of commons, Rockingham was, apparently,
willing to allow him a place in the cabinet, and even
to abandon Conway. 2 Grenville was not to be pro-
scribed, but it was clearly intended that he should
not control ; and this resolution was reiterated by
Rockingham when, on his arrival in London at the
beginning of October, he penned the long-delayed
reply to Newcastle's letter. " I came to town," he
wrote to the duke, " about nine o'clock, and have
1 Add. MS., 32985, f. 136 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 57.
2 " Let us see," wrote Portland to Newcastle on October 20th, " whether
the mischief can be remedied, and whether such an union can be formed as
may be able to withstand the influence of Lord Bute, and restore peace,
stability, and dignity, to government. For the effecting which desirable
purpose, I think nothing can be more conducive than the plan laid down by
your grace in the end of your letter of August 7th, viz., ' That Lord Rocking-
ham should give the Duke of Bedford to understand at a proper time that he
desists from his proposal relating to Mr Conway, and that he should talk over,
coolly and dispassionately, the affair of George Grenville with the Duke of
Bedford only.' 'Tis that conversation, that kind of conversation, that I wish,
and recommended strongly to the marquis the morning I went over to him at
Wentworth, where I found him in the very disposition your grace and his
real friends could have desired. Conway was given up by everybody, fully
and explicitly, except Lord John Cavendish, who was silent. A desire for
union, nay, even the necessity of union, was as strongly urged . . . and, in
short, every preliminary agreed to that might engage the Duke of Bedford
and his friends, and prove to them our wishes of uniting and becoming a
corps. A considerable employment was talked of for George Grenville, and
I rather think Lord Rockingham himself mentioned, and certainly acquiesced
in, the idea of the cabinet for Mr Grenville with or without office." Add. MS.,
32986, f. 58.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 181
been with Lord Albemarle, who I found looking as well
or indeed much better than I expected. I much wish
for a long and full conversation with your grace, and
I shall then go through the letter I had the honour to
receive from your grace, which has given me much
concern, because I differ almost throughout, not only
on the manner of stating things which have passed,
but also upon the reasonings and arguments drawn from
them. I hope to be able to convince your grace that
I am not wrong in differing from many parts of the
contents of that letter, and I shall try and do it with
calmness, tho' I confess I felt some warmths at parts
when I first read them, because I thought them injurious.
In regard to what is now to be done, I should think
the first step among ourselves is to fix firmly in our
minds what were, and what I hope and trust are, the
fundamental principles on which we have acted. I
must beg to lay stress upon principles in the plural
number, because I think the publick are very near
equally interested in our adherence to the same line
of conduct which we have always held against the
power of Lord Bute, and also in the prevention of
the return of power into the hands of one who,
when minister, had his measures opposed by
us, and, when we were ministers, whose measures
were corrected much to the publick security and
advantage." 1
Whatever may be urged against the attitude adopted
by Rockingham, it was at least rational and consistent ;
he had thought over the situation, and, seemingly,
arrived at a definite conclusion. Essential as the
assistance of the Bedford party might be, he was
determined never to purchase it by giving the treasury
to George Grenville. To do this would be publicly
1 Add. MS., 32985., f. 306.
182 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to deny all that he had fought for in the past, to
abandon his principles for the sake of power. Nor,
indeed, did Newcastle desire him to make such a
sacrifice ; and the anxiety of the duke was caused,
not by the opinions which Rockingham professed, but
by the fear of what he might actually do. That
Rockingham cherished something approaching to a
personal dislike of Grenville seemed undoubted ; and
it was impossible to foretell how far that dislike would
carry him. When he paid his promised visit to
Newcastle, he took strong objection to a passage in the
duke's letter, which referred to Grenville's acquiescence
in a coalition between the Bedfords and the Rockingham
whigs, roundly declaring that " Mr Grenville's acqui-
escence was not his object, or even what he wished." *
Such utterances as these made the old duke almost
despair of ever bringing about that alliance with the
Bedford party, upon which he set so great a store ;
nor was he any happier about his leader's relations
with Conway. He had, indeed, been told by the Duke
of Portland that Rockingham was prepared to abandon
Conway, but he feared that, when the occasion arose,
the threat would never be executed. " Mr Conway
has winning ways with him," he reflected, " and strong
hold of our friends, the Cavendishes " ; 2 and it might
well happen that Rockingham's antagonism to Grenville
would drive him to adhere to Conway, in spite of
what that fidelity had cost him in the past. If such,
indeed, proved to be the case, slender was the hope
of a united opposition facing the government when
parliament met in November ; and Newcastle had
gloomy forebodings as to what the future might bring
forth. 3
Yet, continuing to hope against hope, he never
1 Add. MS., 32985, f. 406. 2 Add. MS., 32985, f. 458. 3 Ibid.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 183
relaxed his efforts to secure success. He was re-
joiced to hear from Lord Albemarle, who was a visitor
at Woburn, that the Duke of Bedford was as warm
as ever in favour of an alliance with Rockingham,
if only the marquis could overcome his unfortunate
partiality for Conway ; 1 and from Lord Mansfield
he learnt that " the Duke of Bedford . . . was
very civil, personally, in everything he said of Lord
Rockingham." 2 Rigby, moreover, who dined with
Newcastle on Sunday, October nth, " talked very
well, his sole point is now opposition to the present
ministers," 3 and all this intelligence Newcastle passed
on at different times to Rockingham. 4 And, as the day
for the meeting of parliament drew near, his activity
increased. Admiral Keppel was sent to Woburn to
learn what Bedford intended to do, so that Rockingham,
who had again retreated into the country, might
be furnished, on his return to London for the session,
with the latest information ; and Keppel reported that
Bedford, though now almost blind, was coming to
London on Friday, November 20th, eager for the
parliamentary fray, " very hostile to the present
1 Add. MS., 32985, f. 35S, f. 360. 2 Add. MS., 32985, f. 421.
^ Add. MS., 32985, f. 453.
4 On one material point, however, Newcastle maintained a significant
silence. In conversation with Lord Albemarle, Bedford had remarked " that
the treasury was the great and material object . . . which should be deter-
mined by the king." In his reply to Albemarle, Newcastle argued that by this
remark Bedford meant nothing more " than he did originally, that the king
having decided for Lord Rockingham, that was a reason for Mr Grenville and
them to acquiesce." This interpretation, however, was far too favourable,
and when Rigby dined with Newcastle on October nth, he told the duke
" that the Duke of Bedford's leaving the treasury to the king's decision did
mean (as I imagined it did) that if the king should name Mr Grenville . . .
that my Lord Rockingham should acquiesce and support in the same manner
that Mr Grenville and his friends should support my Lord Rockingham if
he should be named." It was this by no means unimportant gloss upon
Bedford's words that Newcastle concealed from Rockingham. Add. MS.,
32985, f. 358, f. 360 ; Add. MS., 32986, f. 1.
184 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
administration, and hopes to find our friends in the
same disposition." x
Bedford, Newcastle, and others might lust for the
battle to begin, but it was clear beyond all possible
doubt that, unless the opposition agreed upon a con-
certed plan, victory would fall to the ministry. Though
Northington, in his cups, might talk gloomily of the
prospects of the administration, 2 Grafton was reported
to be counting upon a larger ministerial majority
in the upper house than he had been accustomed to
during the previous session ; 3 and it was no small
gain to the cabinet that it no longer stood in fear
of Charles Townshend. That restless and perturbed
spirit had ceased to disturb the politics of his age.
For a brief season he had blazed like a comet in the
political heavens ; and it was when he appeared to
be at the very height of his power that death summoned
him to leave the arena of party strife. He died,
early in September, of an inflammation of the bowels ;
1 Add. MS., 32986, f. 391 ; Add. MS., 32987, f. 37. Newcastle's idea of the
proper conduct of opposition is worth noting. " I am persuaded," he informed
Keppel, " that neither the Duke of Bedford nor Lord Rockingham would
think of giving opposition upon points that would not bear it. That would
be only to expose us to the nation, and give handles against us at the next
election. Our plan, in my humble opinion, both in and out of parliament,
ought to be that which may best carry the publick with us, and, consequently,
be the more likely to be of service to our friends in the choice of the next
parliament, for there must ultimately end all our endeavours. It is from the
next parliament that this country must be saved, and the cause of those, who
wish it best, supported." Add. MS., 32986, f. 391.
2 " I heard a few days ago," wrote Sir Matthew Fetherstone to Newcastle,
"by a gentleman who dined at Lord Northington' s in Hampshire, that his
lordship got extremely drunk, and in his cups said many things he ought not.
That everything was tending to confusion, that this was an age of the utmost
profligacy and corruption, that his M — y was a much honester man than his
whole Pr — y C — 1 put together ; and that the present adm — n had made no
acquisition of strength since last session ; all of which was affirmed with a
volume of oaths." Add. MS., 32986, f. 311.
3 " I hear," wrote Newcastle to the Princess Amelia, " the Duke of Grafton
says they shall carry it in the house of lords by a majority of forty. In that
I believe his grace is mistaken. He does not reckon, I suppose, the bishops,
where we have a chance of sixteeh to ten." Add. MS., 32986, f. 243.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 185
and those whom he had opposed, even those whom
he had deceived, spoke kindly words of him, now
that he was no longer to astonish them by his brilliance,
and amuse them by his wit. When Newcastle heard
of the event, he remarked that the dead statesman,
with all his faults, " was very good-natured and very
entertaining " ; 1 and it may be surmised that such
an epitaph would have been approved by Townshend
himself. Yet these attributes, enviable and attractive
as they are, do not constitute all that is expected of
a chancellor of the exchequer, and in Townshend
they were mingled with much that rendered him unfit
either to rule or to serve. His loss was an undisguised
boon to his colleagues who had suffered more from
the evil than benefited by the good in his composition ;
and the new chancellor of the exchequer, Lord North,
who only accepted the office after some hesitation, 2
was likely to be far more serviceable both in parliament
and in the cabinet. Possessed, like Townshend, of
a happy wit, and endowed with a temper so sweet
that it was wellnigh impossible to make him angry,
North was of a pliant disposition, ready to yield to
pressure, and averse to giving pain. This lack of
resolution in his character was destined, at a later date,
to work dire mischief to his country and himself ;
but it was of less moment as long as he remained a
subordinate member of the cabinet ; and, though many
1 Add. MS., 32985, f. 31. During Townshend's life-time, Lord Bucking-
hamshire remarked of him that " he often puts his parts in motion, but never
stays long enough to give them a consistency. What genius, what imagina-
tion, what knowledge, what abilities, what occasionally exquisite feelings :
how greatly the first are misused, how soon he forgets the last." Add. MS.,
22359, f. 4.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 166, 167 ; Add. MS., 32985, f. 53 ; Grenville
Papers, 4, 167. Writing on September 22nd, Newcastle remarks : " I have
heard of the terms to be given to Lord North, a reversion of his father's pension
when he comes to be Earl of Guilford, with an estate of 12 or 14,000^ per
ann. My God ! where will this end ? " Add. MS., 32985, f. 190.
186 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
were his defects as a politician and statesman, he
could at least never be the occasion of discord and
strife that his predecessor had been.
So, whatever were the prospects of the opposition,
the ministry was not ill prepared for the conflict
which would begin on November 24th, the day on
which parliament was summoned to meet. Yet, on
the very eve of the encounter, no one could predict
its course ; for not a little depended upon the action
of the three opposition leaders. One may be sure
that gossip was rife, some saying that the opposition
parties would settle their differences before they
entered upon the battle, others that the ministers
would easily carry the day against men who differed
too fundamentally ever to unite even in attacking
a government which they all hated ; but no one, not
even the leaders themselves, knew for certain the
exact turn events would take. Bedford had pro-
claimed that he intended to continue the onslaught
upon the government ; and Rockingham, when he
arrived in town on November 21st, announced the
same policy for himself and his party. 1 In these
circumstances common prudence would have suggested
a meeting between Bedford and Rockingham to agree
upon a plan of campaign against the court ; and for
such an interview Rockingham was quite prepared. 2
It is probable that Bedford was the unwilling party.
An eminent French historian has told us that " politics
are a conflict of which chance is incessantly modifying
the whole course " ; and the truth of this saying is
amply proved by the events of the four days preceding
the meeting of parliament. When Bedford came to
London on November 20th, he had been quite pre-
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 75 \ Add. MS., 35430, f. 87.
2 Add. MS., 32987, f. 75.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 18?
pared to co-operate with Lord Rockingham, if they
were able to come to a friendly understanding on
questions where they differed ; but, soon after his
arrival, he heard that Rockingham had told the
Duke of Bridgewater that he would never sit in a
cabinet in which a Grenville had a place. Bedford
may well be excused if he gave way to anger on learn-
ing this information. It was the first time that he had
been informed that Rockingham intended to proscribe
the Grenville party in this fashion ; and he must
have concluded that he had been grossly deceived
by Newcastle and Albemarle, who had, apparently,
so sedulously concealed their leader's intention from
him. No time was lost in handing on the information
to George Grenville who was told on the evening
of November 23rd. 1
On the following day parliament met. As though
anticipating what was to follow, the king, in the speech
from the throne, was made to advise the members
of both houses to cultivate a spirit of harmony and
concord ; and never was advice so much needed or
so flagrantly disregarded. George Grenville, having
brooded over what he had been told the night before,
had come down to the house with hatred in his
heart against Lord Rockingham and his supporters,
and determined publicly to repudiate the men who
had, as he thought, secretly repudiated him. After
Dowdeswell had spoken in the debate on the address
of thanks, " confining himself to the exact line on
North American affairs, which had been approved of
by those who met at your grace's on the memorable
Tuesday night," 2 George Grenville rose and delivered
his soul. He informed the house that he was more
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 234 ; Phillimore's Lyttelton, 2, 734.
2 July 21st.
188 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
convinced than ever of the necessity of enforcing
the authority of the mother country over the colonies,
that he was astonished that any man, and much more
that a member of parliament, should hold and publish
such sentiments as Dowdeswell had expressed, that
he would never unite, either in opposition or in power,
with men who held such opinions ; but, on the contrary,
would keep " the same distance from them that he
would from those who opposed the principles of the
Revolution." *
While these defiant words were issuing from Gren-
ville's mouth, the Rockingham whigs sat aghast,
outraged, and dismayed ; and Grenville was not the
only occasion of their anger. They were equally
disgusted with the followers of the Duke of Bedford,
none of whom spoke- a word on behalf of the party
thus so grossly insulted, and, indeed, by their silence
appeared to acquiesce in all that had been said.
Rockingham was, not unnaturally, deeply chagrined
when he heard what had happened, and, in the very
early hours of the morning following the debate,
wrote an indignant letter to the Duke of Newcastle.
" It is no comfort to me," he bitterly remarked,
" to have had this full proof that my ideas had not
been ill-founded for some time past ; and I well see
the confusions which may arise. I am happy to have
acted with the greatest sincerity and fullest honour
towards the Duke of Bedford and his friends. If our
friends should now think right to call for a most full
and explicit declaration and explanation from the Duke
of Bedford's friends, it must produce either a thorough
and fixed cordiality or will have the contrary effect." 2
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 87, f. 113 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 81 ff ; Parliamentary
History, xvi. 379 ff.
a Add. MS., 32987, f. 87,
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 189
The anger of the leader was shared by the majority
of the followers, but mere anger would not obliterate
the wrong which had been inflicted. A reconciliation
with Grenville was clearly out of the question, for he
had sinned too deeply to hope for forgiveness, even if
he had desired it ; but it was possible that a breach
with the Bedfords might be avoided. They lay
under the dark suspicion of having given a silent
approval to Grenville's bitter denunciation ; and
Newcastle was instructed by his Darty to demand
of the Duke of Bedford a full and satisfactory ex-
planation of such doubtful conduct. No envoy could
have been chosen more convinced that no greater evil
could befall the Rockingham whigs than a rupture
with the Bedford party ; and, before Newcastle de-
parted on his errand, he was significantly warned by
Rockingham that it would be far better to have
" a firm and decisive issue to this affair than a super-
ficial healing which may only entangle and deceive." 1
Newcastle discovered that this opinion was shared by
Bedford who argued that, as Grenville had been
provoked to make such a declaration by learning
what Rockingham was reported to have said to the
Duke of Bridgewater, he could not be called to task
for his conduct, until Rockingham had given a satis-
factory explanation of the remark attributed to him. 2
Such an explanation Rockingham was not prepared
to give. " Upon the whole state of what has passed,"
he wrote, on learning from Newcastle what Bedford
had asked, " I cannot but see the improbability of
that junction between the Duke of Bedford's friends
and ours, which we have so long wished, and to attain
which we have taken such pains and acted so fairly.
Mr G. Grenville has succeeded fully in his object of
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 109, f. in, f. 125. 2 Add. MS., 32987, f. 123.
190 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
dividing us and them. Indeed, the apology he makes
by saying that his conduct arose from warmth which
he felt on supposed words of mine is, as your grace
well observed, but a flimsy argument, as that could
not justify him in making an absolute rejection of all
the great and considerable persons with whom I
have acted, and particularly fixing his objection to
them in their having supported systems and principles
in which they still express themselves as determined
upon as he can upon his contrary and opposite system." 1
Thus, Rockingham decided to refuse the explanation
demanded, and consequently doomed himself and his
party to political isolation. All the strivings of
Newcastle were rendered useless ; and the old duke
was not slow to recognise that his labours had been
in vain. " I am sorry to find by your lordship's letter,"
he wrote in reply to Rockingham, " that all further
negotiation or concert with the Duke of Bedford is
now over. I had before determined that I would
be desired to be excused, and have nothing more to
do in it. I shall send an answer to his grace, that I
had made a faithful report of what had passed, and
have nothing to trouble his grace with upon it, and
desire to have no further concern in it, since I see no
prospect of being able to do any good." 2
Seldom has there been a more effective " curtain "
in the drama of party politics. Until this time an
alliance between the Bedford and Rockingham camps
had always been within the range of possibility ; and
now, by what might appear to be a freak of fortune,
the Rockingham whigs were once more cast adrift,
and forced to depend, in their contest with the ministry,
upon their own meagre parliamentary strength. That
it was their leader who was responsible for driving
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 119. * Add. MS., 32987, f. 133.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 191
them into a situation, seemingly so unenviable, can-
not be denied ; yet it should not be lightly assumed
that he acted wrongly. His refusal to comply with
Bedford's demand for an explanation does not prove
that he was guilty of having made the remark attri-
buted to him by the Duke of Bridgewater. It may
well be that Rockingham conceived that the time had
come definitely to repudiate Grenville, and to com-
pel Bedford to choose between that statesman and
himself. Most will agree in thinking that it is better
to know the worst than to live in daily expectation
of a catastrophe ; and Rockingham elected to court
misfortune rather than continue in a state of doubt.
He could have cherished but faint hopes that Bedford,
driven to make a decision, would reject George
Grenville's friendship in favour of an alliance with
the Rockingham whigs, separated as he was from
them by many far-reaching differences of opinion.
Whenever he had been approached during the past
twelve months, Bedford had always consistently
refused to contemplate a union which did not in-
clude Grenville and his party ; and there was no reason
why he should abandon this policy. Thus, in breaking
with Grenville, Rockingham destroyed, once and for all,
the hope of a united opposition.
The subsequent conduct of the Bedfords amply
proves that their action at this crisis was not in-
fluenced by any mistaken idea of chivalrous devotion
to a friend ; for, having suspended relations with
Lord Rockingham, they were by no means prepared
to link their fortunes with George Grenville in what
appeared to them to be a lost cause. Deprived of
Rockingham's assistance in parliament, they would
cut but a poor figure in the contest with the govern-
ment which they could never hope to drive from
192 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
power; and by a logical, if somewhat unprincipled,
train of reasoning, they were brought to the conclusion
that it was now time for them to make terms with the
ministry. Having thrown over Rockingham for the
sake of Grenville, they now threw over Grenville for
the sake of office. Only a few days after Newcastle's
interview with the Duke of Bedford, they made their
first overtures to Grafton who eagerly caught at such
a favourable opportunity of strengthening the adminis-
tration and weakening the opposition ; and by the
middle of December terms had been agreed upon.
It was arranged that Lord Gower should be president
of the council in place of Northington who was ready
to retire ; that Conway, though continuing a member
of the cabinet, should resign the secretaryship of state
in favour of Lord Weymouth ; and that Lord Hills-
borough should be created secretary of state for the
colonies which were thus transferred from the southern
department. 1 Lord Sandwich, who had once been
secretary of state, was now obliged to content himself
with the subordinate position of postmaster ; 2 and
Rigby succeeded to the vice-treasurership of Ireland. 3
Thus, the alliance was concluded, and Grafton could
indeed congratulate himself upon his achievement.
He had taken the tide of fortune at the flood ; and had
no longer reason to fear the parliamentary opposition
which he would have to encounter in the future.
Secure of a majority in both houses, he could safely
defy the efforts which Grenville or Rockingham
1 Lord Shelburne, the secretary of state for the southern department,
though he acquiesced in this arrangement, did not certainly approve it.
Chatham Correspondence, 3, 300.
2 The king was reported to have refused to make Sandwich a secretary of
state, on the ground that he would " make no more sweeps as he has done."
Add. MS., 32987, f. 315. For evidence that Sandwich was discontented, see
Add. MS., 32987, f - 397-
3 For a detailed account of this negotiation, see Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 84 ff.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OPPOSITION 193
might make to unseat him, able as he now was to
count with confidence upon the combined support of
the crown and parliament. Nor, indeed, had Bedford
cause to regret the bargain that he had concluded.
Old and almost blind, he had not sought office for him-
self, but he had safely established his followers in
power ; and whatever may be thought of the morality
of his action, its wisdom was undoubted. Neither he
nor his followers were men to lose their lives in a
doomed cause ; and it needed no great political
experience to understand that the opposition was
doomed, sentence of death having been passed upon it
at the meeting between Bedford and Newcastle on
November 25th. Dull and stagnant were the debates
in parliament, and quite early in December many
members, weary of watching the ministers carry
everything before them, began to leave town. 1 On
December 5th, Lord Lyttelton reported that all opposi-
tion was at an end, 2 and the same tale was told by
George Onslow who informed Newcastle that " our
house is the quietest, place in the world." 3 Con-
vinced that the battle was over, the Bedfords con-
cluded that the best thing was to come to terms with
the victorious administration, and acted in accordance
with their convictions.
Thus, Grafton had triumphed over the forces which
at one time threatened to overwhelm him. With no
little courage he had toiled against adversity, and had
been rewarded for his perseverance. It now remained
to be seen to what use he would put his victory.
1 " The number of people gone out of town," wrote West to Newcastle,
"is so great that the seamen were voted with barely forty members in the
house. ... Mr Grenville comes down alone, and never communicates with
anyone. Administration seems perfectly easy, and opposition perfectly
indolent." Add. MS., 32987, f. 149.
2 Add. MS., 32987, f. 171. 3 Add. MS., 32987, f. 218.
N
CHAPTER IV
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM
The admission of the Bedford party into the administra-
tion marks the beginning of a new chapter in Grafton's
troubled and unfortunate ministerial career. From
the time that Chatham had withdrawn into gloomy
seclusion at Hampstead, the youthful first lord of
the treasury had been playing the game of politics
with the dice loaded against him. Persuaded, against
his own inclination and better knowledge, to accept
a responsibility beyond his capacity, he had been
compelled by the breakdown in Chatham's health,
which he could not have foreseen, to take command ;
and can, indeed, claim a certain measure of pity as the
victim of a malicious destiny, driving him where he
was unwilling to go. Nor was he able to reflect that
his audacity had been rewarded with success. Hard
pressed in the parliamentary conflict, especially in
the upper house, unable to make his will prevail
in a cabinet of which he was the nominal leader,
driven to live, politically, from hand to mouth, and the
prey of men stronger than himself, he had every
inducement to abandon a task which he would never
have undertaken, had he thought only of his own
happiness and good fame ; and if he continued at
the post of danger, facing the full fury of the battle,
it was because he was prepared to sacrifice his comfort
and reputation to his affection for Chatham and his
194
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 195
loyalty to the king. Imbibing the constitutional
doctrines of the man whom he had chosen as his
political leader, he defended the royal closet against
the rush of factions opposed to the court ; and, failing
in much else, succeeded in accomplishing this part
of the appointed task. At the cost of bringing much
evil upon the country and himself, he successfully
averted the threatened union of the enemies of the
administration ; and, by the alliance with the followers
of the Duke of Bedford, provided the government
with a working majority in both houses of parliament. 1
But it is typical of Grafton, and of the policy of helpless
drift which he pursued, that this accession of parlia-
mentary strength was purchased by the sacrifice
of the constitutional principles which Chatham had
avowed and not yet repudiated. With the entry
of the Bedfords into the government, the party system
came to its own once more, Grafton, in order to avoid
shipwreck, having thrown himself into the arms of
one of the very political factions which Chatham had
set out to destroy. It was in vain that he sought to
minimise the change effected, and asserted that the
terms of the treaty were such as Chatham could
approve. 2 The surrender was far too complete to
admit of effective disguise. The party system had
triumphed over those who had vowed its destruction ;
and the Bedfords joined the ministry, not as isolated
individuals enlisting under a new banner, but as a
1 " In the house of lords this accession of strength was essentially felt ;
and damped every expectation which the other parts of opposition might
have formed to have embarrassed the administration." Grafton's Auto-
biography, p. 183.
2 " Besides, the conditions, now proposed and accepted, were short of
those which Lord Chatham would have agreed to, either in the confer-
ence he had himself with the Duke of Bedford in December, 1766, or
in that I had with Lord Gower in June, 1767." Grafton's Autobiography,
P- 173-
196 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
political organisation, possessed of an identity of its
own. Driven, by force of circumstances, to resort to
a desperate remedy, Grafton had been obliged to admit
both Weymouth and Gower into the cabinet, to give
office to Sandwich and Rigby, and to promise that
some of the less influential members of the party
should be " noticed at the time, or as soon as could be
arranged " ; x and the granting of such terms registers
the failure of the constitutional experiment inaugurated
by Chatham. The ministry could no longer be com-
pared to a piece of uncemented tessellated pavement,
being rather a coalition between the Bedford party
and the relics of the original cabinet ; and contem-
poraries, appreciating the significance of such an
alliance, amused themselves by speculating which
section of the administration would gain the mastery.
The game was easy enough to play, no great prophetic
insight being required to foretell that the victory
would ultimately lie with the Bedfords. Lord
Weymouth and his friends were proverbial for their
skill in converting an inch into an ell ; and, having
once entered the cabinet, would not be likely to rest
content until they had secured predominance there,
even if it meant actively intriguing against the first lord
of the treasury. Their success was almost certain, for
Grafton and his colleagues had far too little in common
to resist the steady pressure of politicians adept . in
the art of acquiring an unfair advantage. Lord
Shelburne, already profoundly discontented with his
situation and the policy pursued, would not lift a hand
in Grafton's defence ; and it was vain to depend upon
Conway and Camden in the hour of need. The future,
undoubtedly, lay with the Bedfords ; and when, after
a little hesitation, the king extended to them his
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 182.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 197
confidence, their victory was assured. It was some
little time before George III. could forget that his
new servants had been the allies of George Grenville
both in and out of office ; and, bearing this fact in
mind, he warned Grafton to be on his guard against
the new recruits ; but in time such distasteful
recollections were obliterated, and " the engaging
manners of the two lords overcame by degrees all
the prejudice there might have been against the whole
party." x
Thus, in order to frustrate the designs of the opposi-
tion, Grafton had undermined the foundations of his
own authority ; and although such a sacrifice would
have been well worth the making, if productive of an
efficient and popular administration, there was little
indication that such a happy consequence would flow
from the accession of the Bedfords to office. Inasmuch
as the new ministers were pleasing to the king, they
were unlikely to win the approval of the people or to
promote the welfare of the nation. Though Lord
Sandwich was not without industry or ability, and
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 183 : " It seems to me clear," wrote
Whately to George Grenville, " that the Duke of Grafton means to gain the
Bedfords entirely : whether the consequences will be that he will get them
as an accession to his party, or they get him as an accession to theirs, is, I
think, very doubtful : circumstances, which neither can command, must
determine ; but without the intervention of particular circumstances, I should
be inclined to think that the party of the Bedfords being of more real weight
than the individual Duke of Grafton, they would rather draw him to them,
than he them to him." John Yorke, a younger brother of Lord Hardwicke,
remarked that he was unable to " understand why the late changes have
been made, and I do not wonder they should be not disapproved at Stowe
and Wotton. They may lead to more, and bring things round to where they
were at the Peace. It is impossible to suppose that the fiery duke and his
friends should be long quiet and contented. Lord Shelburne is half out
already, and Con — y more than half. The house of commons, under the
conduct of Lord North, may easily be played into the hands of G. G., by
accident if Lord Guilford should die, or by management if the Duke of Bedford
lives. But in all events I think the Duke of Grafton has surrendered about
half his powers at least." Grenville Papers, 4, 248-249 ; Add. MS., 35374,
f. 340.
198 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
could justly boast considerable experience of adminis-
trative life, he enjoyed an unenviable reputation
as the most notorious profligate of a very profligate
age ; and even if the mob had been prepared to over-
look the shortcomings of his private life, they would
not readily forget that he had basely betrayed Wilkes,
the boon companion of his disreputable leisure hours.
By this act of infamy he had earned his well-known
nickname of " Jemmy Twitcher," which branded him
for ever as lacking in generosity, so often the last relic
of virtue in a thoroughly depraved nature. It is true
that Lord Weymouth had a far less sullied reputation,
but his comparative respectability was not so much
a tribute to his character as a reflection upon the laxity
of the times. Furnished with good natural abilities,
and a fairly effective debater, he might have made
himself a capable administrator if he had given to
statecraft a tithe of the time he devoted to gaming
and drinking. George II. had remarked of him that
he cared for nothing but cards and strong beer ; and
to the satisfaction of these passions he sacrificed both
his fortune and his health, politics being merely an
interlude in a headlong career of dissipation. Rarely
leaving the card-table before six o'clock in the morning,
and, consequently, seldom rising before noon, his life
was one long drawn-out debauch ; and, shattered by
his nightly excesses, he was frequently compelled to
leave the business of his office to be transacted by
subordinates. Not all the new ministers, however,
could boast an equality in vice with Sandwich or
Weymouth. Lord Gower, the new lord president of
the council, was undoubtedly their moral superior ;
and, although he rarely rose above the level of respect-
able mediocrity, he could boast a fund of good humour
and tact, sufficient to make him a useful member of
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 199
any administration. 1 Unfortunately, these happy
attributes were not shared by Lord Hillsborough,
the new secretary of state for the colonies. More
of a courtier than a statesman, Hillsborough had not
been cast by nature to be a ruler of men, and,
in after years, George III. frankly avowed that
he had seldom encountered a man of less judgment. 2
An impressive presence and agreeable manners, which
might have served him in good stead in an office
of dignity rather than of business, were but a sorry
equipment for the task he had actually undertaken
to perform ; and, in view of the critical relations
between England and her colonies, no appointment
could have been more unwise or, indeed, more
disastrous.
The reconstructed administration, therefore, was
but the old writ large, with old faults exaggerated and
new defects introduced ; and neither Grafton nor the
nation had reason to rejoice over the change which
had been effected. The real victor was George III.
It was he who had triumphed, for he had secured
advisers after his own heart, and no longer had cause
to fear that he might be compelled to choose his
ministers at the dictation of parliament. By the
surrender of the Bedford party to the court, he was
more than compensated for the loss of Chatham who,
though he had served a useful turn in the overthrow
of the Rockingham ministry, was far too great a
statesman, and too little of a time-server, to be en-
tirely agreeable to the king. It mattered nothing to
1 Henry Fox, a shrewd and not a lenient judge of his fellow creatures, once
told Bute that Gower was "of a humour and nature the most practicable,
and if any man could do the office of southern secretary without either
quarrelling with Charles Townshend, or letting down the dignity of his own
office, he would." Fitzmaurice's Shelburne, i, 187.
2 Hist. MSS. Coram., 10th Report, Appendix, Part vi. 15.
200 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
George III. that the ministry was notoriously weak,
the country discontented, and the colonists slowly, but
surely, heading towards revolt. It was of far greater
moment to him that he had taken the sting out of an
opposition which might have subdued him to its will,
and that the danger, which had threatened him during
the year 1767, had been dissipated by a successful
negotiation. Even if Grenville, forgetting old and
recent grievances, joined hands with Rockingham
against the court, it was extremely unlikely that their
united forces would prevail against the ministerialists
and placemen in both houses of parliament ; and if
Rockingham, despairing of the future, had decided to
abandon a struggle, from which all hope had apparently
departed, he could not have been blamed. Ever since
his loss of office in July, 1766, he had toiled in defence
of those principles of party government, which he had
upheld when in power, and had not forsaken in opposi-
tion ; and it seemed as if the hour had now struck
for him to relinquish a contest which could never end
in victory. Deserted by Bedford, and come to an
open breach with Grenville, he knew that, weak as he
had been in the past, he would be still weaker in the
future : nor was it certain that he could continue
to count upon the fidelity of his followers. Wearied
by repeated defeat, men's hearts began to fail them,
and that apathy, which is so often the accompaniment
of failure, began to rear its head in the ranks of the
whig opposition. On the occasion of an important
debate in the upper house on February 5th, some
of Rockingham's supporters did not trouble to appear,
and others went away before a division was taken ; l
and such indifference is hardly to be wondered at,
springing as it did from a conviction that, the
1 Add. MS., 32988, f. 170, f. 186.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 201
cause being doomed, the time had come to beat a
retreat.
It is greatly to Rockingham's credit that, adverse
as the situation was, he refused to be intimidated into
a surrender, and his courage was not misplaced.
Deficient as he was in many of the arts of statesmanship,
of no great ability, and often lacking in foresight,
it must never be forgotten that throughout his life
he fought for principles which he refused to sacrifice
to expediency or personal profit ; and, nerved by the
conviction that right must ultimately triumph, he
encouraged his followers to endure the heat and burden
of the battle, in the sure and certain hope that the men,
who came after them, would reap the fruit of their
valour. " I firmly believe," he wrote to Dowdeswell
in the autumn of 1767, " that no set of politicians
ever acted a more unbiassed part in point of interest
than we and our friends have done ; and I firmly hope
and trust we shall always adhere to it. You know
I never disguised to our friends, on trying occasions,
that I considered them a forlorn hope, but that the
maintenance of character and credit was in honour
incumbent upon them, and would, in the first place,
be a comfort to their own minds, and, though it might
appear improbable at present, yet it was not im-
possible but that such conduct would ultimately
prove the best policy." x
1 "The Memoir of the Right Honourable William Dowdeswell," printed in
The Cavendish Debates, vol. i. p. 575 ff. A few weeks later, Rockingham in-
forms Dowesdwell that " our line of conduct is nice, and requires much con-
sideration. I think, as a general rule, we should constantly look back to what
it has been, and adhere to the same line in future. I think we, and we only,
of all the party now in opposition, are so, on system and principles — that we
ought to avail ourselves of other parties now in opposition, in order to effect-
uate good purposes ; and that we should be cautious not even to throw the
appearance of leading into hands, whose principles we have no reason to
think similar to our own, and whose honour we have no reason to confide
in." Ibid.
202 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Thus, the despair, which enervates and destroys,
had not entered into Rockingham's heart, and, in his
resolution to persevere, he was ably supported by the
aged Duke of Newcastle. A serious illness, at the close,
of the year, 1767, gave Newcastle timely warning
that the sands of his long life were at last running out,
and he was reluctantly compelled to abstain from
active participation in political life. Yet, though
the strength had failed, the interest never flagged,
and he continued eagerly to watch the fray which had
been both his business and his pleasure for more than
half a century, calling upon his friends to rally round
Rockingham, as they had formerly rallied round him.
" As the Duke of Newcastle," he instructed his friend,
West, " has entirely withdrawn from all politics and
publick affairs, he is very desirous that all his friends
should concur with my Lord Rockingham in such
measures as he shall take for the support of the whig
cause . . . and for the true interest of the nation.
He, therefore, will be extremely obliged to Mr West
if he would take a proper opportunity to convey these,
his sentiments and wishes, to the Duke of Newcastle's
friends in the city, . . . and also to my Lord Archer,
my Lord Plymouth, my Lord Winterton, and Mr
West's son-in-law, Mr Archer." 1
It is beyond all question that the leaders of the
party were right to give the word for the struggle
to continue. In a few weeks parliament was to be
dissolved, and the country plunged into the turmoil
of a general election, and Rockingham's followers
would fare but ill if they presented themselves to
the electors as beaten men, openly confessing to
failure. Under the most favourable conditions they
1 Add. MS., 32988, f. 23. A similar message was conveyed to Newcastle's
Sussex friends.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 203
could hope to make but little headway against the
torrent of bribery and corruption which would flow
from the court directly parliament was dissolved ;
but their fate would be worse still if, by an untimely
surrender of their principles and their courage, they
forfeited the respect of the people. Only by acquiring
the confidence of the country could they expect to
gain ultimate victory ; and although little success
had attended their efforts hitherto, it was their duty
to continue to appeal to the nation against an in-
efficient administration and a corrupted house of
commons. No man could say when the dawn would
come, and the banner of the party must not be trailed
in the dust before the verdict of the people had been
taken.
Therefore, during the last session of the expiring
parliament, Rockingham and his friends, rightly refus-
ing to recognise the full force of the crushing disaster
they had sustained, continued their opposition to the
government, though it must be admitted that not a
little of their energy was expended in vain. Once
more they championed the cause of the East India
company which they conscientiously believed to be
the victim of unjustifiable interference by the state.
The act, limiting the dividends of the company to
ten per cent., expired in the autumn of 1767 ; and
when its renewal was proposed by the ministry, the
Rockingham whigs, modelling their conduct on what it
had been in the past, sallied forth again as the defenders
of the rights of chartered corporations. In the house
of commons Burke and Dowdeswell were foremost in
the struggle, but neither the eloquence of the one nor
the activity of the other exercised any appreciable
influence upon the divisions. Both the second and
final readings of the bill were carried by substantial
204 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
majorities, and once in the report stage the opposition
only numbered twenty-five on a division ; x while
in the house of lords, though the bill did not pass
without debate and the registration of a formal pro-
test, the ministry never came within a measurable
distance of defeat. The ease of the victory was largely
due to the disruption effected by Grafton in the
ranks of the opposition. The Bedfords, so lately the
defenders of the company, were now the allies of the
court ; and though Bedford, Gower, Sandwich, and
Weymouth, fearful of the charge of interested incon-
sistency, voted against the bill, the less important
members of the party, not so careful of their reputation,
supported the government ; and if Weymouth gave
his vote against the Duke of Grafton, he was careful
to express his regret at so doing, and the hope that he
would never again differ in opinion from his leader. 2
It is true, of course, that the followers of Grenville,
being in no wise connected with the ministry, had no
need to put a rein upon their inclination to oppose
the bill ; and in the upper house both Temple and
Lyttelton spoke strongly against the government,
the former, with characteristic acrimony, inveighing
against corruption, declaring that " the times were
bad indeed, that in his youth he remembered Sir
Robert Walpole's times, which he then thought bad,
but that they were perfection compared with the
present." 3 The example of these two lords was
not, however, followed by Grenville himself, who,
during the passage of the bill through the lower house,
played a rather more ambiguous part. He expressed
his disapproval of the measure by speaking and voting
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 301 ; Add. MS., 32988, f. 58, f. 74 ; Grenville Papers,
4, 240.
2 Add. MS., 32988, f. 170. 3 Ibid.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 205
against it on the second reading ; * but, having thus
made his protest, he withdrew from the fray, and
the same course was pursued by a good many of his
followers. 2 Thus, the burden of the battle fell upon
the Rockinghams, and they could hardly have concealed
from themselves that they were fighting in vain.
The nation was unlikely to be stirred to its depths
by a limitation of the rights of a powerful corporation,
and it must have been small consolation for them to
reflect that, badly as they had fared, they would have
fared still worse if they had adopted a policy of inaction.
A happier fortune attended their efforts to right a
wrong inflicted upon one of themselves. The Duke of
Portland, a distinguished and most loyal member of
the Rockingham party, had recently fallen a victim
to the hatred and cupidity of Sir James Lowther, a
great territorial magnate in the north of England
where Portland was also possessed of extensive estates.
It is difficult to give any adequate description of
Lowther, save in terms which savour of caricature.
Intoxicated with pride, in love with the exercise of
power, passionate to the verge of frenzy, and totally
unable to brook the slightest opposition to his will,
he exercised a tyrannical and almost feudal rule over
his tenants and dependents, being wont to display
his authority by denying justice to those who were
too weak to resist and too proud to submit. 3 A
son-in-law of Lord Bute, and, therefore, an ardent
supporter of the government, Lowther had extensive
political influence in the counties of Cumberland
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 301 ; Grenville Papers, 4, 240.
2 After the bill had been sent up to the upper house, Rockingham re-
marked to Newcastle how " George Grenville, Sir Fletcher Norton, and that
set kept away in the house of commons." Add. MS., 32988, f. 81.
3 For a curious and interesting account of Lowther, see Rockingham
Memoirs, 2, 69-72.
206 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and Westmoreland, his only rival in that field being
the Duke of Portland who was as justly popular as
he was justly detested. Infuriated at the prospect
of his supremacy over the voters in the district being
disputed at the approaching general election, Lowther
applied to the treasury for a lease of Inglewood Forest,
which, though originally part of the royal domain,
had been in the possession of the Portland family
for many years, and, if of small monetary value, was
highly prized as including within its boundaries a
large number of freeholders possessed of the franchise.
Willing enough to gratify a supporter and to damage
an antagonist, the ministers acceded to his request ;
and they were able to justify their action by the
strict letter of the law. The old adage, nullum tempus
occurrit regi, still held good in law, and it was, un-
fortunately, impossible for Portland to prove that the
territory in dispute had ever been formally granted
to his ancestors by the crown. It is true that every
obstacle was placed by the government in the way
of the establishment of such a claim ; but, even if the
most liberal facilities had been granted, it is open
to question whether Portland could have proved his
right. All that could be urged on his behalf was that
his family had held the land, now leased to Lowther,
in undisputed possession for many years past ; but
such an argument had more moral than legal force ;
and even Rockingham, deeply incensed though he was
at the wrong inflicted upon a loyal supporter, was
compelled to admit that, according to the most favour-
able construction of the existing law, it was necessary
to prove continuous possession for more than two
hundred years, in order effectively to bar the claims
of the crown. 1
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 73-74.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 207
Thus, arbitrary and unfair as the ministerial action
was, it was not illegal ; nor, indeed, was it unpre-
cedented. We learn from Horace Walpole that " it
was common, particularly in Wales, for private
jobbers to apply to the treasury, and offer to make
out the title of the crown to certain lands which had
been usurped from the domain, under pretence of having
been grants, though often the grantees had occupied
much more than had been granted. On these occasions
a new grant was the condition and reward of the
informer." x Walpole's testimony is of interest, but
its importance should not be exaggerated. The pre-
valence of an iniquitous practice does not render it
any less iniquitous, and supported though the con-
fiscation of Inglewood Forest might be by precedent
and law, there were special circumstances connected
with it which rendered it of peculiar and exceptional
interest. It was abundantly clear that Portland's
political opinions had marked him out for attack,
and that the whole transaction was nothing but an
unscrupulous move in an electioneering game. Law
and justice had been evoked to cloak a thoroughly
nefarious business, and the social rank of the victim,
his justly respected character, and the infamy of his
accuser, were certain to attract general and unwelcome
attention to what the ministers had done. A highly
obnoxious practice, tolerated in the past because the
sufferers had been few, and, for the most part, in-
significant, was thus dragged into the light ; and land-
owners, who had hitherto believed themselves immune
from any interference by the crown, now began to
fear a scrutiny into their title deeds, and to wonder
whether the resumption of Inglewood Forest was only
the beginning of an organised crusade against private
s
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 102.
208 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
property. " The Duke of Portland himself," wrote
Rockingham in January, 1768, " is the only person
whom Lord Rockingham has seen, either in town or
country, who is cool upon the subject. The duchy
courts of Lancaster have, within the last year or two,
made several attempts to revive and make out old
claims . . . which in the northern counties had
already made great uneasiness. This event in the
Duke of Portland's case . . . makes the greater
impression there, from their minds being already
agitated by these circumstances." 1
If this was true, a private misfortune might become
a public benefit, and the Rockingham party profit
by the sufferings of one of their number. It was
incumbent upon the Rockingham whigs to make use
of whatever agitation existed in the nation against
the government ; and so, influenced by policy as
much as by sentiment, they determined to espouse
the cause of their injured friend, and, not unnaturally,
hoped to receive the support of the landed interest
both in and out of parliament. " I heartily wish,"
wrote Rockingham, at the beginning of February,
" that nothing may prevent our agitating a matter
which, in my belief, will do so much real publick
service . . . and will do us so much honour, at all
events, to be the movers in"; while a little later he
remarked that, though the " success the motion may
have in the house may be doubtful, ... I am fully
persuaded that out of doors it will be most exceedingly
relished." 2 Thus, convinced that fortune at last
smiled upon them, the followers of Rockingham set
to work to prepare a plan of campaign, and the task
was not quite so easy as it might at first sight appear.
It was imperative that the personal note should not
1 Add. MS., 32988, f. 31. 2 Ibid., f. 134, f. 333.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 209
be unduly stressed, the point of the attack being
rather to evoke opposition to the government among
the landed classes, than to redress the private grievances
of the Duke of Portland ; and, if the opposition con-
tented itself with the demand that the Duke should
be reinstated in his lost possessions, leaving the rest
of the landed gentry to the tender mercies of the
ministry, there would be little enthusiasm either in
parliament or in the country. The danger was
sufficiently obvious to be avoided ; and, after a few
meetings of the leading members of the party, it was
arranged that Sir George Savile, who undertook
the task reluctantly, should propose in the house of
commons the enforcement and amendment of an
act of parliament, entitled " for quieting the minds
of those possessed of crown lands," which had been
passed in the reign of James I. 1 The move was
skilfully contrived, for such a motion, designed as it
was to avert the evil of arbitrary action by the govern-
ment in the future, could hardly fail to win the support
of the country gentry ; and the ministers might well
find that the loyalty of many of their habitual
supporters was not proof against the competition of
self-interest. 2 ~
Wednesday, February 17th, was the date fixed for
the opposition attack, and, until that day came,
the greatest secrecy was observed, in order that the
government might be taken by surprise. So elaborate,
indeed, was the conspiracy of silence, that when notice
of Savile's motion was given on February 15th, it was
intentionally couched in such vague and misleading
language that the ministers failed to gain the slightest
1 Add. MS., 32988, f. 204, f. 264, f. 288.
2 Thus Rockingham hoped that the " real goodness of the question will
operate strongly on any persons in the house, who may have the least in-
clination of favour towards us." Add. MS., 32988, f. 307.
210 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
inkling of the line that their opponents intended to
take. 1 Hopes ran high, Rockingham and his friends
being indefatigable in beating up supporters, and their
energy was not expended totally in vain; for, when
Savile introduced his motion on the appointed day,
the government only prevailed by the slender majority
of twenty. Indeed, all the arguments, and a great deal
of the eloquence, were on the side of the defeated
opposition, and the ministerialists, fearing, on the eve
of a general election, directly to oppose a proposal
so obviously just and so deservedly popular, were
driven weakly to urge that the time was inopportune,
and that so important a question ought not to be
settled by an expiring parliament. This was but a
sorry line of defence, a trumped up principle incapable
of sustaining investigation ; and it is little wonder that
Rockingham, who watched the debate until its close,
was delighted with the day's work. Burke, Dowdeswell
and Charles Yorke were foremost in the" attack, and
Sir William Meredith spoke with so much fervour
and earnestness that " he fairly exhausted himself
of bodily strength, but not before the strength of his
arguments had made real impression." Nor was
the glory confined exclusively to the followers of
Rockingham ; for even George Grenville acquitted
himself well as a defender of property, 2 and although
only two members of the administration, Lord
Palmerston and Augustus Hervey, voted with the
opposition, there were many deserters from the rank
and file of the ministerial party. 3 " I will venture
1 Add. MS., 32988, f. 134, f. 222.
2 Rockingham, at all events, approved of Grenville's conduct, though
Horace Walpole affirms that he " trimmed with all his art, not to offend Lord
Bute and Sir James Lowther." Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 115.
3 Add. MS., 32988, f. 357, f. 369: Hist. MSS. Comm. Carlisle MSS.,
243-245 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 114 ff.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 211
to ensure success to our motion on renewing it at the
opening of the next session of parliament," wrote
Rockingham in true prophetic vein ; " and I think I
may also add that the landed interest in England will
highly approve our attempt, as it will secure them
against the odious revival of long dormant claims of
the crown ... on private landed property." l
Such jubilation, justified in a measure though it
might be, was, unhappily, somewhat exaggerated. It
is true that the Rockingham whigs had played a
creditable part in parliament, and had succeeded
in materially diminishing the ministerial majority ;
but there their victory ended. They had failed in the
most important part of their task, namely in arousing
a popular agitation throughout the country against
the government ; and for this they are not to be
blamed. There was no time, on the eve of a general
election, to carry the conflict from Westminster into
the counties, to educate small and large landowners
into the belief that their cherished possessions were
in danger ; and, like the gambler, prevented from reap-
ing a golden harvest from a sudden turn of luck by
the closing of the gaming tables, Rockingham and his
friends were driven to appeal to the country at the very
moment they would not have chosen. On the ioth
of March, parliament, having completed its legal term
of seven years, acquiring in the process a thoroughly
deserved reputation for ignoble subservience to the
court, was dissolved, and its epitaph was composed
by Horace Walpole. " Thus ended," he wrote, " that
parliament, uniform in nothing but in its obedience to
the crown. To all I have said I will only add, that
it would have deserved the appellation of one of the
worst parliaments England ever s-.vf, if its servility
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 73-74,1
212 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
had not been so great, that, as the times changed,
it enacted remedies for the evils it had committed with
the same facility with which it had complied with
the authors of those evils. Our ancestors, who dealt
in epithets, might have called it the impudent parlia-
ment." 2
Evil as the parliament had been, it was, unfortun-
ately, only too likely that its successor would continue in
the same path. If the opinion of the country had been
really taken, it is probable that George III. might
have discovered how far he had strayed from the
road in which Bolingbroke had appointed him to
walk ; but, in the eighteenth century, the populace
had to be deeply stirred to make its voice prevail
over the raucous cries of borough-brokers and their
like ; and the general election of 1768 was no exception
to the common rule. Few political contests have
been more disfigured by bribery and corruption,
the destiny of a great kingdom being bought and sold
in the open market. Even contemporaries, accus-
tomed to a degree of venality which would make the
most hardened political cynic of the present day
shudder at the depravity of mankind, were astonished
at the brutal and fierce competition for seats.
" Elections here have been carried to a degree of
frenzy hitherto unheard iof," wrote Chesterfield to his
son ; " that for the town of Northampton has cost
the contending parties at least thirty thousand pounds
a side, and George Selwyn has sold the borough of
Luggershall to two members for nine thousand pounds." 2
Nor is Chesterfield the only witness to the fury of
the competition, for we find Rockingham deploring
the very large number of men, qualified in every way
for a place in parliament, who were prevented, by
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 116. 2 Chesterfield's Letters, 3, 1375-1376.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 213
lack of means, from satisfying a legitimate ambition ; l
and it is somewhat astonishing to find a borough,
for which two thousand pounds was asked, being
regarded in the light of a bargain to be snapped up
without delay. 2
This general anxiety on all sides to acquire seats
effectively stimulated corruption and intimidation ;
and we may be certain that the stories, which have
come down to us, are but a few of the many in circula-
tion among the politicians of the day. Perhaps the
most flagrant and cynical abuse of the franchise was
afforded by the mayor and corporation of the city
of Oxford, who threatened to unseat their two repre-
sentatives unless they pledged themselves to redeem
the debt incurred by the corporation in the mainten-
ance of a luxurious and expensive table ; 3 and this
was no solitary instance of intimidation. The curate
of Aldborough, in the county of Suffolk, was active in
bringing illegal pressure to bear upon the voters of
that town ; but, as he worked in the interests of the
government, he was more fortunate than the offending
mayor and corporation of Oxford, escaping a parlia-
mentary conviction. 4 Great noblemen were also
1 " The great expences of elections have indeed too much . . . deterred the
prudent and proper persons from attempting to come into parliament. Gentle-
men possessed of 2 or 3000^ per ann. estates feel that their fortunes will not
bear an extraordinary outgoing of 3 or 4000^ for a seat in parliament, and the
additional expences incurring by a long residence in London." Add. MS.,
32986, f. 329.
2 " The Duke of Newcastle also acquaints my Lord Rockingham that he
has a friend of his, upon whom he can depend, that has offered him a sure
borough for any friend of his, for ^2000, but the answer must be given im-
mediately." Add. MS., 32988, f. 196.
3 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 410-41 1 ; Carlisle MSS.,
235-240; Pari. History, xvi.
4 " Bennet, the curate of Aldborough," wrote a member of parliament to
Lord Hardwicke on February 28th, 1768, " appeared at our Bar on Tuesday,
his council Dunning, and George Leigh Tonnereau had no assistance. . . .
His two witnesses clearly proved the fact and uniformly kept to it after re-
peated examinations. . . . They were not quite so exact in a multitude of
214 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
active in the sordid contest. Lord Edgecumbe, who
had great influence in the county of Cornwall, counted
upon returning six members to the new parliament,
and Lord Clive reckoned upon having seven repre-
sentatives x ; but Clive and Edgecumbe were but
amateur dabblers compared with the Duke of New-
castle who, though crippled by disease and age,
plunged, with almost youthful ardour, into what was
to be his last electioneering campaign. Many weeks
before parliament was dissolved, he had been engaged
in the congenial occupation of distributing repre-
sentatives between the various boroughs under his
control, and complaining bitterly of the interference
he suffered at the hands of the Duke of Grafton. ' I
am attacked in a most cruel manner by his grace, the
Duke of Grafton," he confided to Lord Mansfield.
" He is, I hope, quite defeated at Rye, but he told
George Onslow that he had settled Hastings, a town
which never was, or ought to be, a treasury burrough
... a town where, ever since the year 1714, I have
constantly chose both the members to this very day." 2
Yet, in spite of Grafton poaching upon what Newcastle
regarded as his own private preserve, the old duke's
labours were rewarded with a. fair measure of success.
" For my part, upon the whole," he informed Lord
George Cavendish, " I have succeeded pretty well,
having carried all my members everywhere, except for
that ungrateful town of Lewes " ; 3 and if he failed
collateral questions put by the council, some of them quite forein (sic) to the
business. This was called gross prevarication. Upon this the advocates
rested their defence, and upon this the House acquitted Bennet, about one
in the morning, by 155 to 39. . . . 'Twas natural it must be owned that such
an inquiry should be opposed, considering whither it led, had it been rigor-
ously followed up." Add. MS., 35608, f. 114.
1 Add. MS., 32987, f. 202.
a Add. MS., 32985, f. 88 ; see also, f. 358 and Add. MS., 32986, f. 391.
3 Add. MS., 32989, f. 232.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 215
at Lewes it was not for want of trying. " I expected
to have heard from you before now," he wrote to his
agent in that town, early in March, " how the state of
our affairs stands at Lewes. By the enclosed letter
I find we shall still have some difficulty with the
dissenters. However, they will have a very strong
letter from the body of dissenters here, pressing them
to support my interest ... I hear that Morris, the
butcher, who has taken so much money of me and my
family, is engaged to Colonel Hay. I am determined
to know my friends, and they shall be known, not
only to the whole country, but to all the world. . . .
Stand a poll I will and will know my friends from my
enemies. If gratitude and honour won't prevail with
them, I hope interest will ; and the tradesmen of Lewes
ought to consider how much money my friends, and
particularly my cousin, Pelham of Stanmer, and my
Lord Gage spend amongst them. My cousin, Pelham
of Stanmer, alone pays out £1100 a year amongst
them, and he will not lay out less by having above
£40,000 left him by his father in-law, Mr Frankland.
In short, if they will proceed with violence, I will
use violence towards them, and will know who are
my friends, and who are not." *
It would be a mistake to imagine that intimidation
was the only weapon that Newcastle used : his corre-
spondence reveals that there was another and a lighter
1 Add. MS., 32989, f. 113. On Miller failing to be elected, Newcastle in-
structed his steward, Abraham Bailey, " to give notice to such of my tenants
at Lewes who did not vote for the election of Mr Hampden and Mr Miller at
the last election there, the 16th of March last, to quit their several houses
at Michmas next. Also that my said steward do call in the bills of such
tradesmen at Lewes, who have been usually employed by me, and did not vote
as above, and not employ them again on my account." It is doubtful, how-
ever, whether these drastic orders were executed ; the Duke of Richmond pro-
tested against them, and Newcastle agreed to talk the matter over with him.
Add. MS., 32990, f. 165, f. 196 ; f. 200.
216 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
side of electioneering business. Sir John Miller, the
father of the defeated candidate at Lewes, relates how
" Sir Ferdinand intends to roast a little ox on the
day of election," and adds, feelingly, that " the service
is rather severe ; I have been up three nights and,
I can assure you, I can jump, dance, run, sing and
hollow as well as ever I did." 1 Nor were such
festivities confined to the town of Lewes ; and, from
the Duke of Richmond, Newcastle heard how, at
Chichester, " we drank your grace's health in a bumper,
with many huzzas, the very first toast after the Royal
family, the county, and the city. We then went
on with the marquis, the Duke of Portland, Sir George
Savile, and no nullum tenipus, etc., etc., etc., till we
were all completely finished." 2
Great as was the energy displayed by Newcastle,
he was not the only member of the opposition to toil
to increase the numerical strength of the party in the
new parliament. Rockingham used his great political
influence in Yorkshire to good effect, 3 and nowhere
was the contest fiercer than in the counties of Cumber-
land and Westmoreland, where the antagonists were
the Duke of Portland and Sir James Lowther. The
political rivalry of these two great landowners having
been embittered by personal hate and spite, the struggle
could not fail to be keen ; and it was rumoured that
Lowther, having defrauded Portland of an estate, was
now intent upon his financial ruin. 4 He failed, indeed,
to attain this sinister end, but he was at least successful
in making Portland spend money lavishly, the duke's
1 Add. MS., 32989, f. 163. 2 Add. MS., 32989, f. 230.
3 Add. MS., 32989, f. 232.
4 It was reported that the Duke of Bedford had stated, in a public room
at Bath, that Lowther had asserted that he " would at any time spend twenty-
thousand pounds to make the Duke of Portland spend fifteen, for I know I
can hold out longer than he can, and my meaning is to ruin him." Add.
MS., 32990, f. 21.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 217
expenditure being estimated at forty thousand pounds.
Extravagant as such an outlay was, it did not go un-
rewarded; for if Lowther secured his own return as
one of the members for the county of Cumberland, he
was destined to be speedily unseated on an election
petition ; and Portland had every reason to be pleased
with the success of the candidates he favoured. " The
election for this place," he wrote to Newcastle from
Carlisle, ' is appointed on Wednesday next, and
I am pretty confident that neither promises, threats,
nor money in hand, can prevent my giving you as
satisfactory an account of it as that of Wigan. I was
met at my entrance into the county, and on my arrival
here, by some thousands who, to my honour and
satisfaction, . . . crowded in from every part of the
county to testify their regard and attachment to me,
and their abhorrence and determined resentment of
an act so injurious to private property. The eight
guilds of this city would all have met me with their
colours flying, if they had not been stopped by my
friends who thought it more prudent for them to wait
in turn, and salute me only as I passed by." x
Thus Newcastle, Rockingham, and Portland were all
able to congratulate themselves upon the success
they had gained ; but it must not be imagined that
they, and the principles they represented, had really
triumphed. They had held their own, but had done
no more, having failed materially to reduce the majority
of the government ; and, when the new parliament
met, the ministers were able to count with safety
upon a substantial following in both houses. 2 Nor,
1 Add. MS., 32989, f. 206.
1 " In the meantime the parliament was chosen to the consent of the
court, though by the inactivity of the Duke of Grafton, and the unpopularity
of their chief friends, the majority was not greater than in the last assembly."
Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 135.
218 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
indeed, was there any sign that the Rockingham whigs
were the chosen of the people, the heroes of the country ;
and it was because they were so lightly considered by
the nation that they failed to stem the tide of bribery
and corruption running against them. That there
was little or no love in the country for an administra-
tion, which had proved its inefficiency up to the hilt,
is beyond all question ; but the affection, which the
people withheld from the advisers of the crown, was
bestowed neither upon the followers of Rockingham
nor of Grenville, but upon that restless demagogue,
John Wilkes who, having already proved himself a
thorn in the side of one ministry, was to be a source
of unending trouble and confusion to another.
It was certainly as no unknown man that Wilkes
appealed to the English people in the general election
of 1768, for he had already posed as the champion
of the freedom of the subject, and played with con-
spicuous success the martyr's role. Few men have
burst more suddenly into political fame, or risen from
more sordid and degraded surroundings. At the
beginning of George III.'s reign, his only reputation
was that of a clever and debauched man of fashion,
notoriously addicted to the most vicious pleasures,
and the boon companion of the most dissolute men
of the time. Politically in sympathy with the whig
opposition to Lord Bute and the court, he but rarely
took part in debate, confining his energy, for the most
part, to his journal, The North Briton, which he used as
a vehicle for the most bitter and unscrupulous attacks
upon the ministry and the Scotch nation. There was
little to discriminate him from the needy herd who
eked out a precarious livelihood by the dissemination
of slander and falsehood ; and it is possible that, had
it not been for the indiscretion of Grenville and the
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 219
folly of George III., the name of Wilkes would have
been unknown at the present day, save to curious
inquirers into the shady bypaths of eighteenth-century
history. For a violent attack upon the king's speech
at the close of the parliamentary session in the spring
of 1763, Wilkes was arrested under a general warrant,
an expedient of very doubtful legality, and charged
with the offence of seditious libel. Discharged by
Chief Justice Pratt who ruled that the prisoner was
protected by his parliamentary privilege, Wilkes only
obtained his freedom to fall a victim to the hatred
of the ministers and the court, who renewed the attack
when parliament met in the autumn. After pro-
longed debates, he was expelled from the house of
commons in January, 1764 ; and, having fled the country
to escape his persecutors, was convicted in his absence
of publishing a seditious libel and an obscene poem,
and, on failing to appear to receive sentence, was
condemned to outlawry. In exile he remained for
two years, wandering through France and Italy, and
finding consolation in the charms of the courtesan,
Corradini. Deserted by his mistress, and hungering
to play once more a part in public life, he visited
England in May, 1766, in the hope that Lord
Rockingham, then in power, would repair the wrong
which had been inflicted by his predecessor in office.
Disappointed in this expectation he returned to Paris ;
but in the autumn of the same year he was again
in England, having been encouraged to believe that,
now that Chatham was prime minister and Grafton
first lord of the treasury, the years he had spent in
exile would be taken as an expiation of his guilt,
and that he would be pardoned for an offence which
might with advantage have been left unpunished.
Such an expectation was certainly neither rash
220 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
nor unfounded. Chatham, while unhesitatingly dis-
claiming any sympathy with the man whom he
characteristically described as the libeller of his king
and the blasphemer of his God, had affirmed his belief
that the offence of seditious libel was covered by
parliamentary privilege; and, now that he was in
office, might be expected to redress the wrong which
had been inflicted. Grafton, moreover, had sought
admission to Wilkes when a prisoner in the Tower ;
and Conway, deserting the court of which he had
formerly been a supporter, had fought on his behalf
in the parliamentary battle. From such ministers
Wilkes naturally expected forgiveness ; and his
appeal to Grafton was couched in studiously moderate
language. " I now hope," he wrote, " that the rigour
of a long unmerited exile is past ; and that I may be
allowed to continue in the land and among the friends
of liberty. I wish, my lord, to owe this to the mercy
of my prince. I entreat your grace to lay me with all
humility at the king's feet : with the truest assurances
that I have never, in any moment of my life, swerved
from the duty and allegiance I owe to my sovereign ;
and that I implore, and in everything submit to,
his majesty's clemency." 1
Much trouble in the future would have been averted
if this prayer for pardon had been granted, and it was
little short of a catastrophe to the administration
that a favourable opportunity of rendering Wilkes
innocuous was missed. As in duty bound, Grafton
submitted the outlaw's appeal to both the king and
Chatham. George III., who was a good hater, and
never ready to forgive those who had wounded his
pride, remained ominously silent ; and Chatham,
1 Aim on' s Memoirs of John Wilkes, 3, 178-180; Grafton's Autobiography,
pp. 192-193.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 221
complaining that it was a troublesome business, ad-
vised Grafton not to take any decisive step. It was
hardly necessary to give such advice to one who had
all the love of a weak man for inaction ; and Wilkes
was justifiably chagrined on receiving, in answer to
his letter, only a verbal message from Grafton, recom-
mending him to apply to Chatham. Such a response
could only mean that the ministers were not prepared
to embroil themselves with the court for the sake of
the man who had wrongly thought them to be his
friends ; * and, as a sojourn in England on sufferance
[for he could be arrested at any moment as a returned
outlaw] was no part of Wilkes' programme, he departed
again for Paris, to brood over the new wrong he had
suffered, and to meditate a revenge upon the men
whom he hated all the more bitterly from having
being deceived in them.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Chatham
had missed a great opportunity, and committed a
blunder which was to bear a plentiful crop of mischief.
Worthless as Wilkes was in many respects, he had
undeniably endured many undeserved hardships, and
had earned a pardon, not by his own merits, but by
the wrong-doings of his enemies. The warrant under
which he had been originally arrested had been declared
illegal by the chief justice of the common pleas ; he
had been expelled from the house of commons by a
majority in the pay of the court ; he had been tried
and convicted in his absence, and had suffered attack
by every weapon which authority, spite, and chicanery
could use against him. If he had sinned, he had
also been deeply sinned against ; and a royal pardon
would have been an act of atonement as well as a
1 Almon's Memoirs of John Wilkes, 3, 184 seq. ; Grafton's Autobiography,
P- 193-
222 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
politic exercise of the prerogative of mercy. To have
pardoned Wilkes would have been the most effective
way of destroying his influence, for the populace
might be trusted quickly to forget that the man, who
had deigned to profit by the clemency of the crown,
had once been the victim of royal oppression and the
champion of the freedom of Englishmen. Nothing
perishes so easily as a demagogue's reputation, and the
far-seeing statesman would have advised the king
to extend to his adversary the pity akin to contempt.
By taking refuge in inaction, Chatham stands convicted
of having failed to do his duty as adviser of the crown.
No man was better fitted to plead the cause of Wilkes
before the throne ; and to treat it as a troublesome
business, best left alone, was to push caution to the
verge of timidity and sloth. A golden opportunity
was missed, and the peace of English political life
was to be rudely disturbed, because an administration,
which had no support but the royal favour, did not
dare to thwart the personal wishes of the king.
The consequences of the blunder were not slow
in revealing themselves. The unforgiven Wilkes did
not forgive, and was lavishly equipped by nature for
the work of revenge. All that a bitter tongue, a ready
pen, and a brazen audacity could effect was within
his power, and, having nothing to lose and everything
to gain, he was prepared to push the contest to the
bitter end. For a while he kept silence, and it was
not until December, 1767, that he declared open war
upon the ministry, his ultimatum taking the form of
a letter to the Duke of Grafton. Throwing prudence
and moderation to the winds, he returned in this
epistle to that virulent style which best suited him,
and by which he had first won a name. Upon Chatham
he emptied the vials of his wrath, denouncing him as
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 223
a " proud, insolent, overbearing, ambitious man,"
insensible to the charm of private friendship, the
" first comedian of our age," and so odiously hypo-
critical as to condemn in public the obscenity which
he loved in private. 1 These baseless accusations
give the measure at once both of Wilkes' anger and
veracity ; but, with all his defects, he was of too high
a spirit to use the weapon of slander alone ; and, a
few weeks after dispatching the letter, he started
for England, arriving there in February, 1768.
Such an advent boded no good for the ministers ;
and, though they had their adversary within their
power, they were by no means eager to begin the
conflict. They were well aware that the most effective
and expeditious way of reviving the dimmed lustre
of Wilkes' popularity would be to renew the attack
upon him ; and, neither prepared to pardon nor to
persecute, they took refuge in the middle, and rather
futile, course of doing nothing. The days passed by,
and no hand was raised against the returned outlaw
who was thus threatened with the oblivion which is
worse than the tomb for the heroes of the popular
fancy. Against a less adroit and accomplished an-
tagonist this policy might possibly have been crowned
with success, but Wilkes was far too experienced
an adventurer to fall headlong into the first trap laid
in his path. Realising that nothing could be more
dangerous than the precarious and somewhat con-
temptuous immunity that he enjoyed, he determined
to precipitate a conflict by challenging the government
to open combat : and he had not long to wait before
throwing down the glove. The opportunity he needed
was given by the general election, and, with character-
istic effrontery, the returned outlaw came forward
1 Almon's Memoir of John Wilkes, 3, 184 seq.
224 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
as one of the candidates for election by the city of
London. His audacity served him well, for, though
he failed to be elected, he once more brought himself
before the public, and was given ample assurance
that he could still confidently count upon the popular
favour. Though regarded with scant goodwill by
the wealthy city magnates, he was enthusiastically
supported by the mob and the more humble of the
electors ; * and, encouraged by his experience, he stood
for the county of Middlesex which returned him in
triumph at the head of the poll. Great as such a
victory was, Wilkes had done far more than simply
secure a seat in the new parliament : once more he
was the hero of the hour, the darling of the rabble who
expressed, as usual, their enthusiasm for the principles
of liberty in riot and disorder. For two nights the
metropolis was in the hands of a mob, hoarsely shouting
for " Wilkes and Liberty," and wreaking vengeance
against all who refused to participate in their rejoicings.
The Austrian ambassador, the staidest and most
ceremonious of men, was dragged from his carriage
to have the sacred number, forty-five, chalked upon
the soles of his shoes ; and householders who, in-
fluenced either by frugality or their political opinions,
refrained from illuminating in honour of the popular
victory, were punished by having their windows
broken. Against the Scotch, whom Wilkes had so
bitterly and so ungenerously attacked, the mob was
particularly violent. An assault was directed against
Lord Bute's house ; and the beautiful Dowager
Duchess of Hamilton, having loyally refused, as the
widow of one Scotchman and the wife of another, to
illuminate in honour of the enemy of her adopted
nation, was compelled to stand a siege of three hours,
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 126.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 225
during which the assailants broke down the outer
gates, poured into the courtyard, and hammered upon
the closed doors and shutters. 1
This popular demonstration was a significant
warning to the ministers of the difficulties of the
situation into which they had been driven by their
cunning and unscrupulous adversary. Wilkes was
now more popular than ever, and through him the
people had voiced their discontent against the govern-
ment. By a profligate expenditure of money, the
administration had rendered itself invulnerable against
attack within the walls of parliament ; but one of the
most important constituencies in the kingdom had
declared for the man who had nothing to recommend
him save that he was an enemy of the court and the
ministry ; and the choice was invested with a deep
constitutional significance. " Mr Wilkes' success,"
wrote the Duke of Richmond, "is an event which,
I think, must produce something. . . . For my part
I confess that, although I hate a mob that rises
against order, and acts by force, I am not sorry that
the ministry should see that there is in the people a
spirit of liberty that will show itself on proper occasions,
as in the choice of their members. For whatever men
may think of Mr Wilkes' private character, he has
carried his election by being supposed a friend to
liberty ; and I think it will show the administration
that, though they may buy lords and commons, and
carry on their measures smoothly in parliament,
yett (sic) they are not so much approved of by the
nation." 2 Almost identically the same sentiments
were echoed by Newcastle who declared that " it should
be known that the nation is not satisfied with the
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 128 fif. ; Letters, 7, 176-179.
2 Add. MS., 32989, f. 294.
226 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
present proceedings ; and when that is universally-
known, which appears very plainly now, I doubt
not but by the present complexion of the new parlia-
ment, there will be spirit enough to take up the causes
of the present dissatisfaction in a proper legal and
effectual manner." x
Thus, arrned in the panoply of popular applause,
Wilkes proceeded to wage war against the ministry ;
but, before he could strike a really effective blow, it
was necessary that he should pay homage to the law
of the land which he daily defied by his presence in
England. No sooner had he been returned for
Middlesex than he surrendered to his outlawry, and
appeared before the court of king's bench on April
20th. Great was the popular excitement, and every
precaution was taken by the authorities to guard
against a riot. Addressing the court in a carefully
prepared and written speech, which he afterwards
published, Wilkes pleaded for the reversal of his out-
lawry on the ground that it was technically invalid,
and also contended that he had been wrongfully
and illegally convicted of libel. As it happened, he
might have spared himself the fatigue of this lengthy
exposition, for Lord Mansfield ruled from the bench
that the court could take no cognisance of the case,
the prisoner having been guilty of the gross informality
of a voluntary surrender to his outlawry instead of
waiting to be arrested by a writ issued by the attorney-
general. 2 This paradoxical situation of a refugee from
1 Add. MS., 32989, f. 299.
2 " After some arguments about the outlawry," wrote George Onslow
to Newcastle, " Lord Mansfield and his three associates declared against the
manner of his appearance there, and, by what I hear, bore hard upon the
attorney-general for not having issued his capias against him, on his first
appearing in England, and all agreed that the court was not the proper place
to issue any order for his seizure. There may be more law in that than there
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 227
justice vainly endeavouring to secure a trial was not,
however, of long continuance ; and, the necessary
writ having been issued, Wilkes was promptly arrested,
and committed to prison. The question of his out-
lawry was argued before the king's bench on May 7th ;
but again the matter was left in suspense, Lord
Mansfield deferring judgment until the following term. 1
Unpleasing as such delay was to Wilkes who, unless
his outlawry was reversed, had nothing to look forward
to but life-long imprisonment, it was almost equally
objectionable to the ministers who, until they were
more precisely informed as to Wilkes' exact legal
position, were precluded from taking any action against
him. That they were indignant at the outrage which
he had inflicted upon them is beyond all doubt. Even
Lord Camden, who was afterwards to play a very
different role, was aghast at Wilkes' effrontery ; 2 and
both the king and the Bedford party in the cabinet
clamoured for the offender's immediate expulsion from
parliament. 3 It is, therefore, quite probable that the
attack upon the member for Middlesex would have
been begun directly the new parliament assembled,
had it not been for Lord Mansfield's delay which
rendered it difficult to assign a cause for his expulsion.
Not until the outlawry had either been confirmed or
reversed was it possible to proceed with the further
question of the legality of Wilkes' conviction ; for,
is reason, but the consequence was Wilkes went unmolested out of court."
Add. MS., 32989, f. 367 ; see also Add. MS., 32989, f. 363 ; Walpole's Letters
7, 184-186; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 134.
1 Add. MS., 32990, f. 25.
2 " A criminal flying his country to escape justice — a convict and an out-
law — that such a person should in open daylight thrust himself upon the
country as a candidate, his crime unexpiated, is audacious beyond description."
Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 199-200.
3 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 1,2: Walpole's Memoirs,
3, 142 : Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 199-200.
228 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
as Camden pointed out, " Mr Wilkes stands at present
convicted only by verdict : and if there shall appear
to be any material defect in the record . . . the
judgment must be stayed : in which case he must
be discharged, and he becomes a free man upon this
prosecution, as much as if he had never been convicted." 1
There was, therefore, a possibility that Wilkes might
be restored to his full rights as an English subject ;
and if the ministers, refusing to await developments,
proceeded against him as an outlaw and a criminal,
they might find themselves brought into summary
conflict with the judgment of the court. Thus, every
sound argument was on the side of politic procrastina-
tion ; and, in spite of the protests of the followers of
Bute and Bedford, 2 it was decided, at a meeting held
on May 7th at the house of Lord North, who had
superseded Conway as leader of the house of commons, 3
that no action should be taken against Wilkes until
the autumn session. This policy was approved by
Camden, Grafton, Conway, and Granby, among the
ministers, 4 and, indeed, by all men except those who
were prepared to incur every risk in order to gratify
their malice ; and when parliament, which had
assembled early in May, was prorogued from June
2 1st until the following autumn, 5 no hostile action had
been taken against the man who had so openly braved
the anger of the administration.
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 200-201.
2 Add. MS., 32990, f. 71, f. 83 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 142.
3 On January 1st, Whately, in a letter to Grenville, repeated a rumour
that North, not Conway, was to lead the lower house ; and although Walpole
asserts that Conway " remained, as much as he would, a leader in the house
of commons," it is quite clear that that minister retired more or less into the
background, and that the business of managing the house was entrusted to
the chancellor of the exchequer. Grenville Papers, 4, 240-249 ; Walpole's
Memoirs, 3, 107.
* Add. MS., 32990, f. 63, f. 71 ; Walpole's Memoir •>, 3, 142.
5 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 202-203, 209-211.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 229
If the adherents of Bute and Bedford professed
disgust at what they conceived to be the cowardice
of the government, the Rockingham whigs were more
genially disposed, and had no fault to find with the
policy of delay. Indeed, it suited their purpose well
enough ; for, though Richmond and Newcastle might
hail Wilkes as the morning star of freedom, both they
and their friends knew quite well that he had already
once proved himself a fruitful source of discord in
their ranks, and might well do so again. Aware that
the first session of the new parliament would not be
of very long duration, they desired to refrain from
active opposition ; 1 and their fear had been that Wilkes
might be used as a whip to drive them into the open
against their will. Meeting Grafton at Newmarket,
Rockingham endeavoured to glean from him the plan
of the ministerial campaign ; but received so cryptic an
answer that, to quote Lord Hardwicke, " if any English
could be picked out of what he did say, it was that
nothing was fixed." 2 The suspense continued until
the meeting of parliament ; but when the speech from
the throne made no mention of the member for
Middlesex, the significant omission was rightly inter-
preted as meaning that nothing was to be done for
the present. " I must most seriously congratulate
your lordship," wrote Newcastle to Rockingham, the
day after the meeting of parliament, " upon the happy
conclusion of this short session (for I look upon it as
over) without doing any mischief. I think my Lord
1 " I have thoroughly examined and considered the state of all the new
members," wrote Newcastle to Portland on April nth, " and if we can avoid
doing any business upon the return of the writs, except chusing the speaker ;
and consequently entering upon the affair of Wilkes, upon which there will
certainly be differences of opinion, even amongst ourselves, we shall, I think,
the next sessions make a very good figure." Add. MS., 32989, f. 319.
2 Add. MS., 32990, f. 1 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 67-68 ; see also Add.
MS., 32989, f. 319.
230 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Bute . . . has met with the greatest disappointment
that ever favourite met with. His view certainly was
to have blown up this little session with the affair of
Wilkes ; whereas, as it now stands, Wilkes' affair
need not give us any trouble, except next winter we
should make it our own choice. Wilkes will be half
forgot before that time." x
On this occasion Newcastle did not show himself
a sagacious political prophet, for Wilkes was not to
fall into the oblivion to which Grafton and the
Rockingham whigs would have so readily consigned
him. He had all the genius of the successful demagogue
in keeping himself prominently before the public ;
and his very misfortunes gave him the notoriety which
he so eagerly coveted, and which he was to use with
such deadly effect.
By the end of June the court of king's bench had
pronounced judgment upon him. His outlawry was
reversed upon technical grounds ; but, failing in his
attempt to secure the quashing of his previous con-
viction, he was sentenced to imprisonment for two
years and the payment of a substantial fine. Thus,
his legal position was defined, and when the ministers
met parliament in the autumn session, they would have
no excuse for further delay, and would be compelled
to decide upon a definite course of action. Policy, as
well as generosity, dictated that they should refrain
from inflicting any further penalty upon the man who
had already been more than sufficiently punished ;
but, with the king and the Bedford party clamouring
for expulsion and talking vainly about the dignity
of parliament, it was almost inevitable that revenge
1 Add. MS., 32990, f. 39. Rockingham, however, was not quite so sanguine,
remarking, in his reply to Newcastle, " I don't yet think but that the business
of Wilkes in some shape or other may still come on, but it is doubtful. By
Monday night we may know." Add. MS., 32990, f. 45.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 231
should triumph over wisdom. Grafton, lacking in
stability and conviction, would bend once more to
the storm ; and the placemen and pensioners in the
pay of the court would eagerly join in the hunt of one
who, whatever his faults, was not at least so base
as the majority of his pursuers. Yet the most ele-
mentary foresight ought to have made the ministers
pause before attacking the man who had so deftly
struck the popular imagination. The re-appearance
of Wilkes had been the signal for riot and disorder
which had not been confined to the ranks of his
supporters ; and it needed no prophet to foretell that
his expulsion from parliament would increase the
odium in which the government was held. An ad-
ministration, well-established in the confidence of the
country, renowned for its strength, and illustrious
by its achievements, might well have hesitated before
undertaking such a task ; and there is something
tragic in the circumstance that, while Grafton and his
colleagues were girding their loins to punish the man
who had dared to appeal to the nation, they were
simultaneously displaying, as fully as their bitterest
enemies could have desired, their complete inability
to maintain the influence and prestige of England
abroad. Largely by reason of their weak and faltering
foreign policy, their divided counsels, and lack of
harmony, Corsica, which had rebelled against the
Genoese rule, was allowed to pass into the hands of
France ; and, though not annexed to the Bourbon
kingdom until 1769, all hope of preserving its inde-
pendence had vanished before the end of the year
1768. It has been urged that the importance of this
acquisition has been unduly magnified, and it is
possible to advance many sound arguments in support
of such a contention ; but, at the same time, it ought
232 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
not to be forgotten that most Englishmen viewed with
suspicion and alarm every increase in the influence
of France ; and it is not altogether without importance
that, in the conquest of Corsica, Choiseul saw some
compensation for the loss of Canada.
Of far greater moment, however, than the sub-
jugation by France of an island in the Mediterranean,
was the course of events in the colonies. There the
seed sown by Charles Townshend in his haste was
beginning to bear a bitter and deadly crop ; and,
what anyone might have foreseen, had come to pass.
Townshend, making the mistake of a clever man,
thought that he had driven the Americans into a corner
by showing them that external taxation, to which they
had professed themselves ready to submit, could be
made to yield a revenue ; but they, wisely realising
that freedom was a far greater thing than logic,
promptly repudiated a theory so skilfully converted
into a weapon against their liberty. When the in-
habitants of the town of Boston learnt that the revenue
bill had become law, and that officers had been ap-
pointed to enforce it, they assembled in a town meeting,
and, entering upon a non-importation agreement,
pledged themselves to discourage in every way the
importation of commodities from abroad. This
shrewd blow, aimed at the English merchants who
would thus be deprived of a profitable trade, was
followed up by the assembly of Massachusetts petition-
ing the king and parliament against this new infringe-
ment of the principle of no taxation without repre-
sentation ; and, what was of far more questionable
legality, addressing a circular letter to the other
colonial assemblies, calling upon them to unite in
resisting the aggressions of the mother country.
Thus, the conflict begun by Grenville's ill-advised
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 233
stamp act was renewed, and the evil wrought by
Charles Townshend, during his brief career as chancellor
of the exchequer, lived after him. Once more the
authority of the mother country was called into
question, and the ministry can hardly be blamed for
seeking to quell the spirit of resistance by stern
measures of repression ; for no other course was open
to them, unless they were prepared to treat the de-
claratory act as so much wastepaper, and to allow
that England had no right to take a penny out of the
pockets of the colonists without their consent. Such
a surrender of principle, however, was hardly possible ;
for even those, who sympathised with the colonists,
and had assisted to repeal the stamp act, were taken
aback by the action of the Massachusetts Assembly,
Newcastle mournfully reflecting that " these New
England people always were a refractory people,"
and Sir George Savile almost coming to the opinion
' that George Grenville's act only brought on a crisis
twenty, or possibly fifty, years sooner than was
necessary." x Yet, if a coercive policy had to be
adopted, it would be of little use unless it was
successful in securing obedience ; and it was a dis-
aster for the ministers that their measures failed to
attain the end for which they were designed. The
Massachusetts assembly met the demand of the govern-
ment for the withdrawal of the circular letter by a
definite refusal, and paid the price of its disobedience
by being dissolved ; but this was no solution of the
colonial problem, and that the ministry recognised
how critical the situation was is shown by the dispatch
of two regiments to Massachusetts Bay. The most
superficial observer could hardly fail to perceive the
magnitude of the danger, for the unrest in the province
1 Add. MS., 32990, f. 340 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 75-76.
234 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of Massachusetts might easily spread to the other
colonies ; and the money market revealed the state
of public opinion. Stocks began to fall, and capitalists,
distrustful of the ability of the government to cope
with the evils of the day, preferred to allow their
money to lie idle at the bank rather than run the risk
of investment. 1
Threatened thus by troubles abroad as well as at
home, Grafton must have viewed with little satis-
faction the approach of the autumn session, when his
conduct might be subjected to a searching criticism ;
and it is not surprising that he resolved to remove,
before the meeting of parliament, a dangerous element
of dissension from the cabinet. The victim marked
out for sacrifice was Lord Shelburne. For many
months past Grafton had regarded him with a growing
antipathy which was fully shared by the king and the
Bedford party in the cabinet ; 2 and if this antagonism
was partly due to Shelburne's unfortunate capacity
for inspiring distrust and suspicion in the minds of
those with whom he came into close contact, it must
also be remembered that he profoundly disagreed
with the majority of his colleagues on most of the
important questions of the day, and had endured
slights and indignities more than sufficient to wound
a man of less pride and temper. Studiously abstaining
from attendance at cabinet councils, he had watched
in silence, but not without indignation, the triumph
of a policy which he did not approve. Deploring the
failure of the ministry to defend Corsica against French
aggression, and now convinced that all modes of taxing
i\.merica were illegal, he had little in common with his
fellow ministers ; and, as early as the month of Septem-
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 359-360 ; see also 321-322.
2 Grafton's Autobiography, 213, 215 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 150-151.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 235
ber, 1768, Grafton had determined upon his removal at
the first convenient opportunity.
In considering the practicability of this resolve
Grafton realised that no opposition would come from
the court or the Bedford faction in the cabinet ; but if
he thought that the expulsion would be unattended with
difficulty, he reckoned without the absent leader of the
government, Lord Chatham. Secluded at Hayes, whither
he had gone when wearied of Hampstead, Chatham
was gradually, though very slowly, recovering from
that mental depression which had driven him into
isolation ; and, as he slowly struggled back to health,
he watched with anger and dismay the course pursued
by his subordinates. His silence is no indication
that he was ignorant of what was happening ; and
bitterly did he resent what he believed to be a betrayal
of trust on the part of Grafton. By his admission of
the Bedfords into the cabinet, by his failure to check
French ambition, and by permitting the revival of
the colonial dispute, Grafton had filled his cup of
iniquity to the brim ; and the determination to
remove Shelburne was the overflowing drop in the
already too well-filled flagon. On nearly every point
where Shelburne differed from his colleagues he was in
agreement with Chatham ; and the latter, confronted
with the prospect of losing one of the only two men in
the cabinet who possessed his confidence, resigned his
office of privy seal, his example being followed by
Shelburne who thus, by a timely retreat, escaped the
ignominy of expulsion.
So, in attempting to set his house in order, Grafton
had seriously loosened the fabric of the structure ;
and, indeed, had lost far more than he had gained.
The removal of Shelburne might promote a greater
degree of ministerial unity, but it would also have the
236 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
effect of throwing more power into the hands of the
Bedfords, with whose colonial policy Lord Rochford,
the new secretary of state in place of Shelburne, was
to show himself in entire sympathy. 1 The resignation
of Chatham, moreover, was, inevitably, a serious blow
to the prestige of the administration. It could not
be explained away as arising from ill-health, for he
had long been incapacitated from attending to business ;
and the only possible interpretation was that it was
a public repudiation of the ministerial policy, and a
declaration of war against the government of which he
had laid the foundations. No explanation, however
skilful, could disguise the fact that the greatest and
most popular statesman of the day had disowned his
own creatures ; and the administration, already shaken
to its foundations, and confronted with a gigantic
task, was still further discredited in the eyes of the
nation.
The Duke of Grafton might well feel deeply hurt and
chagrined at such a public rebuff by the man whom
he had striven faithfully, if mistakenly, to serve ;
but he was not the only member of the cabinet who had
reason to regret Chatham's action. Lord Camden
could not but be deeply affected by the loss of his old
schoolfellow and life-long friend ; and, for a short time,
it seemed likely that a new lord chancellor would have
to be discovered. For many weeks past, Camden had,
been discontented with his situation, complaining,
somewhat bitterly and pathetically, to Grafton that
1 Lord Rochford, whose abilities were unduly depreciated by Horace
Walpole, does not appear to have belonged strictly to any of the political
parties of the day. " I want particularly to speak to you about your friend,
Rochford," wrote Newcastle to Albemarle on September 16th. " I hear it
>is reported that he is to be secretary of state. He is the fittest for it of any
man in England ; but I would have him come in with our friends, and not
with the present ministers, who will endeavour to get him ; but that your
Sordship must prevent." Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 107.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 237
" the administration, since Lord Chatham's illness,
is almost entirely altered, without being changed " ; 1
and only with doubt, and after much hesitation,
had he consented to the project of expelling Shelburne. 2 •
In this state of despondency and uncertainty it was
not unnatural that he should be deeply distressed by
the withdrawal of Chatham. " To me I fear," he
wrote on first learning the news, " the blow is fatal,
yet I shall come to no determination. If I can find
out what is fit for me to do in this most distressed
situation, that I must do : but the difficulty lies
in forming a true judgment." These are the words of
a man distracted with doubt ; and, a few days later, he
was still a prey to hesitation, telling Grafton " that
nothing could give me so much satisfaction as to join
with your grace in one line of conduct ; and yet I see
plainly, that our situations are different, and the same
honour, duty to the king, and regard to the public,
operating upon two minds equally aiming at the same
end, may possibly draw us different ways." 3
A modern statesman in Camden's place would have
promptly retired from the cabinet, but a mistaken
sense of duty to the king and Grafton, and the fear
that he might be held guilty of deserting a losing cause,
induced him to act against his own convictions, and
to remain in office. Well would it have been for his
reputation if he had listened more attentively to
the appeal of his reason. With little in common
with his colleagues, and sincerely convinced that all
taxation of the colonies was inexpedient 4 it was
1 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 214. a Ibid. pp. 214-217.
3 Ibid. pp. 224-225.
4 " I submit," he wrote to Grafton, early in October, " to the declaratory
law, and have thought it my duty upon that ground, as a minister, to exert
every constitutional power to carry the duty act into execution. But, as a
member of the legislature, I cannot bring myself to advise violent measures
to support a plan so inexpedient and so impolitic. And I am very much
238 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
indeed time for him to withdraw from an administration
with which he had long ceased to be in sympathy,
and which by his presence he rather weakened than
strengthened.
Yet Camden continued to be of the body though
not of the soul of the ministry, a discontented member
of a body which gave ample cause for discontent ;
and if the government had been called upon to meet a
formidable parliamentary opposition, it is by no means
impossible that it would have fallen to pieces at the
first blow. But the prospect of such a contingency
appeared comparatively remote on the eve of the
session. No steps had been taken to heal the breach
between the followers of Grenville and Rockingham,
and no man could tell whether the renewal of the
parliamentary struggle would widen or diminish the
gulf between them. Ancient bitterness might be
renewed by the revival of the colonial dispute, and
new hostility created by the resurrection of Wilkes
to political importance. Nor was the possibility of
still further drifting apart from Grenville the only
danger which threatened the Rockingham whigs :
they had to beware of divisions in their own ranks,
and to fear the day when Chatham, restored to health,
would plunge again into the political fray, for none
could foretell the course which that erratic warrior
would pursue.
The danger of internal dissensions was by no means
remote ; and Newcastle was not entirely the prey of
an old man's nervous fancy when he thought that
afraid (I speak this confidentially to your grace) that if a motion should be
made to repeal the act, I should be under a necessity to vote for it. ... I am
very sensible that a difference of opinion on a subject so serious and important
may be prejudicial to the administration . . . but I do fear most exceedingly
that upon the American question the Bedfords and myself will be too far
asunder to meet." Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 215-217.
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 239
he detected in some of his friends a growing preference
in favour of a coercive colonial policy. " I doubt,"
he wrote to Rockingham, " by great mismanagement
the measure of conquering the provinces, and obliging
them to submit, is become now more popular than it
was. It is certainly the measure of administration ;
and I am afraid some of our own friends are a little
tender on that point " ; x and, a little later, he expressed
his alarm " that the ministerial measure of forcing
the colonies may be . . . adopted by some of our best
friends," and the hope that he might be mistaken. 2
With Rockingham the old duke was well enough
pleased ; but he feared that the more violent members
of the party might be prone to judge too harshly the
men who had dared to resist the authority of parlia-
ment.
Newcastle, however, was not spared to see the future
of the party, whose interests he had so much at heart,
for he died at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields on
November 17th, a few days after the meeting of
parliament. On hearing the news, Chesterfield, who
was the duke's junior by one year, remarked, " I own
I feel for his death, not because it will be my turn
next ; but because I knew him to be very goodnatured,
and his hands to be extremely clean." 3 Such an
epitaph from such a man is not without value. New-
castle, indeed, has paid to the uttermost farthing
the penalty of his success. He has been represented
as the typical leader of a corrupt and inefficient
oligarchy, consumed with a frenzied passion for the
most sordid and repulsive side of political life, thinking
of nothing but the extension of his parliamentary
influence, and preferring to be a huckster rather than
1 Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 94. 2 Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 206.
3 Chesterfield's Letters, 3, 1 380-1 381.
240 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
a statesman. Nearly every historian of the eighteenth
century has cast a stone at him. Macaulay, depicting
him as the cunning dotard who by dint of low craft
proved more than a match for far abler men, compares
him to the miser, Trapbois, in the " Fortunes of Nigel ";
and Smollet has drawn a never to be forgotten picture
of the duke, with a shaving cloth under his chin, and
his face well lathered, slobbering over the astonished
ambassador of the Dey of Algiers. Yet, though there
is much truth in these indictments, they do not con-
tain the whole truth ; and Newcastle was something
better than a babbling inconsequential fool. His
faults were many and conspicuous. He betrayed
Walpole in 1742, and Pitt in 1761 ; he was the victim
of a jealousy which often led him to distrust his most
faithful friends ; he was often incompetent in the
transaction of business ; and he thought far too much
of the management of the house of commons and far
too little of the government of the country. But
these glaring defects ought not to obscure his real
merits both as a man and as a statesman. Possessed
of a personal piety which, if it did not lead him to
great acts of Christian devotion, was, at least, sincere,
a faithful and passionately affectionate husband, and
absolutely regardless of all pecuniary profit, he laboured
throughout a long life in what he conscientiously
believed to be the interests of the nation ; and, though
often lacking in wisdom and foresight, was never found
wanting in industry and application. Nor was he
by any means so deficient in political ability as he has
sometimes been represented. Towards the end of his
life, when misfortunes crowded thickly upon him, he
revealed a greater understanding than he had ever
displayed in the hour of his omnipotence. It was
largely by his indefatigable industry and zeal that
THE RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 241
the Rockingham party had been founded and main-
tained ; and his advice, though sometimes rejected,
was generally well worth taking. It was he who had
urged that the assistance of Pitt should be secured
at all cost, who had impressed upon his friends the
necessity of union, and had warned his supporters
against a policy which could only end in a rupture
with the colonies ; and, if neither a hero of romance
nor a heaven-born statesman, Newcastle was something
more than a gilded nonentity, and in him the
Rockinghams lost a counsellor whom they could ill
afford to spare.
CHAPTER V
THE FALL OF GRAFTON
The meeting of parliament had been fixed for November
8th, and Grafton must have viewed the approach
of a new session with apprehension and dread. He
was aware that any further postponement of the Wilkes
question was out of the question, that the ministry
would be arraigned both for its foreign and colonial
policy ; and that his strength had waned in almost
exact proportion to the increase of his difficulties.
He seemed to have touched the very nadir of his fortune,
to have reached the goal to which he had been aimlessly,
but inevitably, drifting from the very moment that
he had accepted office at Chatham's dictation. The
sport of adverse chance and doom, he had failed to
grasp the law of his own soul's progress ; and, in a vain
endeavour to do right, had consistently passed from
bad to worse. Failure had dogged his most con-
scientious efforts, and, if he had dared to look back,
he would have seen how far he had strayed from
the course on which he had originally started. The
Rockingham whigs, his earliest political associates,
were now his open and declared enemies ; Chatham,
for whose sake he had borne the brunt of the battle,
had recently disowned him ; no reliance could be
placed upon Camden, who had not scrupled to publish
to the world his dislike of the administration ; x and
1 A few weeks after the meeting of parliament Camden informed Wedder-
burn " that as to the present administration, he (the chancellor) hated and
242
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 243
neither Gower nor Weymouth were likely to raise a
ringer to save Grafton in the moment of peril. Thus,
separated from old friends and new allies, the prime
minister was doomed to a dreary isolation in the cabinet
over which he presided but did not direct ; and his
experience of administrative life must have served to
intensify his preference for the existence of a country
gentleman, and to deepen his dislike of the cares and
anxieties of a public career. He would have been
wise to abandon a task which he had clearly shown
that he could not perform ; but, if he elected to continue
attempting the impossible, he was but pursuing the
path which he had conscientiously followed from the
first. Still retaining the confidence of the court, and
secure of a majority in the house of commons, he was
not called upon, by the constitutional practice of the
day, to resign because he had forfeited the goodwill
of the nation ; and, indeed, had he abandoned office
at this critical juncture, it is not improbable that
George III. would have charged him with desertion.
Believing himself to be the minister of the king rather
than of the people, Grafton remained in office to defend
the crown against the factions which threatened its
independence ; and it is to his credit that he continued
to bear the burden of which he would so gladly have
been rid.
And the burden, heavy enough when he first took
it up in 1766, had become perceptibly heavier with the
despised them, and thought himself in many instances personally ill-used by
them. . . . He repeated many times, with infinite grief, the hard charge of
ingratitude laid against him, saying his conduct in the transaction with Lord
Bristol could only arise from thinking it was conformable to Lord Chatham's
wishes, since he could not mean by it to serve the administration whom he
hated, nor would he do it as a means to preserve that bauble (pointing to the
mace) which possibly he might not hold a week longer. He left Mr Wedder-
burn at liberty to tell this to whom he pleased, wishing rather to have it told
than concealed." Grenville Papers, 4, 404 ff.
244 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
passage of the years ; and at no time was the weight
greater than in the autumn of 1768. Yet, confronted
though they were with problems clamouring for
solution, with the colonies speeding towards rebellion,
and a discontented nation at home, neither the ad-
ministration nor the Rockingham whigs were apparently
furnished with a plan of campaign. Shortly before
the meeting of parliament, Lord Sandwich, who as a
member of the ministry would have excellent means
of obtaining information, told a friend that "as to
Wilkes . . . government were not inclined to propose
his expulsion, if he himself was quiet, but if his friends
attempted anything in his favour in parliament, that
then every advantage would be taken against him " ; 1
and Lord Chesterfield reported that when one minister
inquired of another what was to be done with Wilkes,
the answer was returned, "I do not know." 2 This
is merely the policy of waiting upon events ; and the
same attitude of doubt and hesitation is to be detected
in the Rockingham party. Those champions of a
lost cause were of the opinion, it is true, that the time
had come to make a resolute attack upon the govern-
ment ; but we are left very much in the dark as to
the exact plan of the onslaught. Early in October,
Rockingham declared that no doubt existed as to
" the general idea of what our conduct should be," 3
but details were left over to be decided by the leaders
of the party, who were to gather in conclave before
the meeting of parliament ; and it is difficult to avoid
the impression that it was this part of the work of
preparation which was least effectively performed.
From what we know of these conferences it seems that,
though it was decided to re-introduce the nullum tempus
1 Add. MS., 35608, f. 286. 2 Chesterfield's Letters, 3, 1380.
3 Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 244.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 245
bill, to contest the validity of Sir James Lowther's
election, and, if opportunity offered, to propose an
amendment to the address relating to foreign affairs, 1
nothing was determined upon the far more important
questions of Wilkes and the colonies. 2 This was neither
a satisfactory nor a comprehensive programme ; and
the Rockingham whigs, like the ministers, are open to
the charge of neglecting the maxim that victory goes to
the man who knows what he wants, and plans to get it.
It may well be, however, that both the opposing
forces were wise in their generation, and that, by
carefully shunning an over-elaboration of policy, they
sought to avert a pressing danger. The lack of pre-
paration by the ministers is not surprising, seeing
how few and comparatively unimportant were the
questions upon which they were really in agreement ;
and Grafton, unwilling to go as far as the Bedfords
in coercing the colonists, and aware how little Camden
approved of what had been done in the past or might
be done in the future, probably felt that only in an
atmosphere of vagueness and indecision could his
administration continue to exist. It is also possible
that the Rockinghams were encouraged to adopt the
same attitude of expectancy, lest, by nailing their
colours too promptly to the mast, they might not
only cause dissension amongst themselves, but also
widen the gulf which lay between them and Grenville.
1 The proposed amendment ran as follows : " To thank his majesty for
such information as he has been graciously pleased to give his parliament
concerning the doubtful state of this nation in regard to foreign powers, and
to assure his majesty that his faithful commons, when more fully informed
on these matters, will immediately take the same into their most serious con-
sideration, and humbly offer such advice, and cheerfully give such support, as
may be most for the honour and dignity of his majesty's crown, the welfare
of his majesty's subjects, and the preservation of the peace and tranquillity
of Europe." Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 401.
2 Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 375 ; Add. MS., 35430, f. 120.
246 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Separated as were the two wings of the opposition
by the unhappy dispute with the colonies, they might
be driven still further asunder if, in headlong haste,
the Rockinghams espoused the cause of Wilkes. For
it was while Grenville was in office, and in entire
accordance with his wishes, that Wilkes had been
originally expelled from parliament ; and it might
be expected that he would view with approval and
exultation a renewal of the attack upon his victim.
Reasonable caution, therefore, dictated to the
Rockinghams to tread carefully on what could not but
be dangerous ground ; and care was far more necessary
than even they realised. It was not only that Temple
had begun to hint at a reconciliation, telling Charles
Yorke that he had always been well disposed towards
a union and connection with the Rockingham party,
but " if that was impossible, we might and should
agree in measures " : x what was of far greater moment
was that the whole political situation had been trans-
formed by the withdrawal of Chatham from the
ministry. Once more that great statesman was a
free lance, and it might not be many months before
he had rallied his strength sufficiently to take once
again a part in the conflict. When he reappeared
in the political arena, it was certain that he would
attack an administration which he had disowned;
but whether he would lend his aid in the encounter
to the Grenvilles or the Rockinghams, or, as he had
done on a former occasion, fight in splendid isolation,
no man could prophesy. The time, the mode, and
the consequences of Chatham's return were all un-
certain ; and it behoved cautious politicians to walk
warily, for fear of dooming themselves, by undue haste,
to disaster in a distant and obscure future.
1 Add. MS., 32990, f. 368.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 247
Such was the atmosphere in which the parliamentary
struggle began on November 8th. In the speech
from the throne there was an indirect reference to
the unfriendly attitude of France, and a pointed
censure of the spirit of faction in the American colonies,
but no mention of Wilkes, an omission which may be
taken \o signify that the ministers had not yet deter-
mined upon the punishment to be meted out to that
offender. In the upper house there was little discus-
sion, no amendment being proposed to the address of
thanks ; * but in the house of commons there was a
lengthy and animated debate. Lord Henley, the
eldest son of Lord Northington, in moving the address,
strongly inveighed against the colonists, declaring
that " we shall be ever ready to hear and redress any
real grievances of your majesty's American subjects ;
but we should betray the trust reposed in us, if we did
not withstand every attempt to infringe or weaken
our just rights ; and we shall always consider it as
one of our most important duties, to maintain entire
and inviolate the supreme authority of the legislature
of Great Britain over every part of the British empire."
Henley, moreover, did not stand alone in his violence,
the same unconciliatory tone being adopted by the
seconder of the address, who contemptuously referred
to the " insolent town of Boston," and contended
that " men so unsusceptible of all middle terms of
accommodation, call loudly for our correction." These
were emphatic enough statements, and most of the
speakers, who took part in the discussion, breathed the
same spirit of hostility towards the colonists. George
Grenville expressed his rooted abhorrence of any course
of action which might encourage the Americans to
persevere in their ill-advised resistance ; Lord
1 Add. MS., 32991, A, f. 406.
248 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Barrington stigmatised them as " worse than traitors
against the crown — traitors against the legislature
of this country " ; North vehemently declared that
he would oppose any attempt to repeal the revenue
act ; and an amendment, proposed by Dowdeswell,
and supported by Burke and Barre, calling upon the
government to explain the steps that had been taken
" for maintaining peace and good order in his majesty's
colonies in North America," was abandoned without
being put to the vote. 1
The violence of the debate on the first day of the
session was unfortunately only too true an indication
of what was to follow later ; and, until parliament
rose in May, 1769, its time was mainly occupied with
discussion of colonial business and the attack upon
Wilkes. In the intervals between the battles on these
questions, the opposition was successful in unseating
Sir James Lowther, and in carrying the nullum tempus
bill ; but these victories were due in no small measure
to the politic generosity of the ministers who took
little pains to defend an adherent notoriously guilty
of having purchased his seat by the worst kind of
corruption, or to oppose a bill which approved itself
to the landed gentry throughout the country. 2 If
1 Cavendish Debates, I, 30 seq.
2 The popularity of the nullum tempus bill rendered opposition by the
ministers unwise, and little resistance was made to it in either house of parlia-
ment. Add. MSS., 35362, f. 237, f. 238. The corruption attending Lowther's
election can be gathered from a letter by the Duke of Portland to Newcastle.
" At last the poll is closed for this county," wrote the Duke on April 23^
1768, " and the high sheriff, after having rejected 373 during and since the
close of the poll, has found out that Sir James Lowther has a majority of two
above Mr Fletcher ; and has consequently, upon the following state, returned
him and Mr Curwen contrary to all law, reason, and justice. The numbers
according to his discovery stand thus: Curwen, 2139; Lowther, 1977;
Fletcher, 1975 ; Senhouse, 1891. Besides the rejection, in which I can safely
assure your grace, there was not a single questionable vote, he was, for the
infamous purpose above mentioned, obliged to admit upwards of one hundred
votes for Sir James Lowther, and Mr Senhouse, who really had no pretence
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 249
they had utilised the strength thus saved in devising
some means of restoring the old harmonious relations
with the colonies, they would have deserved the
gratitude of all Englishmen ; but this they neither
accomplished nor even attempted ; and it cannot be
pleaded in their defence that they were ignorant of
the danger which was threatening the mother country.
They must have known that the resistance started
at Boston was rapidly spreading throughout America ; 1
for, no sooner had the session begun, than parliament
was inundated by petitions from indignant colonials,
encouraged, by the example of Massachusetts, to pro-
test against what they thought to be an infringement
of their natural rights. A remonstrance from the
assembly of Virginia was followed by a petition from
the province of Pennsylvania, which in its turn was
succeeded by a petition from a body styling itself
the " major part of the council of Massachusetts." 2
Not the least striking, and certainly the most ominous,
characteristic of these appeals was the comparatively
slight and unimportant differences between them.
They unanimously denounced the revenue act as a
gross violation of that traditional English freedom which
the colonists had not forfeited by their journey across
the seas ; and, in so doing, implicitly called upon the
king and parliament to abandon an unlawful practice
disguised as a legal right.
It was no small demand to make, but it would be
a mistake at once to come to the conclusion that its
in the world to offer themselves, and who are guilty of the most wilful and
corrupt perjury. The freeholders, actuated by the same spirit that has led
them hitherto, are determined not to bear this insult ; and, at their own ex-
pense, to petition the house of commons, and prosecute the offenders." Add.
MS., 35638, f. 262 (copy).
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 408-409.
2 Cavendish Debates, 1, 49 seq., 82 seq., 185 seq.
250 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
fulfilment was impossible. Statesmen have sometimes
to pay a very heavy price for the mistakes committed
either by themselves or their predecessors in office ;
and, as has been well said, if guilt be expiated in another
world, the wages of folly are often paid here below.
And few would now deny that the English ministers
had been guilty of great folly, with no one but them-
selves to blame for the impasse in which they were.
The beneficial effects to be expected from the repeal
of the stamp act had been partly discounted by the
declaratory act, and totally obliterated by Townshend's
revenue bill ; and the colonists can hardly be blamed
for believing that the home government was determined,
under one pretext or another, to extract money from
their pockets without their consent. Passions and
interests had been deeply stirred, and men's minds
loosened from their ancient moorings ; and it is
arguable that only by the surrender of the right of
taxation, however humiliating it might be to the pride
of a great country, could England have won back the
love and loyalty of her American children. Concession
is not always a sign of weakness, and more has been
lost by pride than by humility.
If, indeed, such a policy was the only solution of the
difficulty, the situation was truly tragic ; since some-
thing in the nature of a miracle was needed to bring
salvation. Save for Chatham and Camden, hardly any
of the leading politicians of the day were in favour
of the repeal of the declaratory act. It is not likely
that the Rockingham whigs would approve the removal
from the statute book of a measure for which they
were responsible ; and the king, the Grenvilles, and
the majority of the cabinet, would certainly object
to what might be construed as an unworthy concession
to rebellion. All parties in parliament might, therefore,
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 251
be expected to oppose what was perhaps the only-
effective remedy for an urgent evil ; and the ministers
can hardly be censured for having failed to act, not
only against their own convictions, but also against
those of their opponents. Yet they by no means
stand completely exonerated from blame ; for,
impracticable though the wisest course might be, it
was still their business to devise a policy for the
emergency ; and it might have been well for them
if, following the example of the Rockingham ministry,
they had repealed Townshend's act, leaving untouched
the right of the English parliament to levy taxes for
purpose of revenue upon America. Such a programme
might, possibly, have failed to placate the colonists,
but it would at least have been a step in the direction
of conciliation, and might have been taken without
any fear of evoking a formidable parliamentary oppo-
sition. Grenville, of course, ever sensitive upon the
point of American taxation, could be relied upon to
oppose such a proposal ; but the Rockingham whigs,
on the other hand, might be expected to welcome the
unexpected vision of the ministers advancing with an
olive branch in their hands. When in power them-
selves they had repealed the stamp act on account of
the resistance it had encountered ; and Burke may be
taken to have voiced the sentiments of his party when
he declared in the house of commons that " if the
question was whether we should repeal or whether we
should enforce the act in question, I have no hesita-
tion in saying, repeal." 1
If, however, conciliation was to take the place of
coercion there must be no delay. The oil of forgiveness
must be poured upon the troubled waters of rebellion
before the tempest had reached its height ; the pardon
1 Cavendish Debates, I, 398-399.
252 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
must appear to flow from kindness not from fear ;
and the goodwill of the colonists fostered before it
had entirely evaporated. Unfortunately, however,
the ministers were too blind to perceive the force of
such a consideration ; and, when the parliamentary
session came to an end, the revenue act was still un-
repealed. Truly disastrous as such procrastination
was, it is not necessary to imagine that it was due to
a settled conviction in the cabinet that Townshend's
measure must stand for ever, or to a callous dis-
regard of the critical character of the situation ; far
more probably it was based upon an intelligible, if
wrong-headed, policy. Apparently the administration
believed that the repeal of the act must be deferred
until a demonstration had been made of the displeasure
of the mother country ; and the ministers, overlooking
the fact that they were expected to behave like states-
men, decided to act like schoolmasters who find it
easier to exercise the rules of discipline than to practise
the arts of management. In accordance with this
pedagogic conception of government, Lord Hillsborough,
on December 15th, 1768, moved eight resolutions
in the house of lords, couched in a minatory tone,
denouncing the illegal pretentions of the Massachusetts
assembly and the disorderly conduct of the citizens
of Boston ; and he was followed by the Duke of Bedford
who moved an address to the king, approving the steps
taken to maintain order in the colonies, and petitioning
the crown to revive an obsolete statute of the reign
of Henry VIIL, under which colonists, suspected
of treason or misprision of treason, could be brought
over to England to stand their trial. 1
Possessing the advantage of looking back across
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 476 seq. ; Hist. MSS. Comm., 14th Report, Appendix,
part x.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 253
the years, and knowing what was to be the issue of the
unhappy dispute, we need no great insight to perceive,
at a glance, the hopeless futility of such proceedings.
There was much to be said for a policy of instant
conciliation, and something to be said in favour of
consistent coercion ; but to steer a middle course
between the two, to do nothing towards a solution of
the problem, and yet, at the same time, to cause needless
offence, was but to court disaster. Empty resolutions
such as these were not likely to intimidate, and only
too certain to aggravate, a disturbed continent ; for the
Americans would have been either more or less than
human if they had not deeply resented the iniquitous
proposal to revive a law, passed in a tyrannical
age, under which every colonist suspected of treason
could be dragged from his home to stand his trial in
a distant land. Such arguments, however, would
carry little weight with the well-paid supporters of the
court ; and the resolutions and the address were
carried in both houses. In the house of lords the
debate was languid and ineffective, few of the peers,
with the exception of the Duke of Richmond, offer-
ing much objection ; l but in the commons there was
a fiercer and more animated discussion. Both Dowdes-
well and Burke denounced the proposal to revive a
treason law passed in a century hateful to every good
whig ; and although Grenville refused to oppose the
resolutions and address in their final form, for fear
that he might be held guilty of countenancing
rebellion, he was bitterly, and indeed justly, con-
temptuous of the ministers whom, he declared,
' were holding out angry words on the one hand,
and giving no remedy on the other." " Do not
let us stand," he vehemently cried, " shiffle-shuffle
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 476.
254 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
between two measures . . . you are absolutely doing
nothing." *
Grenville was true enough ; and his point of view,
perverted though it might be by doctrinaire and
pedantic conceptions of government, was at least more
statesmanlike and enlightened than that of the
ministers who elected to occupy a whole parliamentary
session in offensively marking time. Yet the situation
was too critical even for the government indefinitely
to postpone a solution ; and on May ist, a few days
before the end of the session, the ministers met in
cabinet council to decide upon a course of action.
Nine members were present, the only absentee being
Sir Edward Hawke, the first lord of the admiralty,
who was prevented from attending by illness, a circum-
stance which was destined to have important and un-
fortunate consequences. Convinced that the time had
, come to abandon a hopeless position, Grafton proposed
that the revenue act should be totafly and entirely
repealed, and was supported by Camden, Conway,
and Granby. Late as such a proposal was, since the
repeal, if agreed upon, could not be carried into effect
until the next parliamentary session, there is no
doubt that it was by far the wisest, and indeed the only,
course that could be pursued, unless the government
was prepared to quell rebellion by force of arms.
Wisdom, however, is not always triumphant in the
affairs of this world, often failing to overcome her
enemies, prejudice and unenlightened self-interest ;
and so it was on this occasion. The other five ministers
present — Gower, Weymouth, Rochford, North, and
Hillsborough — believing that so complete a surrender
would be construed as weakness, insisted that while
the duties upon paper, glass, and colours should be
1 Cavendish Debates, i. 190.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 255
repealed as commercially unsound, that upon tea
should be retained to testify that England had not
abandoned the right of taxation ; and, profiting by
the absence of Sir Edward Hawke, they carried their
point by one vote. Thus, by the smallest possible
majority, did a radically unsound policy prevail ; and
the pride of England was saved to her own ultimate
undoing. The colonists would think little of the duties
remitted, and a great deal of the duty which remained ;
the tax upon tea would stand as a sign of a hated
principle, as a testimony to the fact that England still
claimed the right of extorting money from her children
across the seas, and as a perpetual incitement to
colonial rebellion. 1
Thus, the forces of darkness prevailed, and Grafton
had once more cause to reflect upon the little influence
he was able to exercise in his own cabinet. The evils
of delay were aggravated by imperfect concession ;
and in its American policy the ministry steadily and
persistently pursued the road of failure. Nor was
the darkness relieved by gleams of light elsewhere ;
for, if in their treatment of the colonists the ministers
stand convicted of stupidity and misunderstanding,
in their handling of Wilkes, and the questions to which
he gave rise, they were guilty of a violation of the law
of the land. That inveterate disturber of ministerial
peace was, indeed, to lead his pursuers a weary chase
before being run to earth and to enjoy by far the greater
share of the sport. Confined though he was as a con-
victed criminal to the king's bench prison, he was
admirably equipped for making war upon the adminis-
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 229-233. Lord Camden was also further
aggrieved because certain conciliatory expressions, which had been agreed
upon at the meeting, were omitted from the circular letter in which Lord
Hillsborough communicated the intention of the cabinet to the Colonies.
Ibid.
256 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
tration, having lost nothing of the popularity which he
had recaptured by his appearance at the poll. He
was still the popular hero, the champion of liberty ;
and the tedium of his seclusion was much alleviated
by the attentions of his many admirers. The " Sons
of Liberty" of Boston complimented him by an address
in which he was hailed as a martyr in the sacred cause
of freedom ; and this was but one of the many
testimonies of respect he received from corporations
as well as individuals. Nor was more material re-
cognition lacking from thoughtful admirers who had
the wit to understand that the body as well as the soul
of the martyr needed sustenance. A well-wisher,
resident in Rotterdam, presented him with a dozen
of the best Burgundy ; a native of Shropshire provided
a collar of brawn, and had the forethought to pay
the carriage ; and the gentlemen of the Cave in Covent
Garden, indignant at " the dangerous and uncon-
stitutional manner with which Mr Wilkes has been
treated, and as a small token of their abhorrence
thereof," requested his acceptance of twenty guineas
and " a hamper of their best liquor." 1
Such gifts were doubtless acceptable enough ; and if
Wilkes had been the ordinary type of adventurer, he
might have rested content with the disturbance he had
already caused, and waited, until his term of imprison-
ment was over, before renewing his attack upon the
administration. If he had been satisfied to profit
by the generosity of his admirers, and rest upon his
oars, it is possible that the ministers might have left
him alone, and permitted him to remain a member of
parliament, at least until he emerged from his confine-
ment. He was well known to be a dangerous antagonist ;
and the royal advisers do not appear to have framed
1 Add. MS., 30870, f. 45, f. 56, f. 81, f. 90.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 257
any definite plan of campaign against him before the
beginning of the session, being, on the whole, rather
inclined to refrain from any hostile action, if Wilkes,
on his part, abstained from giving new offence ; and
we have it on fairly good authority that he received
a private message from the Duke of Grafton to the
effect that if he remained quiet no attack would be
made upon him. 1 But, though the ministers might
propose, it was Wilkes that disposed ; and tamely
to acquiesce in accomplished facts was not in accord-
ance with his nature or, indeed, with his interests.
Fully alive to the fickleness of the mob who need to be
constantly reminded of their heroes, he realised that
the price of leisure and inactivity would be the loss
of his popularity and, consequently, his own destruction.
Such a mistake he could not afford to make, and he
determined to renew the battle which at least some of
his opponents would have gladly brought to an end.
It was on Monday, November 14th, that Sir Joseph
Mawbey, a politician who claimed to be above party,
but who was known to be a friend of the imprisoned
senator, presented a petition from Wilkes, asking for
redress of grievances. The petition, though suffered to
lie upon the table, was not heard for many weeks ;
and it is not improbable that the delay was intentional.
1 Almon, in his Memoirs of Wilkes, denies the report that the ministers
had decided upon a policy of expulsion before parliament met, and the asser-
tion, as has been seen, is supported by independent evidence. " The report
never had any foundation in truth : the editor here speaks from his own know-
ledge. There was no engagement made, nor resolution taken, to expel Mr
Wilkes till he presented his petition. On the contrary, it was the wish of the
Duke of Grafton that Mr Wilkes should take his seat without any obstruction
at the end of his imprisonment or, perhaps, sooner." Almon then states that
on November ioth, 1768, he received a message from the Duke of Grafton,
through Mr Fitzherbert, asking him to tell Wilkes that " if he would not present
his petition, the duke assured him, upon his honour, no attempt should be
made in parliament against him " ; and that Wilkes refused to pay any
heed. Almon's Memoirs of John Wilkes, 3, 293 seq.
R
258 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Neither the ministers nor the opposition were pro-
bably anxious to plunge headlong into the fray, wisely
preferring to see their way more clearly before taking
decisive action. Rockingham had not been taken
into Wilkes' secret counsels, having only heard of the
petition forty-eight hours before it was presented, 1
and Grenville was studiously careful to conceal his
opinion. 2 For Wilkes, however, to be ignored was worse
than to be attacked ; and the petition having failed to
provoke the desired storm, he resolved to precipitate
a crisis, and goad his enemies into the path of per-
secution, by making a personal attack upon a leading
member of the cabinet.
On April 17th, 1768, Lord Weymouth, in his capacity
of secretary of state, had addressed a letter to Daniel
Ponton, one of the Surrey magistrates and chairman
of the quarter sessions at Lambeth, giving warning
of the spirit of riot and disorder which was abroad, and
recommending both him and his fellow magistrates
not to hesitate to call upon the military for assistance
in the event of a serious tumult. The advice was
neither untimely nor unnecessary. For many days
disorderly conditions had prevailed in the metropolis ;
and on May 10th, the day of the opening of parliament,
a mob, which had gathered in the neighbourhood of
the king's bench prison, in the hope of seeing Wilkes
proceed to the house of commons, had vented their
disappointment in disorder, threatening to take the
prison by storm, and to drag their incarcerated hero
in triumph to parliament. The riot act was read, and
1 Add. MS., 35430, f - 130.
2 " It is very odd," wrote Lord Hardwicke in November, " what Lord
Lyttelton told me, that George Grenville would not impart to any of his
friends what part he intended to take, and he described the debate in the
house as the strangest he ever heard, and that administration seemed to
have no settled plan any more than opposition." Add. MS., 35362, f. 235.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 259
the soldiers summoned upon the scene ; and the tumult
not subsiding, the order to fire was given, with the result
that about five or six persons were killed. Popular
indignation, already sufficiently kindled against the
government, was intensified by this incident which
was represented as a wanton massacre of innocent
citizens ; and political capital was made out of the
entirely immaterial circumstance that the soldiers
employed on this occasion had been mainly drawn
from Scotch regiments. Wilkes, always unscrupulous
in regard to the choice of weapons, and ever ready
to hurl a stone at the government, having obtained a
copy of Weymouth's letter, published it in the St
James' Chronicle on December 8th, with an intro-
duction in which the affray of May ioth was repre-
sented as the outcome of a deliberate plot on the part
of the ministers. " I send you," he wrote, " the
following authentic state-paper, the date of which,
prior by more than three weeks to the fatal ioth of
May, shows how long the design had been planned
before it was carried into execution, and how long a
hellish project can be brooded over by some infernal
spirits, without one moment's remorse." 1
These were strong words and bitterly untrue ; and
it is difficult not to believe that by this stroke of malice
Wilkes intended to force the hand of the government.
On any other hypothesis it is almost impossible to
explain why he should launch this bolt when his
petition was under consideration by the house of
commons ; and, if the assumption be correct, he can be
counted to have succeeded. The hearing of the petition
had been postponed until January 27th, 1769 ; but
from the moment that the letter appeared in the St
James' Chronicle, the ministers, discarding the reserve
1 Almon's Memoirs of Wilkes, 3, 273 ff. ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 106-107.
260 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
which had hitherto characterised their conduct, de-
clared war upon their adversary, and determined upon
his expulsion. In spite of the protest of Lord Camden,
who would have preferred that pardon rather than
punishment should be meted out to the offender, 1
the cabinet agreed upon a policy of retaliation; and
although this decision was destined to lead to great
disaster, it must be allowed in fairness that a certain
amount of justification could be pleaded in support
of it. The king and the Bedford party in the cabinet,
who had always been in favour of a drastic procedure,
could now urge that it was vain to try and come to
terms with a desperate man intent upon mischief ;
and their contention had sufficient plausibility to make
it difficult to resist. It required great insight to
perceive that, since he sought persecution, the most
effective punishment for Wilkes would be forgiveness ;
and Grafton was hardly the man to disentangle the
threads of a complicated situation, and to adhere to
a policy unintelligible to the average mind. The
victory of Wilkes was a victory of intellect over
common-sense.
The attack was begun in the house of lords, which
promptly voted the introduction to Weymouth's
letter an insolent, scandalous and seditious libel ; and
this resolution having been communicated to the house
of commons by means of a conference, Lord North,
in frank disregard of all principles of equity and justice,
at once moved the concurrence of the lower house.
1 " I do wish," wrote Camden to Grafton, early in January, "... that the
present time could be eased of the difficulties that Mr W.'s business has brought
upon the government : a fatality has attended it from the beginning, and it
grows more serious every day. Your grace and I have unfortunately differed.
I wish it had been otherwise. It is a hydra multiplying by resistance and
gathering strength by every attempt to subdue it. As the times are, I had
rather pardon W. than punish him. This is a political opinion, independent
of the merits of the cause." Grafton's Autobiography, p. 201.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 261
Such precipitancy, however, was too much even for
the seared and easy-going political conscience of the
eighteenth century, no witnesses having yet been
examined by the commons to prove the authorship
of the libellous introduction ; and a revolt took place
in the ministerial ranks. Recovering for the moment
some of his old independence of spirit, Conway dared
to oppose North, contending that " the great point
we are now agitating is matter for grave discussion,
and should be postponed " ; and, much to North's
disgust, a similar protest was made by Dunning, the
solicitor-general. 1 The same cry was echoed by the
speakers on the opposition side : Burke and Grenville
united to deprecate such unnecessary and uncon-
stitutional haste, and the former significantly inquired
whether the house was prepared to model itself upon
the court of star chamber. 2 For mere argument,
however convincing, North cared little enough, but,
fearing that he might be borne down by sheer weight
of numbers, 3 he abandoned his motion, and it was agreed
that evidence should be taken. In accordance with
this resolution, witnesses were examined by the house
on December 19th, and, after their testimony had been
heard, it was agreed to postpone further action until
January 27th, the day already appointed for hearing
Wilkes' petition. 4
This was, however, but a momentary check to the
government, and when parliament re-assembled after
the Christmas holidays, the attack was promptly re-
newed. It was, of course, a foregone conclusion that
Wilkes' petition would be dismissed, and although
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 227-228.
2 Almon's Memoirs of Wilkes, 3, 273 ft. ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 106-107 '•
Add. MS., 35430, f. 136 ; Harris' Hardwicke, 3, 425-429.
3 Add. MS., 35430, f. 136.
4 Add. MS., 35608, f. 309 ; Cavendish Debates, I, 11 1 ff.
262 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
three days were occupied in discussing it, this was but
a concession to decency, with little relation to reality.
The petition having been rejected on Wednesday,
February ist, the way was clear for further and more
decisive action, and, on the day following, the house
promptly set to work upon the introduction to
Weymouth's letter. The evidence given in the previous
December clearly pointed to Wilkes as the author ;
but any difficulty, that might have arisen in establish-
ing the proof, was averted by the victim himself.
Summoned to the bar of the house, Wilkes avowed
himself the author of the offensive introduction, and
then proceeded, with characteristic effrontery, not only
to describe the secretary of state's letter as " a bloody
scroll," but to apologise to his hearers for using so mild
and inadequate an expression. It was not, however,
sufficient to prove that Wilkes was the author in order
completely to justify further action : another obstacle
in the path was the not unimportant question whether
the house of commons was the proper body to take
cognisance of the offence. The libel in question had
been directed against a member of the house of lords,
and it might reasonably be contended that it was the
business of the peers, not of the commons, to punish
the offender. Such was the line of argument adopted
by Grenville who inquired whether it was intended
that, whenever " a libel against any of his majesty's
ministers in the other house is sent to this, we are to
take it up," and the point was of a nature to appeal
to Grenville's legal caste of mind, though hardly likely
to strike a responsive chord in the average man not
enamoured with precedents. The ministerial action
was more against reason than law, and Burke spoke
truly, and in the spirit of prophecy, when he declared
that what was being done would go far to make Wilkes
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 263
the most dangerous member of the state, and endear
him still more to the riotous elements in the nation.
" As I will ever pray," he said in conclusion, " for the
peace of Jerusalem, so I say, let those who pursue
these measures answer for the consequences." 1
In spite, however, of Grenville's learning and Burke's
wisdom, the big battalions carried the government to
victory, the introduction being voted an insolent,
scandalous, and seditious libel. If action had been
stayed there, much harm might have been avoided ;
but, as all men knew, all that had been done hitherto
was but a preliminary to the expulsion which had been
decreed. On February 3rd, Lord Barrington moved that
" John Wilkes, Esq., a member of this house, who
hath at the bar of this house, confessed himself to be
the author and publisher of what this house has resolved
to be an insolent, scandalous, and seditious libel ;
and who has been convicted in the court of king's bench
of having printed and published a seditious libel,
and three obscene and impious libels, and, by the
judgment of the said court, has been sentenced to
undergo twenty months' imprisonment, and is now in
execution under the said judgment, be expelled this
house." Seconded by Rigby, one of the most aban-
doned members of the Bedford party, the motion was
fiercely debated until three o'clock on the following
morning ; and in the course of the discussion much good
advice was tendered to the ministers, which they
would have done well to accept. A certain number
of the speakers on the opposition side pointed out that,
if the motion was carried, the house of commons would
certainly lose a member whose popularity outside the
house was unequalled, and that it was the business
of the parliament to interpret, not to thwart, the will
1 Cavendish Debates, I, 139.
264 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of the nation. The speech of the evening, however,
was made by George Grenville. 1 Carefully disclaim-
ing all connection with either the ministry or the
Rockingham party, 2 he announced that he was im-
pelled by his conscience to stand up in defence of the
man he had formerly attacked ; and, having made this
personal confession, proceeded to riddle the rather thin
ministerial armour with well-aimed shafts. It was
comparatively easy for him to show the wanton iniquity
of Barrington's motion, combining as it did four
separate reasons for Wilkes' expulsion in one resolution.
" Is it not evident," he inquired, " that by this un-
worthy artifice, Mr Wilkes may be expelled, although
three parts in four of those who expel him should have
declared against his expulsion upon every one of the
articles contained in this charge." In clear and vigorous
language he explained how some members would think
his imprisonment sufficient ground for expulsion,
others his conviction for libel, and others his attack
upon Weymouth, and that the resolution would be
carried by a majority unable to lay any claim to
unanimity of opinion. Then, proceeding from the
general to the particular, he enumerated singly the
charges brought against Wilkes, and showed how
insufficient they were to justify expulsion. He pointed
out that it was not the business of the house of commons
to punish a libel upon a peer of the realm, that imprison-
ment had never been reckoned a disqualification for a
seat in the lower house, and that to expel Wilkes for
his libel upon the king's speech and the " Essay on
1 " My brother made," wrote Temple to Lady Chatham, " what was univer-
sally deemed the best speech he ever made against expulsion." Chatham
Correspondence, 3, 349-350.
2 " I am," remarked Grenville, " under no restraint either from this or
that side of the house ; I know and feel my own independence on (sic) both."
Cavendish Debates, 1, 159.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 265
Woman " was a gross violation of that sacred principle
of justice by which no man can be punished twice
for the same offence. In conclusion he predicted the
consequences of the expulsion, and his prophecy was
only too literally fulfilled. " In the present disposition
of the county of Middlesex," he said, " you cannot
entertain a doubt, but that Mr Wilkes will be re-elected
after his expulsion. You will then probably think
yourselves under a necessity of expelling him again,
and he will as certainly be again re-elected. What
steps can the house then take to put an end to a dis-
graceful contest, in which their justice is arraigned, and
their authority and dignity essentially compromised ?
You cannot, by the rules of the house, rescind the vote
for excluding Mr Wilkes in the same session in which
it has passed, and I know but two other methods which
you can pursue. They have both been the subject
of common conversation, and are both almost equally
exceptionable. You may refuse to issue a new writ,
and by that means deprive the freeholders of this
country of the right of choosing any other represent-
ative, possibly for the whole term of the present parlia-
ment. ... If you do not adopt this proceeding, the
other alternative will be to bring into this house, as the
knight of the shire for Middlesex, a man chosen by a
few voters only, in contradiction to the declared sense
of a great majority of the freeholders on the face of
the poll, upon a supposition, that all the votes of the
latter are forfeited and thrown away, on account of
the expulsion of Mr Wilkes." x
Thus spoke Grenville, to the astonishment of many
who believed that in him Wilkes had a relentless
enemy, and that his words carried some weight can be
seen by the marked reduction of the usual ministerial
1 Cavendish Debates, 1 , 151 ff .
266 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
majority, Barrington's motion being only carried by
eighty-two votes. 1 If this, however, had been the
only consequence, the victory over Wilkes could be
counted to have been easily and cheaply won : un-
fortunately, for the ministerial peace of mind, the
events of the third of February were only the beginning
of a long and arduous campaign. Grenville had not
long to wait before his prediction was fulfilled, and
from the king's bench prison Wilkes contrived to draw
the administration further and further into a morass
from which they were never really to emerge. All
the advantage of the game lay with him, for he could
rely with absolute certainty upon the loyalty of his
constituents, and he would have been little short of
a political craven, instead of a man of unusual courage,
if he had accepted his first expulsion as a final defeat.
Appealing once more to the faithful county of Middle-
sex, he was re-elected a member of parliament on
February 16th, only to be again deprived of his seat
on the following day when Lord Strange moved and
carried that " John Wilkes, Esq., having been, in
this session of parliament, expelled this house, was,
and is, incapable of being elected a member to serve
in this present parliament " ; and he encountered the
same fate when he was elected for the third time in
the month of March. That he should be deprived
of his place in parliament almost as soon as he became
entitled to it, mattered little enough to him, for he could
plume himself upon covering the administration with
ridicule ; but it ought to be remembered that, futile
as such proceedings were, and illegal as Lord Strange's
motion was, 2 the royal advisers were in a situation
1 Hist. MS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 412.
2 This motion was, of course, not legally sound, since it was beyond the
power of either house, acting alone, to declare any man, not disqualified by
law, incapable of being elected.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 267
of no little difficulty. Wilkes could not be allowed to
take his seat in the same session in which he had been
expelled, for this would be to reduce the punitive
powers of the house of commons to an idle sham ;
and there were not a few politicians who, while firmly
convinced that the original expulsion was a fatal and
irretrievable error, were yet of the opinion that the
house was bound by its own irrevocable decree. Thus
George Grenville, while affirming that he would always
resist " the expulsion of any man, unless I hear better
reasons than any I have heard given for the expulsion
of Mr Wilkes," declared that " the house has come to
a resolution, that this gentleman is inadmissible :
in this session, therefore, he cannot take his seat amongst
us." 1 The reasoning was just, and in accordance with
the custom of parliament ; and both Burke, who had
protested so strongly on February 3rd, and Conway,
who had stayed away rather than do his conscience
wrong by voting with his colleagues, 2 were in agree-
ment with Grenville.
Custom and precedence, however, are not always
in accordance with the claims of common-sense ; and
it was difficult to disguise the truth that the house of
commons was in a thoroughly false position. Manacled
by fetters of its own contriving, the house was obliged
to sanction an evil because it could not repair it ; and
with that broad and comprehensive grasp which
characterises so many of his utterances, Burke ex-
plained the fundamental issues of what might, super-
ficially, appear to be a rather idle controversy. " The
honourable gentleman," he remarked in the course
of one debate, " who moved the present resolution,
has put it upon its true footing : he has described it as
a contest of five hundred and fifty-eight members of.
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 348. 2 Cavendish Debates, 1, 351-352.
268 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
this house against the county of Middlesex ; a contest
between the electors and the elected ; the electors
looking upon themselves to be the root of power.
If ever that contest should spread beyond the county
of Middlesex, it will be a contest between five hundred
and fifty-eight members of this house and several
millions of people. I do not say it is so ; but it is
our business to show it is the contrary. This house has
had contests with the crown ; this house has had
contests with the house of lords ; but this is the first
time it has had a contest with the people. Such a
contest would be the most destructive civil war ever
carried on." 1
This was the constitutional, and therefore the most
important, aspect of the struggle ; and into this dilemma
had the house of commons been driven by a clever
rascal and incompetent ministers. Both parties in
the contest could claim in a measure that the law was
on their side ; and therefore, if neither would give way,
the controversy was legally insoluble. Though in
asserting that Wilkes was incapable of being elected,
the house had clearly exceeded its powers, it was
impossible to deny the right of either house to inflict
the penalty of expulsion ; but equally beyond dispute
was the right of a constituency to elect as its repre-
sentative any man not disqualified by law for a seat
in the house of commons ; and neither conviction for
libel, imprisonment, nor even expulsion, had ever
been reckoned as a bar to re-election. Thus it seemed
likely that, until the end of the session, Wilkes would be
repeatedly elected by the county of Middlesex, and
repeatedly declared incapable of sitting by the house
of commons, and it is beyond all doubt that in this idle
game the ministers would be the sufferers. What
1 Cavendish Debates, i , 348 ff.
\
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 269
little dignity they still retained, and it was little enough,
would be entirely lost in such an ignoble and ludicrous
contest, and they decided to extricate themselves from
a farcical situation by a flagrant violation of the law
of the land, thus adding crime to folly. The first
fruits of this determination were seen in April when
Wilkes, standing for election for the fourth time, found
himself opposed by Colonel Luttrell, a man of very
doubtful reputation, who had been persuaded by the
ministry to come forward as a candidate. Naturally
enough, Luttrell failed to secure election, Wilkes being
victorious over him by more than eight hundred votes ;
but this by no means meant that the government
had failed in its enterprise. The ministers had neither
expected nor intended to defeat Wilkes at the poll ;
and the inner meaning of Luttrell's candidature
was revealed when the Middlesex election came for
the fourth time under the consideration of the lower
house. In accordance with what was by this time a
well-established precedent, Wilkes, on April 14th, was
expelled from the house ; but on this occasion this was
but a preliminary move, for on the following day
George Onslow moved that Luttrell should be declared
to have been duly elected for the county of Middlesex.
The motion was carried ; and when, a few weeks later,
a petition, signed by fifteen freeholders of Middlesex
protesting against such an infringement of their legal
rights, was discussed in the house, it was again resolved
that " Henry Lawes Luttrell, Esq., is duly elected a
knight of the shire to serve in this present parliament."
That such a solution of the problem was illegal there
is no doubt, and it was not rendered any less illegal
by the fact that there was no court in the land which
could call the house of commons to account for its
action. It is clear that the lower house had the right
270 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of deciding contested election, and of expelling its own
members ; but in the exercise of these functions it
acted as a judicial, not as a legislative body, concerned
not with the making but with the execution of law. It
is an axiom of the constitution that neither house of
parliament acting alone has any legislative power ;
yet the recognition of Luttrell as the member for
Middlesex was a legislative rather than a judicial act,
for it could only be justified on the ground that Wilkes
was legally incapable of being elected, a contention
not supported by existing law. Eligibility for election
to parliament was emphatically a legal right, based
upon statute and common law ; and therefore, in
passing over Wilkes in favour of Luttrell, the house
of commons took upon itself to make a new disqualifica-
tion, and thereby to create law. Plausible arguments
were, indeed, urged in support of the ministerial action,
more than sufficient to confuse men unversed in legal
subtleties and not trained to think clearly ; but they
were one and all fallacious, resting upon a confusion
between legislative and judicial power. " The lawyers
for the court," wrote Burke to his friend, Lord
Charlemont, " were, as they have generally been for
some time past, bold and profligate. The chief argu-
ments which they insisted upon, were, that when a court,
having competent jurisdiction in a cause, has deter-
mined, its determination is the law of the land until
it is reversed ; that we had jurisdiction in all causes
relative to election ; that we had already determined
this point ; it was therefore against order, to debate it
again, and against law to contradict the determination
of a court from whence no appeal lay. That the house
had a power to qualify or disqualify without any other
rule than their own discretion ; and Blackstone went
so far as to say that ' if he affirmed that we could make
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 271
laws, he could support himself by respectable
authorities.' " x
If such arguments were sound, a single house of
parliament could override law, saddle constituencies
with members which they had never elected, and
exercise a despotism almost as unchecked as that of
a Tudor monarch ; and such a doctrine had only to
be advanced to encounter sincere and emphatic protest.
Fierce and protracted were the debates in the lower
house ; and the weakness of the government's position
is attested by the reduction in its majority. 2 Indeed,
all the weight of argument lay with the opposition,
and the debates, barren as they were in practical
effect, are rich in expositions of true constitutional
doctrine. " The man," exclaimed Grenville on April
15th, " who will contend that a resolution of the house
of commons is the law of the land is a most violent
enemy of his country ; be he who or what he will " ;
and the same sentiments were expressed by Burke,
Dowdeswell, Wedderburn, Barre, and, indeed, by
nearly every speaker who raised his voice in protest
against the violation of the law.
Undoubtedly, the hero of this parliamentary contest
was George Grenville ; and against his many short-
comings as a statesman, his conduct at this national
and constitutional crisis ought to be remembered.
As will be seen later, his enemies were prepared to
give the most sinister explanation of his defence of
Wilkes ; but it is not necessary to believe that
politicians are always swayed by the basest motives,
and there was nothing inconsistent in the course of
1 Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report, Appendix, Part x., 293-294.
2 On April 15th, the numbers on a division were 197 to 143 ; and on May
8th, 221 to 152. For a general account of the two debates, see Cavendish
Debates, 1, 366 ff., 406 ff ; Hist. MSS. Comm., 12th Report, Appendix,
Part x., 293-294 ; Chatham's Correspondence, 3, 357-359.
272 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
action which Grenville pursued. He fought for the
supremacy of the law rather than for Wilkes ; and a
reverence for law had always been a dominating passion
in his rather narrow mind. Indeed, the same insistent
belief in principle which led him to tax the American
colonists in 1765, impelled him to stand up in defence
of Wilkes four years later ; and his true greatness
lay in successfully overcoming the prejudice which he
must have contracted against the man who, at one time,
had been a thorn in his flesh. But the appearance of
Grenville in the unaccustomed role of a champion of
freedom had a greater importance than as merely
effecting his own personal reputation ; and it was only
natural that the Rockingham whigs, or at least some of
them, beheld in him at this moment a very Daniel
come to judgment. To some of the more sanguine it
seemed that Wilkes, who had threatened to be a cause
of still further division, might prove to be a bond of
union between the two parties in opposition ; and that
the politicians, who had quarrelled over the govern-
ment of the colonies, might unite in defence of the
English constitution. While the fight in parliament
was still continuing, and before the law had been
actually broken by the government, it was rumoured
that an alliance had been concluded between Grenville
and the Rockingham whigs ; x and though the report
had no foundation in fact, it witnesses to the popular
opinion as to the probable outcome of the struggle
on behalf of Wilkes. Indeed, the time had come
round again for another attempt at a rapprochement
between the two sections of the opposition ; and in true
English fashion a dinner was fixed upon as the best
means of laying the foundations of future harmony.
Accordingly, when on May 8th the Rockinghams and
1 Grenville Papers, 4, 412-414.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 273
the Grenvilles were gathered together in the same
division lobby, Dowdeswell seized the occasion to
suggest that they should dine together on the following
day at the Thatched House Tavern. The proposal
was agreed to, and on May 9th more than seventy of
the opposition met at the appointed tavern, George
Grenville, as well as the leaders of the Rockingham
party, being included in the number. A formidable list
of twenty-one toasts, beginning with, " The king and
constitution ; the right of electors ; the law of the land,"
and ending with " To our next happy meeting," was
conscientiously worked through ; and under the
mellowing influence of good food and drink, old
hostilities were forgotten and new hopes born. " The
whole meeting," in the words of Temple who, though
not present, probably received an account of what
passed from Grenville, "appeared to be that of brothers,
united in one great constitutional cause " ; and another
opponent of the government remarked, in a letter to
a friend, that "it is to be hoped from the occurrences
of the day that all the sub-divisions of the minority
will be consolidated into one grand constitutional
party." »
Such, indeed, was the hope of many ; but serious
obstacles would have to be overcome, before it could be
brought even near to realisation. The need for such
an union was certainly greater than it had ever yet
been ; for, the parliamentary session having ended
on May 9th, the time had now come for the defenders
of Wilkes to appeal to the country against a law-
breaking house of commons, and to bring popular
pressure to bear upon the ministry and its supporters.
Nor were they likely to appeal in vain, the administra-
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 357 ff. ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 242 ; Hist.
MSS. Comm., 12th Report, Appendix, Part x., 294.
S
274 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
tion having by this time become more discredited than
ever. The mysterious Junius had already begun the
publication of those virulent epistles which, whatever
their defects, will always rank high in the annals of
vituperative literature ; but it hardly needed his
vitriolic pen to arouse the wrath of a nation aflame
with indignation against a house of commons which had
defied it. There is no shadow of doubt that Wilkes
had won the stakes for which he had played ; and any
inconvenience he may have suffered was amply com-
pensated for by the popularity he enjoyed. His
sufferings, often grotesquely exaggerated, formed the
theme of conversation in obscure villages and hamlets,
and he enjoyed true fame since his name was a house-
hold word to many who had not the slightest idea of
the cause of his imprisonment or expulsion. 1 Neither
Wilkes nor his supporters were likely to make the
mistake of allowing such a favourable soil to go un-
tilled ; and the popular agitation on his behalf began
many weeks before the parliamentary session came to
an end. A meeting of his principal supporters was
held on February 21st at the London Tavern, at which
a subscription for the relief of his financial necessities
was started, and a society formed, styled " The
Supporters of the Bill of Rights," and pledged to
1 Writing to Lord Dartmouth in August 1769, the Rev. John Newton
states how " a few months I heard that some of them in their prayers at
home had been much engaged for the welfare of Mr Wilkes. As the whole
town of Olney is remarkably loyal and peaceable with regard to the govern-
ment, I was rather surprised that gentleman should have partisans amongst
our serious people. Upon inquiry I found they had just heard of his name,
and that he was in prison ; comparing the imperfect account they had of
him with what they read in their Bibles, they took it for granted that a
person so treated must of necessity be a minister of the gospel, and under
that character they prayed earnestly that he might be supported and enlarged.
Your lordship will perhaps be surprised that in this time of general ferment
the whole story of Mr Wilkes should be utterly unknown to many people in
a market- town within sixty miles of London. But this is the fact." Hist.
MSS. Comm., 15th Report, Appendix, Part i., 190-191.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 275
maintain the English constitution. 1 This new organisa-
tion was not slow in getting to work, drawing up,
shortly after the intrusion of Luttrell into the house
of commons, a petition to the king, rehearsing the
popular grievances and calling for the dismissal of
the ministers. 2 After being widely signed, the petition
was presented to the king on May 24th, and was received
in contemptuous silence by the monarch who, at the
outset of his reign, had professed to make war on
faction in the name and in the interests of his people. 3
Nor was this the only manifestation that not an
inconsiderable proportion of the nation had declared
for Wilkes, and against George III. and his advisers.
Various counties and boroughs began to send in-
structions to their representatives in parliament,
directing them to support Wilkes and the English
constitution ; and although the adherents of the court
engineered counter-addresses, professing unbounded
loyalty to the court and faith in the government, it
was notorious that these were sometimes only obtained
with very great difficulty ; and they could hardly
fail to be discredited by the obviously artificial character
of their origin. 4 Indeed, the great pains taken to
create the impression that the ministry enjoyed the
favour of the country was in itself a proof that the
reverse was true ; and the wisest amongst the sup-
porters of the court must have realised that they had
taken a plunge into deep waters from which they
might not possibly emerge in safety. Men, acquainted
with the history of the previous century, were reminded,
by what they saw going on around them, of the days of
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 225.
2 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 415; Walpole's Letters,
5, 162, 163.
3 Bedford Correspondence, 3, 409.
4 Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 225, 227, 231.
276 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Charles II. when the country was divided up into
petitioners and abhorrers ; and the parallel was by-
no means far-fetched. 1 Yet the misfortunes of the
state are sometimes the benefits of a political party ;
and if, before the next session, Rockingham and
Grenville could settle their differences and rally the
country to their side, they might return to parliament
as the leaders of an united party approved by the
nation, and use their newly-acquired strength to
destroy the administration, and fight their way into
the royal closet at the point of the sword. Divided
and leaderless, the ministry could hardly withstand
an onslaught pressed to the very end.
If such was the outcome of the dinner at the Thatched
House Tavern, those who had attended that convivial
gathering would have ample cause for self-congratula-
tion ; and it was not only Burke who understood that
"if we mean to get redress, we must strengthen the
hands of the minority within doors, by the accession
of the public opinion, strongly declared to the court,
which is the source of the whole mischief." 2 What
the Rockinghams had so eagerly and, hitherto so vainly,
waited for, the approval of the people, now appeared
to be within their grasp ; and it was not necessary for
them so much to create an agitation against the govern-
ment as to use one already in existence. No sooner
was parliament prorogued than the king and his
ministers began to be inundated with a flood of petitions
which, though varying in violence, agreed in denouncing
the admission of Luttrell as a gross breach of the
constitution. A most violent petition by the Livery
of London, rehearsing past as well as present
1 " Does not all this nonsense on all sides," wrote Lord Hardwicke, " put
you in mind of the dregs of Charles the 2nd's reign with addressing and ab-
horring." Add. MS., 35362, f. 240.
2 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 179-183.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 277
grievances, was carried almost unanimously at a
crowded meeting at the Guildhall on June 24th ; 1 and,
a few weeks later, the electors of Westminster, going
still further, petitioned the king to dissolve a parliament
which had betrayed its trust by violating the rights
of the freeholders of Great Britain. 2 The example
1 " It is in substance," wrote Burke to Rockingham, " the same as that
from Middlesex ; but I think it brings it more home to the king's ministers,
not the present only, but the past ; and calls for redress in very strong terms.
. . . On the question for the petition there was not a single hand against it.
One man, indeed, attempted to make a speech in opposition to it, but his
voice was drowned in a cry to throw him off the hustings." Rockingham
Memoirs, 2, 96-101.
2 An interesting, though not an impartial, account of the meeting which
approved the Westminster petition is given by a correspondent of Lord
Hardwicke. " I attended," he writes, " the meeting at Westminster Hall
this morning. The company began to assemble soon after ten o'clock, and
kept increasing till twelve, about which time came into the hall Sir Robert
Bernard, Dr Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster, and Mr Jones, who has been
President of the Bill of Rights Society, who, together with Humphrey Cotes,
were all the people of note that I could learn of. They were received into
the hall with the shouts of between 2 and 3000 people, to say the most,
(tho' those who were fond of the meeting estimated them above double
that number), and proceeded on to the middle of the hall against the court
of common pleas, where a chair was placed upon a sort of carpenter's work-
board, which was filled by Sir Robert Bernard. The company were then
addressed by Mr Jones who told them the occasion of their meeting was to
consider of a petition to his majesty for redress of grievances, which petition
Sir Robert Bernard had in his hand, and would read to them if agreeable.
To which they shouted consent, and Sir Robert accordingly read it, having
first recommended it by a short speech for that purpose ; and it was received
with violent shouts of applause, both of huzzas and clapping of hands. The
petition was seconded by (some say) Mr Martin, Sergeant Glynn's Attorney,
but others say it was one Lycett, an upholsterer in Golden Square. The
subject of the petition was the violation of the privileges of the freeholders
of Middlesex, who, having elected Mr Wilkes by a very great majority, the
parliament, being corrupted and influenced by the ministry, had set him aside,
and declared Colonel Luterell to be duly elected. They, therefore, pray that
bis majesty would dissolve his parliament, and cause a new one to be elected
as soon as possible. There were several copies of the petition drawn out
upon large sheets of parchment, and carried to different parts of the hall
for all those to sign who could write their names, and chose so to do ; for
I found that was all that was required ; no place of abode or profession being
added. The majority of the assembly were rather well dressed, creditable-
looking people, most of which, I believe, were there, like myself, out of curiosity,
for that part of the company who seemed eager for signing were of the shabby
sort." Add. MS., 35609, f. 32.
278 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of London and Westminster, moreover, was followed
in more distant parts of the kingdom, various counties
petitioning for a redress of grievances. When the
petition of the county of Wiltshire was presented for
approval to a meeting at Devizes, the clergyman of
the parish and the eldest son of Lord Holland were the
only dissentients ; * and although we are told that
the Worcestershire petition was " received but coldly
by the major part of the county," the information comes
from a hostile and not very well-informed source. 2
" The spirit of petitioning," wrote Burke at the end of
July, " extends and strengthens," 3 and the best testi-
mony to the success of the movement is afforded by
the strenuous efforts of the ministerialists to check and
restrain it. Had it not been for the active intervention
of certain adherents of the government, it is highly
probable that many more counties would have pre-
sented addresses of complaint. It was due to Rigby
that no petition came from Essex, and the same service
was rendered to the government in Norfolk by the
Townshends and the Walpoles, who mustered in strength
at the Norwich assizes, ready to oppose a petition
should one be presented. 4 The aged Duke of Bedford,
though now almost on the verge of the grave, endured
the fatigue of a journey into Devonshire in order to
use his influence in that county against a petition,
1 Add. MS., 35609, f. 34-
2 " At this distance," wrote Charles Cocks to Lord Hardwicke, " I can give
but a poor account of the Worcestershire petition. It was first proposed
by a shattered brain fellow, Holland Cooksey (who is chairman, to the dis-
grace of the county), at the Session. A meeting was afterwards advertised at
the Assizes which, nothing being then done, was adjourned to the race week ; it
was again accordingly proposed and signed by a few gentlemen (after being
corrected by Mr Dowdeswell) and by some freeholders, but I have understood,
from time to time, that it has been received but coldly by the major part of the
county." Add. MS. 35609, f. 43.
3 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 179-183.
'• Hist. MSS. Comm. Lothian MSS., 286-287.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 279
and was rewarded for his self-sacrifice by being set
upon by the mob, both at Exeter and at Honiton. 1
Thus, the contest was transferred from the parlia-
ment to the country at large ; and it is by no means
easy to estimate the success of Wilkes' supporters.
Horace Walpole, an unfavourable critic both of
Rockingham and Grenville, sneeringly remarks in his
Memoirs that the opposition " had polled the nation,
and the majority by far was against them. Not a
dozen counties, and only a few boroughs, had petitioned.
. . . The greater part of England, all Scotland to a man,
and Wales, were against them." 2 This judgment,
however, is somewhat jaundiced, and certainly cannot
be accepted without reservation. It is necessary to
remember, not only that the government must often
have been able to use local influence to suppress the
real opinion of a county, but that the organisation
for the expression of public opinion was very different,
and decidedly inferior, to what is at the present day ;
and that the men, who appealed to the country on
behalf of Wilkes, suffered from the disabilities which
must always hamper the activities of constitutional
pioneers. The mere fact that nearly twelve counties
had united in protesting against the government was
in itself evidence of wide-spread discontent, and, at
least, a favourable beginning if nothing more ; and
the opponents of the administration would have been
little deserving of success if they had despised and dis-
regarded the assistance which the people offered them.
They had, however, been too well schooled by adversity
to fall into this blunder, and were quite prepared to
profit by the favouring turn of circumstance. Nor
were they unmindful of the necessity of healing their
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 621 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 3, 251-252.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 28.
280 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
internal dissensions before renewing the attack in
parliament. Early in July, Edmund Burke informed
Rockingham that at least an appearance of union
with Grenville was essential to the safety of the party, 1
and it did not seem that such an alliance was so entirely
outside the range of practical politics as it had hitherto
appeared. Temporarily sinking old grievances, Gren-
ville and Rockingham had joined in defence of Wilkes
and the constitution, and both approved of the
policy of appealing to the nation, though on this
point there was far greater eagerness on the part of
Grenville than Rockingham who, with true aristo-
cratic prejudice, only gave a very reluctant approval
to what he disliked as a popular agitation. 2 Both
working for the same end, it might be expected that the
two leaders, forgetting ancient discord, would unite
in harmony ; but the path of party politics is no
smoother than that of love, and the situation was
fundamentally changed in the twinkling of an eye
by the reappearance of Chatham upon the political
scenes.
Ever since his resignation in the previous October,
Chatham had been slowly but perceptibly mending
in health, and by the summer of 1769 he had almost
completely shaken off that depression of spirit which
had for so long clouded his brain, and was once more
ready to play a part in public life. For nigh upon
two years secluded at Hayes and Hampstead, he had
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 168-172.
2 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 173-179. Grenville is far less undecided,
informing Lord Buckinghamshire that " if the body of the freeholders are
dissatisfy'd, and think that their rights . . . are violated by the late determina-
tion in the house of commons, they may certainly remonstrate against it in
the proper manner, and I take it for granted will do so. . . . If they do,
they will give weight to the resistance which has been made to that measure
in the house of commons, and prevent the like measure for the future."
Hist. MSS. Comm. Lothian MSS., 287-288.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 281
been, in a measure, forgotten ; and great was the
excitement when on July 7th he visited the king.
Politicians, reminded of the days when the appearance
of William Pitt at court had generally intimated that
a ministry was tottering to its fall, circulated wild
reports of impending changes ; but Charles Yorke
spoke more truly when he declared that Chatham's
' visit at court was a phenomenon which occasioned
a good deal of unnecessary speculation, being only a
necessary and decent ceremonial on the recovery
of his health." x The arrival of Chatham in London
certainly did not mean the instant fall of the Grafton
ministry, but, from his discourse to the king, it was
abundantly clear that he bore no goodwill to the
ministers. Expressing his disapproval of the compact
with the East India Company, and hinting his dislike
of the attack upon Wilkes, he frankly asked the
royal forgiveness in the event of his being compelled
to go into opposition. 2 From the point of view of
George III., no conversation could be less satisfactory.
In former days Chatham had shown what a dangerous
enemy he could be ; and, if he embarked upon a career
of opposition, supported by a discontented country,
it was only too likely that the ministers might be
intimidated into surrender, and the king, driven to
abandon a right for which he had fought, be compelled
to take his advisers at the dictation of his people.
Nor was it only George III. who had cause to fear
the consequences that might flow from Chatham's
resumption of political activity : the Rockingham
whigs had equally good reason to be alarmed. They
had not forgotten, and were not likely to forget, that
their fall from office in 1766 had been largely due to
him, that he had consistently rejected their friendly
1 Add. MS., 35362, f. 249. 2 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 237.
282 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
overtures, and that, while his health had lasted, he had
waged increasing war against that party system which
they believed to be the mainspring of ordered political
life. 1 They had no reason to suppose that his old
animosity had expired or even diminished, and could
not but know that a deadly weapon of attack lay ready
to his hand. Chatham had appeared at the critical
moment when the Rockinghams and the Grenvilles
were converging towards an alliance ; and it seemed
within his power to blast the hope of such an union
being formed. If he still cherished his antagonism
to Lord Rockingham and his followers, he might
easily frustrate their plans by throwing in his lot with
his two brothers-in-law, Grenville and Temple, thus
constituting a family party which would be equally
opposed both to the Rockinghams and the ministry.
Such was the danger presented by the restoration
of Chatham to health, and it was certainly neither
remote nor fanciful ; for the foundations upon which
the Grenville brotherhood might be reconstituted
had been laid many weeks before the summer of 1769.
As far back as the autumn of the previous year, Temple
had paid two visits to Hayes within the space of a
fortnight ; and, unusually privileged, had been per-
mitted to see and converse with Chatham. Con-
temporaries at once jumped to the conclusion that this
incident had a political significance, that the differences,
which had separated between the two kinsmen, now no
longer existed, and that Chatham, having dissociated
himself from the ministry, was now resolved upon an
1 Burke's hatred of Chatham was revealed in his comments upon the
latter' s audience with the king. "If he was not sent for," he wrote, " it
was only humbly to lay a reprimand at the feet of his most gracious master,
and to talk some significant, pompous, creeping, explanatory, ambiguous
matter, in the true Chathamic style, and that's all." Burke's Correspondence,
1, 173-179-
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 283
alliance with two of his most bitter political enemies. 1
As generally happens, public opinion, in its lust for
excitement, overshot the mark, and favoured a theory
which the actual facts did not support. There was
no evidence that politics were introduced into the
conversation at Hayes, and, as Temple had undertaken
the first journey to his brother-in-law in response to
an invitation from Lady Chatham, it is reasonable
to imagine that the visit was more of a friendly than
a political nature. Yet, to fly to the other extreme,
and to view the reconciliation which took place as
exclusively domestic, would be to draw too hard and
fast a line between the private and public lives of
politicians. Temple was far too alert an intriguer not
to realise that, while obeying the dictates of his heart,
he might yet be laying the foundation of an invaluable
parliamentary alliance ; and his remark to Grenville,
who, it was rumoured, was about to visit Hayes [though
apparently the J project was never executed], " to keep
his mind void of suspicion," is not without significance. 2
It would seem as though Temple realised that the sooner
a family compact was signed the better ; and that a
triumvirate consisting of Chatham, Grenville, and
1 " I have the joy to find," wrote Lord Temple in an undated letter to
Lady Chatham, but which from internal evidence appears to have been
written shortly after his first visit to Hayes on November 25 th, 1768, " my
first visit of Friday gives either universal satisfaction or alarm ; the first
affords me the most solid pleasure, tho' the latter is not without its de-
lights." Chatham MSS., P. R. O., 1st series, vol. lxiii.
2 Whether Grenville actually visited Hayes at this time is a point in dispute.
We know that Temple went there on November 25 th and December 5 th ;
and that on November 28th Lord Hardwicke told Charles Yorke that Gren-
ville intended to visit Hayes that day. Relying upon a statement of the
Prussian Ambassador, Dr von Ruville asserts that Grenville dined at Hayes on
November 29th ; but this is, at least, open to doubt, for in a letter written in
July, 1769, Lord Hardwicke states that " Mr Grenville was to come over from
Wotton, which will have been his first interview with Lord Chatham since the
last breach amongst them." Add. MS., 35362, f. 235 ; Rockingham Memoirs,
2, 102-103 ; Von Ruvilles' William Pitt, Graf, von Chatham, 3, 274 ; Grenville
papers, 4, 403, 404, 406.
284 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
himself, might effectively restore the shattered fortunes
of the country. In a letter written to Lady Chatham
during the parliamentary struggle over Wilkes, he
relates how he has returned to London " perfectly well
recovered by the salutary air of Hayes, and was at the
Horse-Guards by thirty-five minutes past one. I am
not, however, quite so well this day as yesterday, but
am setting out for the field of battle, well replenished
with my dinner. I had a long conversation last night
which ended most fraternally and amicably, so that
I have nothing left to wish on that score." 1 More direct
evidence is afforded by a letter written to the same lady
on January 24th, 1769, in which Temple relates, with
obvious jubilation, how he has been assured " that if
the king would call for the assistance of a certain
triumvirate, the whole would stop in the twinkling of
an eye, and rage be converted into joy and approbation,
with every testimony of it that could be wished. This,
I believe, is not far from the true mark." 2
Scattered and fragmentary as these hints may appear
to be, they are, at least, sufficient to justify the assump-
tion that, whatever was passing through the mind of
Chatham, Grenville and Temple were at least intent
upon securing his assistance ; and men began to suspect
that something was in the air. Thus by suspicious
politicians, Grenville's defence of Wilkes was regarded
as a sop for Temple who seems to have known of
Chatham's disapproval of the policy of expulsion. 3
1 Chatham MSS., P. R. O., ist series, vol. lxii. 2 Ibid.
3 The Wilkes* Papers in the British Museum include an undated letter
from Almon to Wilkes which runs as follows : " Last night my Lord Temple
read to me a letter he had just received from Lady Chatham, assuring his
lordship that Lord Chatham was strongly against the measure of expelling
Mr Wilkes. These are her ladyship's words." A note in another hand,
states, " This letter was written a few days previous to Mr Wilkes' first ex-
pulsion, which happened on the third day of February, 1769." Add. MS.,
30870, f. 107.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 285
" But, above all," wrote a member of parliament con-
cerning the debates on Wilkes, " it would astonish
me that Mr G. G. should be one of that minority,
if I did not recollect his late reconciliation and now
perfect intimacy with Lord Temple," 1 and the judg-
ment, though in reality superficial enough, must
have been fairly widely accepted, being the easiest
though not the truest, explanation of the apparent
inconsistency of a doctrinaire statesman. Nor were
men left long in doubt as to the degree with which
Chatham was prepared to identify himself with the
Grenville party. On July 28th, Burke saw him pass
through Beaconsfield on his way to Stowe, accompanied
by his wife and four children, and followed by a train
of " two coaches and six, with twenty servants, male
and female." 2 Thus, in true patriarchal fashion did
Chatham proceed on his journey, and that the visit
had a political significance is beyond all doubt. While
he sojourned at Stowe, Grenville came over from
Wotton expressly to pay his respects ; and the
compliment was returned, Chatham visiting Wotton
where he remained for two or three days. Unfortunately,
we know nothing of the questions that were discussed
at these meetings ; but it may be safely assumed that
politics were by no means forbidden. " I made a
visit," wrote Hardwicke to Charles Yorke, " . . . to
Stowe. . . . The noble owner was very polite and
obliging. He expected Lord and Lady Chatham as
yesterday, and seemed pleased with the idea of a
perfect agreement, private and public, in that family." 3
Moreover, we know that Grenville was well enough
pleased with the union which had been effected, in-
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 412.
2 Burke's Correspondence, pp. 179-183.
3 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 102-103.
286 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
forming a friend that " whatever effect it may have
in the political world, where it may possibly occasion
much speculation, I am persuaded that our friends
will be glad of an event which will contribute so much
to our domestic happiness " ; * and Lord Lyttelton,
wishing Temple joy of " your endeavours for the
reunion of your family, which is the great step towards
the reunion of the nation," advises the three brothers
" to stick close to one another, and then, if this country
can be saved, your joint efforts will save it." 2
Thus time, which heals so many sores and makes up
so many quarrels, had brought about a union which,
a few years before, would have seemed impossible ;
and the political situation was indeed fundamentally
altered by what had taken place. Permitted a choice
between an alliance with the Rockinghams or the
Grenvilles, Chatham had deliberately taken the latter
alternative, and the consequences might truly be
disastrous to the party thus left out in the cold. To
the more anxious of Rockingham's followers, it must
have seemed that the summer of hope had been suddenly
turned into the winter of despair ; and that fortune
had idly tempted them by the sight of a prize safely
placed beyond their reach. As early as July 9th, Burke
had begun to anticipate with alarm " a family system
which, in my opinion, precludes all possibility of a
good event " 3 and his fears must have been rather
intensified than diminished by what had since
happened. If the present was judged in the light of
the past it seemed only too likely that Chatham had
been driven to choose the Grenvilles by his hatred of
the Rockinghams ; and it was this thought which
struck terror into the hearts of many, Burke somewhat
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Lothian MSS., pp. 287-288.
2 Grenville Papers, 4, 436. 3 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 173-179.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 287
bitterly complaining to Rockingham that no informa-
tion could be gained " of the dispositions of Lord
Chatham, or of what he would have pass for his dis-
positions, with regard to your lordship and your con-
nexion, and that past experience had informed us of
nothing but his enmity to your whole system of men
and opinions." 1
* Yet, much as Burke might dislike the man whom
he believed to be responsible for the evil condition of
the country and the government, he was not prepared
openly to affront either Grenville or Temple because
of their alliance with Chatham, and was even ready
to work with them as long as it was understood that
the union was confined to the question of the Middlesex
election. He took an active part in promoting the
Buckinghamshire petition which was approved by
Grenville and warmly supported by Temple, 2 enter-
tained at Beaconsfield Thomas Whately who was known
to enjoy Grenville's political confidence, 3 and was
largely instrumental in overcoming Rockingham's
objections to the practice of petitioning, 4 thus con-
ducting his leader into line, not only with the Grenvilles,
but also with Chatham who heartily approved this
method of bringing popular pressure to bear upon the
crown and the ministers. 6 But further than that Burke
refused to go, fearing to purchase temporary advantage
by the sacrifice of a principle ; and he did what he could
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 194-197.
» Grenville Papers, 4, 440-452; Burke's Correspondence, 1, 191-194.
" Our petition," wrote Temple to Lady Chatham in October, " goes on here
to my heart's content. As Lord Shelburne is a great enemy to faction, he
would not permit his name to be used at High Wickham, nor his steward
to go round the town with the person who carried it round, notwithstanding
which, and a very adverse neighbourhood of gentlemen, thirty-two out of
fifty-four signed." Chatham MSS. P. R. O., 1st series, vol. lxii.
3 Grenville Papers, 4, 440-452 ; Burke's Correspondence, 1, 186-191.
4 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 104-106.
B Grenville Papers, 4, 440-452.
288 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to restrain the enthusiasm of the more ardent members
of the party who, alive to the advantages of an united
opposition, were anxious that direct overtures should
be made to the Grenvilles and Chatham. Thus, when
early in October Thomas Townshend pressed the
adoption of such a policy, both Burke and Rockingham
were emphatic in their opinion that it would be de-
structive to the cause which they had at heart. 1 " At
this minute," wrote Burke, " your lordship has, un-
doubtedly, a very delicate game to play, in which you
cannot disavow this supposed union without giving
great advantage to the common enemy ; or admit
too much of it, without the risk of putting yourself
in the power of your allies, on the one hand, or giving
them a pretence to charge you with breach of faith, on
the other " ; and it is interesting to note that Temple
also appears to have been fully aware of this doubtful
attitude taken up by the leaders of the Rockingham
party ; and, which is more surprising, to have been
fairly satisfied with it. " Without seeming offended,"
wrote Burke, who had a long conversation with him,
" the turn of his discourse indicated at times that he
had heard of your lordship, and your friends, expressing
a disrelish to their junto, though he did not speak out
upon it so clearly, as to make me quite satisfied that this
was his meaning. He said that as we had got to see
one another, and to act together, he hoped there would
be no retrospect, no charge, and no recrimination.
That we had done each other a thousand acts of un-
kindness ; let us make amends by a thousand acts of
friendship. He was of opinion that, let what would
happen, the great point for us, and the country, would
be to get rid of the present administration, which could
only be effected by the appearance of union and
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 194-197 ; 207-214.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 289
confidence. He said, and he repeated it, that, to be
sure, there was no treaty, expressed or implied, to bind
the parties in honour to one another, or to any measure,
except the establishment of the rights of the freeholders.
In everything else we were both free — ' we were both
free to play the fool as much as we pleased, mark that.'
He said these last words with a good deal of emphasis.
. . . On the whole I was glad to find that we under-
stood one another thoroughly, on the nature and
extent of our coalition ; which once being mutually
explained, will not render it necessary to say anything
upon it publicly, so as to give an advantage against
us to the common enemy." *
It is very much open to doubt whether such an
union, so narrow and contracted in its scope, and so
lacking in the spirit of trust and friendship, could ever
be really effective as a political force. January 9th,
1770, had been fixed for the meeting of parliament, and
if in reality the salvation of the country depended upon
the overthrow of the ministry, then, surely, Chatham,
the Grenvilles, and Lord Rockingham ought to have
agreed upon a comprehensive programme, and pro-
claimed their alliance to the world. That this was
not done, that old animosities were not completely
forgotten, does not appear to have been the fault of
either Chatham or his brothers-in-law, the burden of
responsibility resting more upon Rockingham and
Burke. As the session drew near, Chatham, with
something of his old fire, publicly announced his'
intention of denouncing the ministers for their foreign,
their colonial, and their domestic policy, and expressly
stated that he would never sit at the council without
Rockingham and his supporters, for " he, and he alone,"
he is reported as saying, " has a knot of spotless friends
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 207-214.
290 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
such as ought to govern this kingdom." * To Burke,
moreover, Temple " expressed the most earnest desire
of the union of all the parties, . . . wished that all
memory of past animosities might be worn away, and
stated very strongly, and, as I have since found, very
truly, the hopes which the court built upon the sup-
posed impossibility of such an union." 2 Not an over
effusive welcome, however, was extended to these
friendly overtures. Burke, unable to rid himself
of the suspicion which he had contracted against
Temple and his brother, published abroad that his
party was only united with the Grenvilles on the
question of the Middlesex election, 3 and Rockingham
found it difficult to believe that Chatham had sincerely
abandoned his crusade against the party system.
Early in the new year, shortly before the meeting of
parliament, Rockingham gave John Yorke a frank
account of the political situation. " He had been
strongly pressed, he said," wrote Yorke to Lord
Hardwicke, " on coming to town to admit the E. of
C m if he called upon him, and it was pretended
that his lordship wished it. He said he was very
reluctant, but yeilded (sic) at last ; and then asked
those, who pressed him so warmly, what they would
advise him to, in case his lordship should be suddenly
taken with something that should induce him to
desire the visit should be made to him, not by
him : a fetch not unlikely. To which they answered
that he ought not to go. In this he readily con-
curred, and since that has never heard a word of
it." 4
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 141-142 : 143-144.
2 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 215-217.
3 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 218-221.
1 Add. MSS., 35375, f. 19. For a garbled version of the same incident,
see Walpole's Memoirs, iv. 22-23.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 291
From the tone of Rockingham's discourse, it is quite
clear that he had not yet fully forgiven Chatham for
the past, and, as John York shrewdly remarked,
" this novum fcedus is rather nullum fcedus, and does
not deserve to be celebrated even in a thatched
cottage." x If the old Duke of Newcastle had still
been alive, and permitted to exercise his influence, it
is not improbable that the indirect overtures of Chatham
and Temple would have met with a more eager response ;
and although Burke might rather contemptuously
remark, ' how much the late Duke of Newcastle hurt
himself in his interest very often, by his itch of
negotiation," 2 it remained true that the opposition
could hardly hope for victory without union and a
proper understanding. The link of the Middlesex
election though useful enough, was by no means
sufficient to bind the parties closely together, and
something more was needed before a firm and united
front could be presented to the enemy.
That the administration was now tottering to its
fall, and that Chatham was intent upon its destruction,
there is little doubt. It would take but little to induce
Grafton to desert a cabinet in which he was being
outvoted and over-ruled, and in his autobiography
he confesses that after his defeat over the repeal of
the revenue act he formed the resolution, " to withdraw
myself from my office, which was become very un-
comfortable and irksome to me, on the first favourable
opportunity that offered itself." 3 Such a deter-
mination on his part is more deserving of praise than
censure ; but Camden and Granby were guilty of more
dubious conduct. The lord chancellor, indeed, had
ample cause for discontent, convinced as he was that
1 Add. MS., 35375, f. 19. 2 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 201-207.
3 Grafton's Autobiography, p. 234.
292 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the expulsion of Wilkes and the partial repeal of the
revenue act were colossal blunders, but it is not easy
to forgive him for his treachery towards Grafton
and the king. Instead of finding an honourable
solution of his difficulties by resignation, he continued
in the cabinet, and, at the same time, actively intrigued
with Chatham against the very government of which
he was a leading member. It was not only that he
abstained from attending the meetings of ministers : l
when appealed to by Grafton for an opinion upon the
legality of the petitions, he refrained from giving an
answer till he had consulted with Chatham who took to
himself the credit that "as to petitioning, his lordship
was also very explicit as to the right, as well as to the
illegality of all prosecutions for the exercise of it." 2
Nor is this the worst charge against him. He does
not seem to have concealed his dislike of his colleagues,
but, on the contrary, blazoned it abroad ; 3 and, taking
advantage of Grafton's good nature, agreed with
Chatham to refrain from resignation for the express
purpose of embarrassing and weakening the govern-
ment. 4 Granby, moreover, stands in the same con-
demnation, being guilty of intriguing with Camden
1 Grafton's Autobiography p. 234, pp. 240-241.
2 Grenville Papers, 4, 477-479.
3 " The guns are now firing upon the river for Lord Mayor Beckford,"
wrote Rigby to the Duke of Bedford on November 9th. '.' He will be attended
by no officer of the state but the lord chancellor, who, I suppose, will be
hallooed all through the city as a staunch friend of Wilkes. The lord
chancellor's conduct, since our conversation in Arlington Street, has by
no means justified the opinion we held at that interview by his situation ; he
is affectedly hostile every day to the ministry, and has a pride in showing it.
I could give your grace many instances of it." Rockingham Memoirs,
2, 155-
4 Notwithstanding all report, the opinion at Hayes is that lord chan-
cellor will not be removed ; and he certainly will not have the unpardonable
weakness to resign in such a crisis. His lordship is firm, and in the Tightest
resolutions." Chatham's Correspondence, 3, 388-389. For Grafton's hesita-
tion, and the anxiety of the king and the Bedford party to remove Camden,
see Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 245-246.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 293
and Chatham to oppose the ministry, and to resign
at a convenient opportunity. 1
Such were the political conditions when the new
session of parliament began on January 9th, 1770 ;
and all men, and not least the king, realised that the
fate of the ministry, and all that it involved, was
hanging in the balance. 2 In the speech from the
throne an allusion was made to the cattle disease
which was prevalent at this time, a reference bitterly
commented upon by Junius who savagely accused
Grafton of attributing to the king of England ' the
misery of a ruined grazier and the whining piety of a
methodist." Stress was also laid upon the disturbed
conditions of the colonies, the failure of the measures,
which had been taken to restore peace, being admitted.
In the house of lords the address was moved by the
Duke of Ancaster, but all men's eyes were fixed upon
Chatham who had travelled up from Hayes in order
to strike a blow for England and against the ministry.
For over three years he had not attended a debate ;
and, when last present, he had been first minister and
the defender of the court against the aggression of
factions. He returned a very different man, having
learnt much by adversity, but still inflamed by that
passionate love for England, which, whether he served
king or party, or stood alone in splendid isolation,
never forsook him. When he rose to speak, the
peers realised that they were the privileged spectators
of a historic event, and that they were about to listen,
not to carping criticism, but to a declaration of policy.
1 Chatham MSS., P.R.O., ist scries, vol. xxv., John Calcraft to Chatham,
22nd November 1769: vol. lxii., Lord Temple to Lady Chatham, 21st
November 1769 : Chatham Correspondence, 3, 388-391.
2 Thus, two days before the session begun, George III. instructed Lord
North to make preparations for an oratorical display in force by members
of the ministry in the house of commons on January 9th. Correspondence
of George III. with Lord North, 1, 10.
294 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
He called upon his hearers to consider the evils of the
time, the universal discontent which prevailed in the
country, the isolation of England in Europe, and
the unhappy relations with the colonists who, though
they had erred, ought not to be condemned unheard,
and, as the champions of freedom, deserved a considera-
tion which ordinary law breakers could not expect to
receive. " Liberty," he characteristically remarked,
" was a plant that deserved to be cherished." The
grievances of America, however, did not form his main
9 theme ; it was upon the discontent at home that
he laid the greatest stress, declaring the general
dissatisfaction to have its root in the expulsion of
the legally elected member for Middlesex. " The
privileges of the house of lords," he observed, " how-
ever transcendent, however appropriated to them,
stood in the fact upon the broad bottom of the people,"
and, taking advantage of the licence allowed to the
orator, he called upon the descendants of the barons
of Runnymede to emulate their predecessors, and right
the wrongs of a distressed nation. To point the way
in this work of regeneration, he moved, as an amend-
ment to the address, that, " we will, with all convenient
speed, take into our most serious consideration, the
causes of the discontents which prevail in so many
parts of your majesty's dominions, and particularly
the late proceedings in the house of commons, touching
the incapacity of John Wilkes, Esq., expelled by that
house, to be elected a member to serve in this present
parliament, thereby refusing, by a resolution of one
branch of the legislature only, to the subject his common
right, and depriving the electors of Middlesex of their
free choice of a representative."
Such an amendment could hardly have been ex-
pected to be carried, being, in fact, an indictment of
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 295
the ministry, but it amply fulfilled its purpose of bring-
ing into the foreground of the discussion the one sub-
ject upon which the opposition was in agreement. Of
even greater moment, however, was the opportunity
afforded to Camden of expressing the discontent he
had long felt, and there could have been little surprise
when he declared that he was most strongly opposed
to the expulsion of Wilkes, and had never approved
it. In the house of commons an amendment, similar
to that moved by Chatham in the upper house, was
brought forward by Dowdeswell ; and, though in-
curring the same fate of rejection, was supported by a
minority of one hundred and thirty-eight members,
which included not only Grenville and the followers
of Rockingham, but also Lord Granby who announced
that he repented of having voted for the expulsion
of Wilkes, and Dunning, the solicitor-general, who
defended the legality of petitions. 1
The opponents of the government had no cause to
feel ashamed of the part they had played on the first
day of the session, even though in both houses their
amendments had not been carried. Indeed, they
had ample reason for jubilation, two cabinet ministers
and a law officer of the crown having declared in their
favour, and it was the ministry rather than the opposi-
tion that had suffered in the first encounter. Its
prestige, already diminished to almost vanishing point,
had incurred a serious blow ; and, if it was to continue
to survive, it must at least show that it was still able
to punish disobedience. The lord chancellor had long
been marked down for slaughter, and he had sealed
his doom by his frankness in debate. No sooner were
the words out of his mouth than Temple was prophesy-
1 For the debates in the two houses, see Cavendish Debates, i. 434 ff.
Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 23-25. Pari. Hist., xvi. 644 ff. ; 668 ff.
296 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ing that he would be speedily dismissed for daring to
stand up in defence of English freedom; and, before
leaving the house, Camden himself privately told
Grafton that he was quite aware that he would be
deprived of his office for what he had done, but that he
did not intend to facilitate the task of the government
by resignation. 1 The forecast was correct, no time
being lost by the court in beginning the search for a new
occupant of the woolsack, and truly there was no time
to lose. The moment was critical, and great was the
need for urgent action. The enemy was clamouring
at the gates, the country had been aroused from its
political lethargy, the administration seemed to be
breaking into pieces ; and it might well happen that
the opposition would be left in victorious possession
of the field.
At such crises George III. was wont to display a
capacity for rapid action, a courage and resolution,
which account in no small degree for his success as
a political commander. If not " pleased with the
tempest when the waves ran high" he was, at least,
able to rise to a sudden emergency ; and it was when
he was most hard pressed that he revealed, if not the
arts of a great statesman, at least the cunning of a
successful politician. Nor was he found wanting
on this occasion. In consultation with Grafton, it
was agreed that the great seal should be offered to
Charles Yorke ; and the decision was in no sense the last
despairing and almost haphazard throw of the ruined
political gambler. On the contrary, it was a deliberate
and carefully thought out study in temptation, an
attempt on the king's part to turn human weakness
and frailty to his own advantage.
The life of Charles Yorke had been saddened and
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 644 ff. ; Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 245-246.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 297
embittered by a great ambition never satisfied. Of
great eminence in the legal profession, of which his
father had been so distinguished an ornament, he had
set his heart upon becoming lord chancellor, and,
frustrated in this hope, failed to find satisfaction in
success which would have been more than sufficient
for most members of the bar. It meant little to him
that he had been attorney-general, for he had only
regarded that office as a stepping stone to one still
higher ; but fortune had always crossed his path just
as he was on the point of attaining his goal. At the
beginning of the reign of George III. it seemed that he
had only to wait for the prize to fall into his grasp.
The whig party, of which his father was one of the
leaders, was still supreme, and seemed likely to continue
so, and Yorke, marked out for promotion by his
birth, his political opinions, and his legal skill, could
legitimately anticipate that in a few years he would
be sitting where his father had sat. This pleasing
prospect, however, was soon over-clouded. The whigs,
ejected from office, were driven into opposition to the
king ; and Yorke had to make his choice between the
court and his friends. After much hesitation, and with
infinite sorrow and regret, he threw in his lot with the
whig opposition, resigning the office of attorney-general
in the autumn of 1763. By thus alienating the king,
he seemed to have blasted all his hopes of promotion ;
and it was not long before he came to the conclusion
that it was vain to struggle against the power of the
crown, and that obedience was wiser than rebellion.
After a twelvemonths' experience of opposition he made
his peace with the court, taking no office, but accepting
a patent of precedency which gave him rank between
the attorney and solicitor-general. Thus, blowing
neither hot nor cold, it is probable that he was little
298 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
trusted by either party, and it is certain that he was
treated but indifferently by both. When the
Rockingham ministry was formed in the summer of
1765, Yorke had to content himself with his old office
of attorney-general, Northington being retained as
lord chancellor in order to gratify the king ; and when,
a year later, Rockingham fell before Chatham, Lord
Camden became chancellor, and Yorke, disgusted by
such treatment, threw up his office of attorney-general.
That Yorke had very real cause for discontent, and
a legitimate grievance against the Rockingham whigs
and the king, cannot be denied. He might well feel
aggrieved that Rockingham, when he had the oppor-
tunity, had not placed him upon the woolsack ; and,
though he had consented to return to his old office
of attorney-general when assured by George III. that
he should be lord chancellor within a year, that pledge
had not been fulfilled. It is not surprising, therefore,
that, after the construction of Chatham's ministry,
Yorke, though continuing to be nominally a member
of the Rockingham party, was disposed to play an
independent part in politics, and to think little of the
interests of a faction which had thought so little of his
own. Indeed, he often inclined to direct disagreement
with the men who were commonly reported to be his
close political associates ; and although he took an
active part in the defence of the East India company,
and supported the nullum tempus bill, he believed
that the administration had acted wisely in expelling
Wilkes, was of the opinion that the house of commons
could disqualify for election to parliament, and was
opposed to the policy, pursued by his friends, of encour-
aging the counties and boroughs to petition the court.
At so great a variance did he feel with his supposed
allies that he sometimes purposely abstained from
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 299
attending the house of commons. " When the question
arose/' wrote Lord Hardwicke, " towards the close
of the session, about the power of the house of commons
to disqualify, he would never give his opinion upon it
in public, though, to a few friends in private, if he was
asked, he declared himself strongly for the power.
After the house of commons had voted in Colonel
Luthel (sic) the question of right was taken up again
in a petition of some Middlesex electors, and, as I
foresaw it was likely to become a very serious matter,
I pressed him most warmly one morning ... to go
down to the house, and give his full opinion in the
cause." *•
In spite of his brother's advice, however, Yorke
refused to reveal himself, and it would have been well
if he had foresworn political ambition altogether.
But that was a renunciation beyond his power to
achieve. The prize of the lord chancellorship still
dangled before his eyes, and hope was not yet dead.
It soon became known that Camden was discontented
with his situation, opposed in opinion to the court,
and on the point of either resignation or expulsion ;
and, in the spring or summer of 1769, Yorke had been
warned that he might be called upon in the immediate
future to take his place upon the woolsack. He failed
to greet the prospect with the rapture which might
have been expected, being the victim of conflicting
impulses. Though he had always hoped to attain to
the great position which his father had held, and was
not called upon to be over-mindful of the feelings of
Lord Rockingham and his followers, there were
considerations sufficiently weighty to cause him to
hesitate, and to doubt whether, after all, as a man
of honour he could afford to satisfy the ambition of his
1 Add. MS. ,"35428, f. 1.
300 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
lifetime. He had never explained, either to Rockingham
or the world, what little sympathy he had with the
party to which he was supposed to belong ' * and, if
he accepted a place in the Grafton ministry, his action
would be interpreted by the good as a sacrifice of
honour to personal advantage, and by the bad as the
triumph of policy over prejudice. 2 Moreover, he
naturally shrank from linking his fortunes with a
government so justly decried, and with whose policy
on many questions he was entirely out of sympathy ;
and, cursed with an over-sensitive nature, he feared
the reproaches of his many friends in the Rockingham
camp. They would not be likely to mince their words
with the man who, while they were seeking to destroy
the ministry, frustrated their expectations by stepping
into the breach left by the fall of Camden ; and it was
most improbable that they would lend an attentive
or sympathetic ear to explanations of a course of con-
duct so detrimental to their interests. Convinced
that Yorke was, at heart, one of themselves, they would
regard him on the woolsack with abhorrence and
detestation ; and, if he elected to satisfy his ambition,
he would be compelled to suffer the contempt of many
close and intimate friends, whose former affection would
only serve to intensify their hatred. 3
1 " As well as I can recollect," wrote Lord Hardwicke, " Mr John Yorke
and myself were clear . . . that he ought long ago to have explained himself
to Lord Rockingham, that the world might not have run away with the idea
that he particularly belonged to that connection." Add. MS., 35428, f. 1.
2 On January 9th, in the house of lords, Lord Shelburne had expressed
the hope that " there would not be found in the kingdom a wretch so base and
mean-spirited, as to accept of them (the seals) on the conditions on which
they must be offered." Pari. Hist., vol. xvi. pp. 644 ff.
3 Thus between Rockingham and Charles Yorke existed a close friendship ;
and there is no reason to believe Mrs Yorke' s assertion that this was insincere
on Rockingham's part. " It was a fortunate thing," she wrote, " for a man
of so middling a capacity as his lordship to have a director and adviser like
Mr Yorke, to whom he could apply every moment, and without whom he
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 301
Thus, torn by opposing considerations, and of a
high-strung temperament, Yorke dreaded what the
future would bring forth, and, in a measure, must have
prayed that he might never be called upon to make
so critical a decision. Like many another man before
and since, he found it difficult to know where the path
of duty lay, and, as it gradually became clearer and
clearer that Camden could not long continue in the
cabinet, he sought advice from his brothers, Lord
Hardwicke and John Yorke, and received divided
counsel. While his elder brother was in favour of
Charles accepting the offer of chancellorship, should
the court make it, the younger was of a contrary
opinion ; and thus he failed to get a clear lead when he
most urgently needed one. 1 At the beginning of the
year, 1770, he was as irresolute as ever ; and it was when
he was in this mental condition that he received, at his
Highgate residence on Friday, January 12th, a letter
from the Duke of Grafton, asking for an interview. 2
Though Grafton only asked him to call, saying
nothing about the purpose of the meeting, Yorke was
quite aware that the much dreaded summons had
come : 3 and he was hardly in a fit state to meet it. The
anxiety of the last few months, the state of continuous
and harassing doubt, had begun to prey upon his mind
and affect his health ; and he had only just returned
from his country residence in Hertfordshire where he
had been confined by illness. 4 The business of courts,
would have made no figure at all in his administration ; it was also useful
to have a friend whose purse could so frequently supply the wants which his
extravagance continually brought on him." Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 1. 2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 124, f. 128.
3 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
4 " I have been confined by a violent cold and illness," he wrote to Grafton
on January 12th, " at my house in Hertfordshire for some days, and did not
reach Highgate till yesterday afternoon." Add. MS., 35428, f. 128 (rough
draft).
302 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
however, cannot be delayed in the interests of the
health of private individuals, and Yorke rallied his
strength to embark upon the negotiation in which he
was to meet his death. Arranging to wait upon
Grafton on the evening of Friday, January 12th, he
took his wife and his two brothers into his confidence,
discussing with them the line of conduct he ought to
pursue. From the tone of his remarks Mrs Yorke
gathered the impression that he would probably
refuse Grafton's offer ; 1 but, unfortunately, we do not
know definitely what advice was tendered by his two
brothers on this occasion. Probably, they suggested
that, at his first conference with Grafton, he should
avoid committing himself finally in either direction,
and thus gain time in which to ascertain the opinions
of his friends. Such, at least, was the policy adopted
by Yorke at his meeting with the prime minister on
January 12th. " He received the offer of the great
seal," wrote Grafton in his autobiography, " with much
gratitude to his majesty, but hoped that he should be
allowed to return his answer when he should have
given it a day's consideration. Mr Charles Yorke
remained with me between two and three hours,
dwelling much on the whole of his own political thoughts
and conduct, together with a comment on the principal
public occurrences of the present reign. When he came
to make remarks on the actual state of things, after
speaking with much regard of many in administration,
he said that it was essential to him to.be informed from
me whether I was open to a negotiation for extending
the administration, so as to comprehend those with
whom I had formerly, and he constantly wished to
agree. My answer was that he could not desire more
earnestly than myself to see an administration as com-
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 303
prehensive as possible, and that this object could only
be brought about by the re-union of the whigs, adding
that I should be happy to have his assistance to effect
it. Mr Yorke appeared to be pleased with this answer,
and, after many civilities on both sides, we parted. 1
Yorke had been given until the morning of Sunday,
January 14th, to come to a final decision ; and the time
was not over-long. The problem, moreover, was as
insoluble as ever, for the meeting with Grafton could
hardly have had the effect of dissipating the doubts
which clouded the prospective lord chancellor's brain.
In reply to the suggestion that the Rockingham whigs
should be introduced into the ministry, Grafton had
returned an evasive answer of little or no meaning,
but which might fairly be interpreted as conveying
that the offer was to Yorke, and to him alone. Few
men have ever been subjected to a severer trial, and it
is at least to his credit that he sought to obtain a
clearer conception of his duty by ascertaining the
opinions of his friends. By Rockingham, with whom
he had a meeting on the evening of Saturday, January
13th 2 he was told to decline the offer of the court ;
and from that quarter such advice might have been
expected. Little as the marquis might esteem
Chatham, he was certainly not entirely blind to his
value as a political ally, and he could not but know
that the great statesman would be most bitterly
offended if a member of the Rockingham party suc-
ceeded Camden as lord chancellor. Indeed, no event
could well be more unfortunate for the success of the
opposition in the parliamentary struggle, and one
may well believe that Rockingham used strong words
of dissuasion. 3 John Yorke, as he had always been,
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 247-249 ; Add. MS., 35428, f. 116.
2 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 159-160. 3 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
304 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
was of the same mind as the whig leader ; while Lord
Mansfield, upon whom Yorke waited at his Hamp-
stead residence, was of the opinion that it was his duty,
as well as his interest, to come to the assistance of the
court, and accept a gift which would hardly be offered
again. 1 It is more difficult to be certain of the views
expressed by lord Hardwicke, for, like Charles himself,
he was the victim of conflicting impulses. Family
pride and fraternal affection led him to wish that his
brother's ambition should find satisfaction ; but, on
the other hand, he feared the comments of Lord
Rockingham and his friends. It was quite possible
that, even if Yorke stepped into Camden's place, the
ministry might still fall and the opposition triumph ;
and Hardwicke not unnaturally felt that, if this came
to pass, the last state of his house would be worse than
the first, for mortal offence would have been given to
the whigs, and Charles would have only taken his seat
on the woolsack in order to vacate it. Thus, it is not
surprising that he had some difficulty in making up
his mind, and changed his opinion within twenty
four hours 2 ; but there is no reason to doubt his own
1 Add MS., 35428, f. 132.
2 The following is Mrs Yorke's account of Hardwicke's conduct at this
time, but it ought to be remembered that she was hostile to him : — " Lord
Hardwicke was of a contrary opinion, as will appear by what follows. Lady
Grey came to me on the Saturday morning. She began very soon to talk
on this subject. I told her Ladyship that my mind was perfectly easy, for
I had but one opinion, which was that Mr Yorke should not accept, for the
reasons above mentioned, and that I believed such were Mr Yorke's own
thoughts and determination. She replied that it was true, and that there was
much to be said against it ; but she thought the reasons that might be urged
for accepting were much stronger than the objections. . . . She ended, how-
ever, by saying that these were Lord Hardwicke's sentiments as well as her
own. I was very much struck by what she said, especially of Lord Hard-
wicke, and told her Ladyship I thought my Lord was of a very different
opinion, and had advised Mr Yorke to the contrary the night before ; at least
I understood so from what Mr Yorke told me : indeed, replied Lady Grey,
Mr Yorke must have misunderstood my lord very much if he thought so."
Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 305
statement that when Yorke visited him on the Sunday
morning, before going on to Grafton, he agreed with him
that the right thing to do was to decline. " He (Mr Y.)
called upon me that morning (the 14th)," he wrote,
" and seemed in great perplexity and agitation. I
asked him if he saw his way through the clamorous
and difficult points upon which it would be immediately
expected he should give his opinion, viz., the Middlesex
election, America, and the state of Ireland where the
parliament had just been prorogued on a popular point.
He seriously declared he did not, and that he might be
called upon to advise measures of a higher and more
dangerous nature than he should chuse to be re-
sponsible for. He was clearly of opinion that he was
not sent for at this present juncture from predilection
but necessity ; and how much soever the great seal
had justly been the object of his ambition, he was
now afraid of accepting it. Seeing him in so low and
fluttered a state of spirits, and knowing how much
the times called for a higher, I did not venture to
push him on, and gave into the idea, he himself started,
of advising to put the great seal in commission, by
which time would be gained." x
Thus Yorke reached a determination, and it would
have been well for him if it had been final. Taking
the advice of his brothers, Lord Rockingham, and his
wife, he declined the great seal in his interview with
Grafton on the Sunday morning, and so strongly did
he express his resolution of not joining the administra-
tion that the duke did not attempt to press him, con-
tenting himself with asking him to wait upon the king
before coming to a completely final resolution, a request
with which Yorke undertook to comply. 2 The inter-
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116.
2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 1 16 ; Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 247-249. Grafton
U
306 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
view then ended, but, unfortunately, Yorke was unable
to dismiss the matter from his mind. He had promised
to see the king, and, still a prey to uncertainty and
doubt, he fell to brooding over what he had done.
He began to wonder whether he had missed a
great opportunity, and inflicted upon himself all the
tortures of morbid introspection. Unable to rest, he
still sought advice, being told by Lord Chief Justice
Wilmot, and by Lord Mansfield again, to accept the
promotion offered by the court. His mental agitation
revealed itself in a loss of sleep and appetite, symptoms
which had the unfortunate effect of causing his wife
to change her mind. Thinking that her husband
would be happier if he received what he had so eagerly
coveted for so long, and influenced by the opinion
of her friends, she now pressed the wretched man to
accept ; 1 and her well-meant but ill-advised suggestions
could only have had the effect of increasing his suspense
and misery. He was now no more certain of what he
ought to do than he had been when he opened Grafton's
letter of summons. Meeting him on the morning of
Monday, January 16th, Hardwicke found him resolved
to adhere to his refusal ; but in twenty-four hours
he veered about, and on the morning of Tuesday was
agitatedly talking about accepting. 2
The audience with the king had been fixed for
Tuesday evening ; and by that time Yorke had again
changed his mind, being now resolved to refuse. The
accounts of the interview at court vary, but, in the midst
of much that is in doubt, it is at least certain that Yorke
formally declined the offer made to him. 3 On leaving
states that it was Yorke who asked to wait upon the king, but this is con-
tradicted in Lord Hardwicke's account, and, on the face of it, seem rather
unlikely.
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132. 2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116.
3 Lord Hardwicke and Mrs Yorke give conflicting accounts of the king's
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 307
the palace, he called upon Hardwicke and Rockingham,
to inform them of what he had done, and authorised
Hardwicke to publish the news to the world. 1 Having
transacted this business, he returned home, only to
have a restless and disturbed night. When he rose
on Wednesday morning, he looked worn and ill ; but,
instead of taking his wife's advice to leave town at
once for the country, insisted upon attending the
levee which was to be held that day. " He said,"
in Mrs Yorke's words, ' that it was proper that he
should make his bow to the king." 2
That obeisance was indeed to have a fatal conse-
quence, and one would give much to know the secret of
Yorke's determination to attend the levee. It may well
be that the king had refused to take a final answer on
the Tuesday evening, and that it was in obedience to
a royal command that Yorke went to court on the
Wednesday morning 3 ; but, whatever was his motive
for going, he went to his doom. The king, aware that
Granby had either resigned, or was immediately about
to resign, the office of master of the ordnance, 4 deter-
conversation at this meeting. According to the former " the king had not
pressed him (Charles Yorke) so strongly as he expected, that he had not held
forth much prospect of stability in administration, and that he had not talked
so well to him as he did when he accepted the office of attorney-general in
1765. His majesty ended the conversation very humanely and prettily, that
after what he had said to excuse himself it would be cruelty to press his
acceptance." Mrs Yorke in her account states, " I gathered from what he
did say, that the king would not take his answer, and had made use of much
flattery and persuasion," and these remarkable words, " Mr Yorke, I cannot
do without you ; I lay my commands upon you ; you must take the seals."
It is, of course, possible that in her narrative Mrs Yorke confuses the two
meetings with the king. Add. MS., 35428, f. 116, f. 132.
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116. 2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
3 In a note, written in the year 1781, and placed at the end of his narrative,
Lord Hardwicke states : " I have reason to think from what Lord H — gh hinted
to me this winter that some means were used, which I was ignorant of, to bring
my brother to court when the great seal was forced upon him." Add. MS.,
35428, f. 116.
4 There is no evidence whether Granby resigned his office before or after
308 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
mined upon making a final effort to win Yorke. Calling
him into the royal closet, he sought to persuade him to
accept the chancellorship, and apparently did not
scruple to employ methods of intimidation. According
to Hardwicke, the king said, " my sleep has been dis-
turbed by your declining, do you intend to declare
yourself unfit for it ? " and still stronger afterwards —
" if you will not comply, it must make an eternal
breach between us." x
Such expressions, coming from the mouth of an
occupant of the throne, were invested with a sinister
and threatening import, and Yorke was well enough
versed in the ways of courts to understand that, by
refusing to assist the king in the hour of his need, he
for ever precluded himself from being considered for
the office of lord chancellor. He now knew that the
king would never forgive what he elected to construe
as a personal affront ; and that, were he to decline to
bend to the will of the crown, all political and legal
ambition was at an end. A strong and resolute man
might have remained unmoved by such a threat ;
but Yorke was emphatically neither strong nor deter-
mined. Changing his mind from day to day, and
almost from hour to hour, he was in a most appro-
priate disposition to be cajoled and intimidated, and,
with no will of his own to oppose to the imperious
will of his master, he bowed before the storm, and
accepted the great seal.
It was a great political and personal triumph for
George III.; and he could justly claim that his achieve-
ment was the fruit of perseverance, though hardly
of that virtue alone. He could boast that he had
Yorke was summoned into the closet ; but the point is not material, inasmuch
as the king must have been quite aware of his intention.
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 309
defeated the treacherous designs of the opposition,
who had thought that the expulsion of Camden and
the resignation of Granby would bring about the
destruction of the ministry ; and with Yorke on the
woolsack there was a good hope that the government
might successfully withstand the attacks of the parties
opposed to it. But the plans of kings, like those of
ordinary men, are subjected to influences beyond their
control ; and George III. was only to enjoy a three
days' triumph which was to end in a dismal tragedy.
On leaving the court Charles Yorke called upon
Lord Hardwicke to inform him of what he had done.
He found Rockingham closeted with his brother, and
both were deeply chagrined on learning that Yorke
had submitted to the king's will ; and they had just
cause for vexation. " I was hurt personally," writes
Lord Hardwicke, ' at the figure I had been making
for a day before, telling everybody by his authority
that he was determined to decline " ; l and, though
Rockingham's personal pride might be unaffected, he
understood how the weakness of one man had changed
the whole prospect of the opposition. Neither of these
two angry and astonished men minced their words,
and a stormy scene ensued. They told the new lord
chancellor to return to the palace and withdraw his
consent ; but he refused, saying that his word was
pledged. The conversation was lengthy and altercat-
ing, and John Yorke, who came in during the pro-
ceedings, united with Rockingham and Hardwicke
in deploring what had happened. In spite, however,
of the arguments rained upon him, Charles Yorke
refused to give way ; and after a heated conversation
of at least three hours 2 left his brother's house. On
1 Add. MS., 3542cS, f. 116.
2 Charles Yorke arrived at his brother's house at three o'clock in the after-
S
310 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
his arrival at home, he found that his wife had already
heard the news which had quickly got into circulation ;
and it is worthy of note that Yorke, in spite of the angry
scene at Hardwicke's house, seemed in better spirits
than he had been for some days past ; x a change
doubtless due to the fact that he was no longer tortured
by suspense, having taken a step from which there was
no going back. But his mind was by no means com-
pletely at rest ; and to his wife he confided his distress
at the insults he had suffered at the hands of his two
brothers and Rockingham. In particular he com-
plained of Hardwicke, who apparently had " exceeded
all bounds of reason and even common civility. I
hope he will in cooler moments think better of it, and
reconcile himself to me, and my brother John also ; for
if I lose the support of my family, I shall be undone." 2
Thus, no sooner had the old suspense ended than its
place was taken by a new anxiety ; and Yorke was
no happier than he had been before. He now feared
that, repudiated by his family and the Rockingham
party as a whole, he would become a second Duke of
Grafton, a servile instrument of the court. From such
a future he naturally shrank, for it was not with that
design that he had accepted the great seal. He
had hoped that, though seated on the woolsack, he
would maintain friendly relations with his kinsmen
and political associates ; and that, gradually and by
degrees, the administration would be extended so as
to include some of those with whom he had formerly
worked. If, however, he was to be repudiated, put
to the ban, and treated as a renegade, then all hope of
happiness was gone ; and so greatly did this fear prey
noon, and had not returned to his house in Bloomsbury Square by six o'clock
that evening. Add. MS., 35428, f. 116, f. 132.
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132. * Ibid.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 311
upon his mind that he besought his wife to visit Lord
Hardwicke that very evening, and endeavour to soften
him, arranging to call for her at his brother's house
on his way home from the palace, where he was going
to receive the great seal, and to kiss the king's hand
on being made Baron of Morden in the county of
Cambridge.
On this errand of mercy Mrs Yorke departed without
delay, and was, apparently, having some success in
appeasing Hardwicke's wrath, when Charles Yorke
entered the room to conduct his wife home. Of what
then followed the accounts vary. According to Mrs
Yorke the quarrel between the brothers began again,
angry words passed, and only when she burst into tears
did they cease their bickering, and exchange some
formal expressions of forgiveness. 1 According to Lord
Hardwicke, however, " a warm word did not escape
either of us " ; 2 and thus, confronted by conflicting
versions, we are left in ignorance of what actually took
place. But whatever happened, we know that the
second meeting with his brother did nothing to relieve
Yorke's fear that he would be deserted by his family.
All that night he never closed his eyes, in spite of having
taken a sleeping draught, but kept muttering to
himself that he was utterly undone, and that it would
have been kinder of his brothers " to have shot him
through the head than have wounded him so deeply
by their unreasonable anger." 3 Sometimes he cried
out that he must return the great seal, for he could not
live if he kept it ; and by six o'clock in the morning
he was so ill and distraught that his terrified wife sent
for a doctor who, having inspected his patient, promised
to call again before the end of the day. Obliged to
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132. 2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116.
3 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
312 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
rise in order to receive the numerous visitors who came
to congratulate him upon his promotion, the new
lord chancellor passed a day of misery and gloom.
Amongst those who called was John Yorke whom he
begged to take a place in the administration, murmur-
ing, when the request was civilly but firmly declined,
that " then it would be the ruin of him." x Lord
Hardwicke did not appear, having gone into the country
to compose his thoughts ; and his absence was un-
fortunate, for it must have confirmed Charles in his
belief that he was about to be disowned by his kinsmen. 2
Those who saw him on this day were struck by his
depression and settled melancholy. " I was myself,"
wrote his wife, " so ill with fatigue and anxiety that I
was not able to dine with him, but Dr Plumptre did.
When I went to them after dinner, I found Mr Yorke
in a state of fixed melancholy ; he neither spoke to
me or to Dr Plumptre. I tried every method to awake
and amuse him, but in vain." 2
Thus Yorke passed the first day of his life as lord
chancellor ; and his condition could not but be a
cause of anxiety to those to whom he was dear. In the
evening the physician, Dr Watson, called again, and gave
him a strong opiate which enabled him at least to get
some sleep during the first part of the night. Pro-
longed rest, however, was denied him : " about the
middle of the night he awaked in a delirium, when I
again sent for Dr Watson. Towards the morning he
was more composed, and at noon got up." 3 He
had not been up for more than an hour, however,
when he was seized, in Mrs Yorke's words, " with a
vomiting of blood." 4 She was not with him at the
time of the seizure, if indeed it can so be called ; but,
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 116. 2 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132.
3 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132. 4 Ibid.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 313
hurriedly summoned to his side, found him almost
speechless, and only just able to gasp out the words,
' How can I repay your kindness, my dear love ; God
will reward you, I cannot be comforted." 1 These
were the last words the unhappy woman heard from the
lips of her husband who passed away about five o'clock
in the afternoon of the following day, Saturday, January
20th.
From that time to this, a mystery has surrounded
this tragic death ; and it is unlikely that it will ever
be dispelled. Contemporaries were widely of the
opinion that Yorke had taken his own life ; and the
evidence available at the present day is not sufficient
to prove or disprove this belief. We are certainly
not driven to adopt the theory of suicide as the only
possible solution of the problem. Yorke was not in
good health when he arrived in London to embark
upon the road which was to lead to his grave ; and it
is clear that his condition soon became such as to give
rise to the liveliest anxiety. It is therefore not im-
probable that he may have broken a blood vessel on
the Friday afternoon, and, in a weak state of health,
worn out by the acutest mental anxiety, been unable
to rally his strength. Yet, on the other hand, there are
certain suspicious circumstances connected with the
last hours of his life, which undoubtedly lend colour
to contemporary opinion. We do not hear of anyone
being present when the reported " vomiting of blood '
took place ; and it is significant, though perhaps nothing
more, that Mrs Yorke, save for that brief and tragic
meeting at which he spoke to her for the last time, was
not allowed to see her husband until life was extinct. 2
What is however of more weight is the suspicious
secrecy that was maintained about the illness. On
1 Add. MS., 35428, f. 132. 2 Ibid.
314 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the Friday evening Grafton called at Yorke's house by
appointment, apparently in complete ignorance that
anything had happened ; and his account of his visit
is worthy of quotation : " By his own appointment,"
he writes, " I went to his house about nine o'clock
in the evening, two days as I believe after Mr Yorke
had been sworn in at a council-board summoned for
that purpose at the queen's house. Being shown into
his library below, I waited a longer time than I supposed
Mr Yorke would have kept me without some extra-
ordinary cause. After above half an hour waiting,
Dr Watson, his physician, came into the room ; he
appeared somewhat confused, sat himself down for a
few minutes, letting me know that Mr Yorke was much
indisposed with an attack of colic." x This account is of
interest, giving as it does a glimpse of Watson who must
have known the secret of the tragedy ; and his remark
to the prime minister is of importance. None of the
symptoms of her husband's illness described by Mrs
Yorke are in any sense peculiar to, or even character-
istic of, colic ; and it is possible that the physician,
aware that his patient had not long to live, attributed
to him a disease which would account for a speedy
demise. 2
So the problem stands ; and the real truth will never
be known. 3 In any case, however, Charles Yorke was
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 247-249.
2 It is of interest that Hardwicke on Friday evening had apparently aban-
doned all hope of his brother's life. " I can only tell your lordship," he
writes to Rockingham, " with the utmost anxiety and concern, that my dear
and unhappy brother is much worse, and that I tremble for the event. God
send me and his family strength of mind enough to bear against this too pro-
bable calamity. I abominate the court politics, and almost those of every
sort." Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 164.
3 The above account of the last days of Charles Yorke's life is based upon
the narratives of Lord Hardwicke and Mrs Yorke (Add. MS., 35428, f. 116,
f. 132). These have been used by Mr Basil Williams for an interesting and
valuable account of the Yorke family {Transactions of the Royal Historical
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 315
killed by anxiety ; and no small part of the responsi-
bility for his death falls upon the king who had not
scrupled to employ intimidation, and yet had failed to
attain his end. By the evening of Saturday, January
20th, the administration was indeed in a parlous
condition. There was no lord chancellor, no master
of the ordnance, and Dunning, the solicitor-general,
had announced his intention of retiring from office.
But worse was to follow, the Duke of Grafton informing
the king on the morning of Monday, January 22nd,
or perhaps earlier, that he was resolved to retire from
an administration which indeed he ought to have
abandoned many months before. 1 The last straw
had been the unexpected death of Yorke, upon whose
co-operation Grafton had relied to enable him to
struggle against the forces opposed to him in his own
cabinet. 2 Now that hope was gone, and Grafton's
ministerial career was, characteristically enough,
brought to an end by a dismal tragedy.
If George III. had been a wiser and a better man,
less tenacious of the privileges of the crown, and
more ready to listen to unpalatable lessons and whole-
some truths, he might at this crisis have played a great
Society, 3rd series, vol. ii.) to which I am much indebted ; but it may not be
out of place to say a few words about them. In many respects Lord Hard-
wicke's account is the better of the two. It was written within a twelve -month
of the events it records, whereas Mrs Yorke did not begin her narrative until
October 1772, and did not complete it until two years later. In consequence
of this delay, her story is not free from error of fact ; and it is sometimes
difficult to be certain that she is placing events in their right order. Moreover,
it is perfectly clear that her affection for her husband strongly prejudices her
against Hardwicke and Rockingham ; and her unsupported testimony on the
conduct of those two men must be accepted with caution. On the other
hand she is far more detailed than her brother-in-law, and is naturally able
to give a far fuller account of her husband's state of mind during the last
three days of his life.
1 Walpole's Memoirs, iv., 40-41.
2 " Recollect that the hopes of co-operation with Mr Yorke to bring about
an essential addition of right principle, credit, and support, vanished of course
with himself." Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 249-250.
316 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and noble part by which he would have earned for-
giveness for his many mistakes during the first decade
of his reign. He was now no longer an inexperienced
boy, but a ruler of mature years, whose political under-
standing had been sharpened and developed by use ;
and his duty lay clearly before him. His ministry
was falling to pieces before his eyes, and it was his
business not to retard but to hasten the process of
dissolution, in order that a cabinet might be formed,
which would be both popular and efficient. And such
a task would be comparatively easy ; for the men out
of whom a new administration might be constructed
lay ready to his hand. The followers of Chatham,
Rockingham, and Grenville were now no longer the
enemies they had once been ; and the opposition, if
not at one on all points, at least enjoyed a degree of
unity which it had hitherto seldom attained. A
coalition ministry, composed of representatives of the
three parties in opposition, might, indeed, have been
a failure ; but few would assert that the experiment
was not worthy of a trial ; and it was not public interest
but private malice that caused George III. to turn
his back upon such a suggestion. He told Conway,
who found him on January 22nd in the deepest distress,
that he would employ neither Rockingham nor Chatham,
both of whom, he declared, " were engaged to dissolve
the parliament ; but he would abdicate his crown
sooner. Yes," continued the king, laying his hand
on his sword, " I will have recourse to this sooner than
yield to a dissolution/' 1
Thus spoke George III., unable to overcome his
unconquerable hate of men who had dared to try to
thwart his will ; and he was as good as his word. He
resolved to maintain his ministry against the onslaught
1 Walpole's Memoirs, iv., 40-41.
THE FALL OF GRAFTON 317
of the opposition, if only a man could be found brave
enough to take up the burden which Grafton was
laying down. His choice fell upon Lord North, chan-
cellor of the exchequer ; and in a letter, written on
January 23rd, he fervently appealed for his assistance.
" After seeing you last night," he wrote, " I saw Lord
Weymouth who, by my direction, will wait on you with
Lord Gower this morning to press you in the strongest
manner to accept the office of first commissioner of the
treasury ; my own mind is more and more strengthened
with the Tightness of the measure that would prevent
every other desertion. You must easily see that if
you do not accept, I have no peer at present in my
service that I could consent to place in the Duke of
Grafton's employment. Whatever you may think,
do not take any decision, unless it is one of instantly
accepting, without a farther conversation with me.
And as to the other arrangements, you may hear what
others think, but keep your own opinion till I have
seen you." 1
The appeal was fervent enough, and it was effective.
With characteristic good-nature, North came to the
rescue of the crown at the moment of dire peril ; and,
at his master's bidding, accepted an office which he was
to hold for twelve years to the destruction both of his
country and himself.
1 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, i, 11-12.
CHAPTER VI
THE UNITED OPPOSITION
The resignation of the Duke of Grafton in January,
1770, is a turning point in the political history of the
reign of George III. ; and, though it did not appear
likely at the time, was to prove a piece of rare good
fortune for the king, marking as it does the beginning
of an era happier for the court though more disastrous
for the country. Nine years had elapsed since the
king had taken his place upon the throne, and de-
clared war upon the whig oligarchy ; and the contest
had by no means been brought to a conclusion, or even
suspended by a truce, when Grafton retired from
office. It is true that the balance of success certainly
lay with the crown which could claim many victories
to its credit ; but the royal triumph, though startling,
had not been overwhelming, and seldom had George
III. enjoyed complete immunity from harassing
political anxiety. Not infrequently it had seemed
that the edifice, which he had so laboriously reared,
was about to be shattered into the dust. The frequent
changes of ministry, which had occurred since the
beginning of the reign, testify, not only to the sub-
servience of a parliament which supported with equal
complacency four different administrations, but also
to the difficulties which the king experienced in the
exercise of his political influence. Bute had become
impossible because of his unpopularity ; Grenville had
318
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 319
destroyed himself by his adherence to principle ;
while Rockingham had been merely a stop-gap, and
Grafton no more than the unworthy and unfortunate
representative of a great statesman in whom the king
thought, for a brief period, that he had found salvation.
Nor had the search for a suitable instrument been the
only difficulty which hindered the complete execution
of the royal design. Refusing to acknowledge defeat,
clinging to hope in the face of great adversity, and ever
on the alert for a favourable turn of fortune, the
ostracised whigs had never abandoned their attack
upon the principles of personal government ; and if
George III. had succeeded in restoring the crown to a
position of greater authority than it had enjoyed since
the death of Queen Anne, he had also incidentally
promoted the development of a regular and systematic
opposition. But, fierce as the contest had been
in the past, no previous political crisis of the reign
had ever been so acute as that which was precipitated
at the beginning of 1770, when it became clear that the
administration, which had stood for four years as a
barrier between the king and his opponents, was
tottering to its fall. The dismissal of Camden and the
resignation of Granby deprived the cabinet of the only
two ministers who enjoyed in any degree the confidence
of the country ; and, by declining to continue in office,
Grafton publicly confessed his inability to defend any
longer the citadel of the royal power. For a few hours,
indeed, it had seemed that the situation was to be saved
by Charles Yorke ; but this expectation was suddenly
shattered by a dismal tragedy which, by the additional
horror of personal suffering, served to intensify the
political gloom. In such circumstances a ruler of less
courage and greater wisdom than George III. might
excusably have faltered, and, with the consolation
320 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
that he had made a good fight, submitted to a defeat
which seemed inevitable; but, to the king's credit
as a political warrior, a policy of surrender was never
part of his programme. Throughout his reign he con-
sistently regarded concession as lamentable weakness ;
and the greater the danger the more he was resolved
to overcome it. Grafton might fail him, and Yorke
might find, or be granted, an escape, but George III.
was determined never to truckle to those who, while
professing a desire to be his servants, were resolved
to be his masters. Chatham had sinned far too deeply
to be forgiven, and if Rockingham and Grenville were
less potent for mischief, they were equally guilty.
All three in varying degrees had endeavoured to thwart
the will of the crown ; and to confer office upon such
men, to invest them with the dignity of royal advisers
was, from the point of view of the king, clearly im-
possible. Unprepared for such a complete surrender
of the principles to which he had ever adhered since
boyhood, he turned to North for salvation in this hour
of peril. And North was not found wanting. Stepping
into the breach at the royal command, he undertook
the perilous task of defending the king against his
enemies ; and his courage was rewarded with con-
spicuous success. Never before or after in his reign did
the king have a prime minister so fitted in every way
for the work which he was intended to accomplish, and
for twelve years North continued in office, serving only
too faithfully his royal master. Keeping the opposition
at bay during the stormy session of 1770, and establish-
ing his administration upon the secure though corrupt
foundations of parliamentary support, he triumphed
where Grafton had failed ; and it is pleasing to find
that George III., for a time at least, was sincerely
grateful to the man who had rescued him from a great
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 321
disaster. When, seven years later, the king asked
permission to be allowed to pay his minister's debts,
he coupled his request with a reference to the circum-
stances in which North had accepted office, asserting
that he could never forget his conduct "at a critical
minute." " You know me very ill," he wrote in a
confidential strain, rarely adopted by a sovereign to
a servant, " if you do not think that of all the letters
I have ever wrote to you, this one gives me the most
pleasure ; and I want no other return but you being
convinced that I love you as well as a man of worth
as I esteem you as a minister." x
The new prime minister was indeed worthy of the
king's affection. The eldest son of the first Earl of
Guilford, he was still a comparatively young man when
he succeeded Grafton, being under forty years of age ;
but, in his case, the advantages of youth were not coun-
terbalanced by a deficiency in political experience. For
the last sixteen years he had sat in the house of commons
for the family borough of Banbury, a seat which he
continued to hold until he succeeded his father in
the peerage in 1790 ; and he had been given every
opportunity of acquiring a grasp of administrative
business. Appointed a junior lord of the treasury in
1759 by his kinsman, the Duke of Newcastle, he resigned
that office on the formation of the first Rockingham
administration ; but in the following year he again
entered official life, being created joint paymaster of
the forces by Lord Chatham. In the autumn of 1767
he rose to far greater eminence, succeeding Charles
Townshend as chancellor of the exchequer ; and, during
the last months of the Grafton ministry, he practically
acted as leader of the lower house in place of Henry
Conway. Thus it was as no unknown man that he came
1 George III.'s Correspondence with Lord North, 2, 82-83.
322 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to the king's assistance, and his political opinions
were such as to ensure him a favourable reception at
court ; for he had distinguished himself by his steady
and persistent advocacy of tory principles of govern-
ment. Speaking in the house of commons in 1769,
he remarked that during the previous seven years he
had never given his support to any of the popular
measures ; x and such a boast could not but sound
gratefully in the ears of George III. Yet North was
certainly something far more than a tory reactionary,
a time-server, or hanger-on of the court, and his political
success contributes one of the many triumphs of mind
over matter. In an age when charm of person and
grace of demeanour counted for far more in politics than
they do at the present day, his appearance was such
as to make him the obvious butt of the caricaturist ;
and it was well for his peace of mind that he was totally
devoid of any personal vanity. One of the most
ugly and awkward of men, resembling much more the
stage buffoon than the typical statesman, he was not
only totally lacking in dignity of deportment but
even in any of the physical attributes which are more
useful than is commonly recognised to leaders of men.
Gross and unwieldy in figure, with a swollen and in-
flated countenance, the ludicrous effect of which was
heightened by a gaping mouth and great, bolting eyes,
his appearance was close upon being actually repulsive ;
and the disagreeable impression was not removed when
he spoke, his voice being harsh and unmusical. By
a contemporary he was compared to a blind trumpeter ;
but the author of this apt comparison also pointed
out that within this rude and unattractive casket
many rare and useful talents were concealed. If not
a great orator, North was undoubtedly a very quick
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 299.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 323
and ready debater; and in ability, industry, and tact,
incomparably superior to his predecessor in office.
In happier circumstances, and under a more enlightened
master, he might have earned a respectable name as
a statesman ; for, if without great political insight
or understanding, he was at least furnished with good
sound common-sense, sufficient to have enabled him
to steer safely through many difficulties. Moreover,
to this useful attribute he added a temper so sweet
that it was almost impossible to ruffle it, and a wit so
ready and sparkling that it even amused those
against whom it was directed. During the fierce
debates upon the American war, North not infrequently
met the attack of an embittered member of the opposi-
tion with a witty rejoinder which dissolved the house
into laughter at the expense of the assailant ; and,
during the same period, it was not an unknown ex-
perience for a speaker, engaged in holding up the
leader of the government to the scorn of all honest
men and succeeding ages, to be suddenly disconcerted
by discovering his victim peacefully sleeping upon
the treasury-bench. 1
Such were the characteristics of the man who was
nominally to rule England for twelve years, to the
country's undoing ; and, in spite of his many at-
tractive qualities and genuine political ability, it must
be admitted that he was entirely unfitted to be the
minister of a monarch determined to overstep the
limits to which custom had confined a constitutional
king. Indeed, the very virtues which caused him to
be an adored father and charming companion, became
serious defects when he entered into the service of
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 52-56 ; Walpole's Letters, 7, 361-363. An inter-
esting sketch of Lord North is contained in Lord Brougham's Statesmen of the
Time of George III .
324 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the crown. A happy and amiable disposition, a
reluctance to give pain, and a sense of humour, are
such attractive qualities in a private individual that
we are apt to rate them too highly ; and it is open
to question whether they are not serious drawbacks
to a statesman who must needs encounter opposition,
and who is hindered rather than assisted by a humorous
appreciation of the littleness of the issues which men
think great. For, however that may be, there is no
doubt that these amiable characteristics of North,
combined with his bias in favour of toryism, caused
him to degenerate into a tool of the king who used him
to rivet his will upon the people. The severe treatment,
which he has received at the hands of historians, is,
indeed, deserved, for out of his own mouth he stands
condemned of continuing the American war, in
deference to the royal will, long after he had become
convinced that there was no alternative for this country
but to make peace with the revolted colonists. More-
over, it is during his twelve years of power that the
influence of the crown reached the zenith of its fortunes ;
and, though North might be in office, it was George
III. who really ruled. Never again was the king to
have a minister who combined such a readiness to serve
with such skill in the parliamentary warfare ; and it
was not likely that, having wandered in the wilderness
for nine years, he would lightly discard a servant so
well suited to his needs !
Yet, difficult as it may be to forgive North for the
evil that he wrought, it ought not to be forgotten
that when he accepted office at the royal command,
he conclusively proved that, whatever were his political
defects, a lack of courage was not amongst them.
The situation which confronted him was sufficiently
adverse to have intimidated the most daring and
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 325
reckless of men. It was quite possible that the new
prime minister might be out of office in a few days,
for panic and disorder prevailed in the ranks of the
ministerialists, while the opposition, elated by the
hope of victory, was eager to push the encounter to
the final stage. Moreover, the enemies of the court
were far stronger than they had hitherto been, for,
without entering upon any formal treaty of alliance,
Chatham, Rockingham, and the Grenvilles, had agreed
to unite in defence of the rights of the electors, and to
refrain from wasting their energy in bickering and
discord. Fragile as such an union might be, it was at
least an improvement upon what had gone before, and
the opposition leaders were not so blind as to fail to
see that the time had at last come for them to stand
together against the throne. Before the parliamentary
session was many days old, Chatham had visited
Rockingham, thus proclaiming to the world that the
feud, which dated from the summer of 1766, was
dead ; 1 and Temple, who may fairly be taken as
speaking for his brother as well as for himself, was
warm in his approval of his new allies, informing
Lady Chatham that " everything has passed very
amicably betwixt Lord Rockingham, the Duke of
Richmond, and me." 2 Such harmony had long been
absent, and, now that it had come, boded no good
to the court ; for though the ministers still possessed
a numerical superiority in parliament, it was extremely
uncertain how long they would continue to enjoy this
advantage over an opposition inspired by the greatest
statesman of the time, and resolved to take the tide
of fortune at the flood. Restored to as much health
as he ever expected to enjoy, and to all his old vigour,
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 39-40 ; Letters, 7, 356-359.
2 Chatham's Correspondence, 3, 394-396.
326 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Chatham was burning to destroy an administration
which he believed guilty of trampling English liberty
under foot ; and it was impossible to forecast the
effect of the onslaught that he was certain to make.
It might well happen that the magic of his name and
the splendour of his eloquence would arouse such a
fury in the nation and such trepidation in parliament
that North would lose his majority, and the king be
compelled to admit the victorious opposition into office.
Nor would Chatham stand alone in denunciation.
Temple, who was never happier than when engaged
in attack, might be trusted to be unsparing in the
vitriolic scorn which he always had at his command ;
and both Shelburne and Camden, though so lately
in the service of the court, were not likely to be over-
merciful in their treatment of their former colleagues.
In the house of commons, moreover, the contest was
certain to be equally fierce and acrimonious, for there,
Burke, Dowdeswell, Savile and Meredith were to be
as constant in criticism as they had been in the past ;
and their efforts were to be ably seconded by a recent
and unexpected recruit to the cause of freedom —
Alexander Wedderburn, a native of Scotland, who
had lately risen to parliamentary eminence, and
proved himself a debater of the first rank. Though
destined very shortly to be branded as a turn-coat,
and to be held for ever in abhorrence by every good
whig, Wedderburn at this time enjoyed a reputation
for disinterested patriotism which he seems to have
deserved as little as his subsequent ill-fame. Nothing
in his previous career justified any other assumption
than that he was an extremely able man, conscious of
his own power, determined to advance in life, and the
least likely of all men to starve his ambition for the
sake of satisfying a principle. His consistency lay in
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 327
the steadiness with which he sought his goal ; and,
though the means might change, the end always re-
mained the same. Trained in youth for the legal profes-
sion, he had abandoned the Scotch for the English bar
where he had quickly won a name as a great equity
lawyer. Entering parliament in the winter of 1761,
he had enlisted under the banner of his countryman,
Lord Bute, and appears for some years to have been
a consistent advocate of tory principles of government,
actively supporting George Grenville's administration,
and going into opposition on the formation of the first
Rockingham ministry. On the retirement of Bute
from any active participation in political life,
Wedderburn transferred his allegiance to George
Grenville ; and he was doing no more than following
in the footsteps of his leader when, in the session of
1769, he went into open opposition to the court, and
warmly embraced the cause of Wilkes. His legal
knowledge, and his undoubtedly great gifts as a
parliamentary debater, rendered him a most valuable
accession of strength to a party which needed all the
assistance it could get ; and the enthusiastic welcome,
which was given him by his new allies, is a tribute to
the value which they placed upon his aid.
Thus, in both houses of parliament the government
was called upon to meet the attack of some of the
most brilliant debaters and distinguished politicians
of the age ; and the battle began before North had
actually taken office. On Monday, January 22nd, Lord
Rockingham, acting in the closest concert with Chatham
and Temple, 1 moved that on the following Wednesday
1 Lord Temple's letter to Lady Chatham on January 16th, 1770, clearly
shows that he and Rockingham were working together ; and we glean from
Horace Walpole's letters that Chatham's visit to the marquis preceded the
debate in the upper house. Chatham Correspondence, 3, 394-396 ; Walpole's
Letters, 7, 356-359.
328 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the house of lords should sit in committee to consider
the state of the nation. In what was for him an
unusually lengthy speech, for, conscious of his own
ineffectiveness as a debater, he but rarely spoke,
he argued that the popular discontent had been pro-
voked, not by any single act of the administration
or legislature, but by years of consistent misgovern-
ment. The peace of Paris, the cyder tax, the treat-
ment of the colonies, and the payment of the king's
debts without inquiry into the past or guarantees
for the future, were all cited to prove the ample excuse
that existed for the national dissatisfaction ; and
although, as was inevitable, there was a reference
to the expulsion and disqualification of Wilkes,
Rockingham was careful to state that " he considered
it only as the point to which all the other measures
of the administration had tended," the crowning evil,
but certainly not the sole source of mischief. In thus
seeking to explain the present by the past, Rockingham
framed an indictment which was directed far more
against the crown than against the particular adminis-
tration which happened to be in power; and still
wider ground was taken by Chatham who, though
forestalled in his intention of seconding the motion
by Grafton who was anxious to show show little he
had to fear from an inquiry, 1 was not to be prevented
from expressing his opinions. Paying more atten-
tion than Rockingham to the persecution of Wilkes,
Chatham thundered against those who, in order to
gratify the court, had cared as little for the law as the
most despotic rulers in the past. " The constitution,"
he exclaimed, " has been grossly violated. The con-
stitution at this moment stands violated. Until that
wound be healed, until that grievance be redressed, it
1 Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 251-252 ; Pari. Hist., xvi., 747.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 329
is in vain to recommend union to parliament ; in
vain to promote concord among the people." Then,
rising from the particular to the general, he proceeded,
in defiance of the prejudices of his class and time, 1
to enlarge upon the corrupt and unrepresentative
character of parliament as the root evil from which
all others sprang. Asiatic wealth, he argued, had
brought in its train Asiatic methods of government,
with the result that though " the constitution intended
that there should be a permanent relation between the
constituent and representative body of the people,"
it had become impossible for any candid man to affirm
that ' as the house of commons is now formed, that
relation is in any degree preserved." Thus, out of
the ashes of the Middlesex election rose parliamentary
reform, and though the remedy proposed by Chatham
may appear to us niggardly enough, confined as it was
to increasing the county representation in order to
counterbalance the corrupt influence of the boroughs,
it was no small matter that the greatest statesman of
the day had pointed out the plague spot in the con-
stitution, and declared with emphasis that an unre-
presentative parliament would always incline to be
subservient to the court and tyrannical to the people. 2
Succeeding ages have rightly recognised Chatham
on this occasion as the herald of a future dawn ; but
the judgment of history is frequently in conflict with
the verdict of contemporaries ; and most of his hearers
thought of the utterance as springing from the rage
1 How an intelligent contemporary regarded parliamentary reform may
be gathered from Walpole's remark that " Lord Chatham, not content with
endeavouring to confound and overturn the legislature, has thrown out that
one member more ought to be added to each county ; so little do ambition
and indigence scruple to strike at fundamentals." Walpole's Letters, 7, 359-
36i.
2 Pari. Hist., xvi., 741 ff. ; Grafton's Autobiography, pp. 251-252.
330 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of the baffled intriguer who, prevented from steering
the ship of state where he would, was prepared to
vent his disappointment by running it upon the rocks.
Yet, though the ministers and their supporters paid
but little heed to what was by far the most momentous
remark made in the course of the debate, they were
not oblivious to the danger which immediately con-
fronted them. Much had been said, and more had been
hinted, to cause the king and his advisers to view
the future with alarm and anxiety. The directness
of the attack and the harmony in the opposition's
ranks were clear indications that a stormy time was
ahead, and, as Rockingham's motion had been passed
unopposed, the decisive battle might be expected in
two days' time. The notice was short, and the forces
of the government, disorganised, disheartened and
confused, were in no way prepared for a fight to the
death ; and, if nothing had happened to modify the
situation, it is by no means unlikely that the ministers
would have suffered a humiliating defeat. Fortunately,
however, for them, Chatham was too ill to attend on
the appointed day, and the committee of the house
was therefore postponed until Friday, February 2nd. 1
Great was the advantage of this delay to the ministers,
for not only were they given time for very necessary
preparation, but they were also able to turn their
attention to the house of commons where the hunt
was equally up against the government. Resolved
to lose no time in pressing the attack home, Dowdeswell
on January 25th moved that " this house, in the exercise
of its judicature in matters of election, is bound to judge
according to the law of the land, and the known and
established law and custom of parliament, which is part
1 Lord Temple to Lady Chatham (undated), Pitt Papers, R. O., ist series,
vol. lxii. ; Chatham Correspondence, 3, 401-407.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 331
thereof " ; and the motion was skilfully enough framed.
It was hardly possible to allow it to pass unchallenged,
bearing as it did such obvious reference to the action
of the government in the Middlesex election ; and yet
opposition seemed equally difficult, except on the clearly
impossible ground that a single house of parliament
was free from all restraints of law. Thus, driven
between the horns of a dilemma, the ministry might
possibly have remained there, had it not been rescued
by North who contrived to wreck the motion by the
addition of a clause stating that the disqualification
of Wilkes was agreeable both to the law of the land and
of parliament. By this amendment North skilfully
turned the position taken up by his opponents ; and,
as was only natural, the motion so amended was
fiercely opposed by those who were responsible for it
in its original form. The struggle was protracted,
and it was only after a debate lasting until three o'clock
in the morning that the ministers carried the day.
Their triumph, however, was not great, and whatever
joy there was over the result was to be found among
the vanquished rather than among the victors. The
government had only prevailed in a very full house by
the comparatively small majority of forty-four ; and,
what was of still greater significance, the defeated
minority included some who were reckoned as habitual
supporters of the ministry. Country gentlemen like
the Ridleys of Northumberland, and a well known
adherent of the court like Lord Percy, Bute's son-in-
law, had thrown in their lot with the opposition ; and
one enthusiastic follower of Chatham warmly con-
gratulated his leader upon the " fine increase to
minerity " (sic). 1
1 John Calcraft to Chatham, January 26th, 1770; Pitt Papers, R. O.,
1 st series, vol. xxv. For a general account of the debate, see Walpole's Memoirs,
332 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
It was two days after this debate in the commons
that Grafton informed the king that he could no
longer continue in his service. For nearly four years
he had borne the burden of an office which he had
been reluctant to accept when it was first offered him ;
and few men have been equally unfortunate in their
experience of administrative life. Almost everything
he touched had turned to disaster, and he neither
inspired confidence in those whom he served, nor fear
in those whom he opposed. By some he has been
depicted as a tyrant anxious to strike down liberty
wherever he detected it, and by others as a weak,
helpless creature, unstable as water and shifting as
sand. Thus, decried by friends and foes alike, he has
come down in history with a sorry reputation ; and
it is only comparatively lately that it has been under-
stood that he was, to a very great extent, the plaything
of cruel circumstance. His many faults of character,
his indolence, his selfish love of pleasure, and his
irresolution, indeed unfitted him to be the ruler of the
country in a perilous moment of its history ; but,
aware as he was of his own deficiencies, it is extremely
unlikely that he would have set out upon the fatal
journey had he foreseen the accidents which were
to befall him on his way. The totally unexpected
collapse in Chatham's health imposed on him a burden
which he was totally unable to bear ; and from that time
he plays the sorry part of a victim of forces which
he was too weak to resist. Flouted by Charles
Townshend, dominated by the king, and overpowered
by the Bedford faction, Grafton might have saved
himself from much ignominy and mental suffering
by timely resignation ; and for the fact that he did
4, 42-44 ; Pari. Hist., xvi., 785 ff. ; Add. MS., 35609, f. 141 ; Walpole's
Letters, 7, 361-363.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 333
not take this easy road out of all his many difficulties,
George III. and Chatham must be held responsible.
It was they who had urged him to stay, who had
impressed upon him that his duty consisted in remaining
at his post, and the advice they gave recoiled upon
themselves. If Grafton had not continued in office,
it is extremely unlikely that Chatham, on his recovery,
would have found so much to deplore in the state of
the nation ; and the king had little reason to be satis-
fied with a servant who had brought the administra-
tion to the condition in which it was at the beginning
of 1770. It must have been with a heavy heart
that North undertook to repair the damage which
Grafton had wrought ; and he might well think that
the mischief had been allowed to go too far. " In
the meantime," wrote Walpole about this time, " Lord
North is first minister. He is much more able, more
active, more assiduous, more resolute and more fitted
to deal with mankind. But whether the apparent,
nay, glaring timidity of the duke may not have spread
too general an alarm is more than probable." *
Such was the opinion of a well-informed and
sagacious contemporary, but no great insight was
needed to perceive the difficulties which attended
the undertaking. The most superficial observer might
have seen that the new prime minister was in the
unfortunate position of a general who takes command
in the middle of the battle ; and no sooner had he
kissed the king's hand for office than he was compelled
to face the full fury of the storm. Elated by the
comparative success of his previous motion, Dowdeswell,
on January 31st, moved that " by the law of the land,
and the known law and usage of parliament, no person,
eligible by common right, can be incapacitated by vote
1 Walpole's Letters, 7, 361-363.
334 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
or resolution of this house, but by act of parliament
only." No challenge of the legality of what the
ministry had done could well be more direct ; and,
if the motion was carried, it could hardly fail to be a
death-blow to the administration. Nor was it over-
sanguine on the part of the opposition to believe that
there was a reasonable chance of success. The recent
reduction in the usual ministerial majority, the changes
in the cabinet, and the not unimportant fact that,
whatever experience and success North had previously
had, he was a novice as prime minister, might easily
lead men to believe that the government was doomed,
and to throw in their lot with what they expected
to be the triumphant opposition.
If events had followed this course, if North had
failed in what may not unfittingly be described as his
Marengo, then the debate on January 31st would have
become historic, and, perhaps, marked the beginning
of a new era in the reign. The lengthy campaign
between the crown and the whig party was not destined,
however, to have such a dramatic end ; and great was
the disappointment in the ranks of the opposition when,
after Dowdeswell's resolution had been debated until
one o'clock in the morning, a motion, put by Lord
North, that the chairman might leave the chair, was
carried by two hundred and twenty-six to one hundred
and eighty-six votes. 1 The ministerial majority was,
it is true, slightly less than it had been on January
25th ; but the cause of mortification to the opposition
was that it was no smaller. An administration which,
in the most adverse circumstances, had prevailed by
a majority of forty, might well be expected to in-
crease its numerical strength as it became more firmly
1 Add. MS., 35609, f. 143 ; Pari. Hist., xvi., 800 ff. ; Walpole's Memoirs,
4, 50, ff.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 335
established in power ; and the chagrin felt by the
supporters of the defeated motion was certainly not
unjustified. Writing to Chatham on the day following
the battle, Rockingham remarked with no little bitter-
ness that the earl " would not be much surprised at
the majority last night having been two hundred
and twenty-six, as his lordship must have seen for some
years past that it is neither men nor measures but
something else which operates in these times " ; x but
the disappointment, which was felt by Rockingham
and his friends, was more than counterbalanced by the
joy at the court that so critical a day had passed off
so successfully. ' I am greatly rejoiced at the con-
clusion of the debate," wrote George III. to Lord
North ; 2 and though an impartial and critical
observer like Horace Walpole declined to believe
that the ministry was out of the wood, 3 men of more
enthusiastic temperament were ready to jump to
the conclusion that all danger was over. " You have
no doubt observed with surprise," wrote Edward
Sedgwick to his friend, Weston Underwood, " that
contrary to all experience and probability, the critical
resignation of the Duke of Grafton did not at all
diminish the number of the majority on the great day
of battle, but on the contrary that number was increased
by two, 4 and everything since looks as if the present
ministry were to continue with Lord North at the head
of the treasury." 5
The whigs had, therefore, failed in the lower house,
and no happier fortune attended their efforts in the
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 414-415.
2 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 1,13.
3 Walpole's Letters, 7, 363-366.
4 On January 25th the numbers on a division had been 224 to 180.
5 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 421. It should be
noted, however, that this letter was written after the debate in the upper
house on February 2nd, winch may account for its sanguine tone.
336 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
house of lords, where, on February 2nd, the day
fixed for the peers to go into committee upon the state
of the nation, Lord Rockingham moved a resolution
similar to that which Dowdeswell had failed to carry
in the house of commons. The motion, which was
debated until past midnight, and most eloquently
supported by Chatham, was finally rejected by ninety-
six to forty-seven votes ; and no sooner had the
division been taken than Lord Marchmont, regardless
of the lateness of the hour, moved that " any resolu-
tion of this house, directly or indirectly impeaching
a judgment of the house of commons, in a matter where
their jurisdiction is competent, final, and conclusive,
would be a violation of the constitutional rights of the
commons, tends to make a breach between the two
houses of parliament, and leads to general confusion."
On this question the battle began again and was
continued until two o'clock in the morning, an unusually
late hour for the house to sit. Hard words were spoken,
Camden being bitterly reviled by Weymouth and
Sandwich for having concealed from them, while yet
their colleague, his real opinion upon the legality of
Wilkes' disqualification ; a charge upon which the ex-
lord chancellor defended himself but weakly. But
the debate was not confined to merely personal recrim-
inations ; with more than even his usual oratorical
vigour, Chatham besought the peers, by the noble
blood which ran in their veins, and by their noble
ancestors who had fought so bravely in the cause of
freedom, not to regard with cynical indifference the
violation of the cherished law of England ; and then,
as though bowing his head to the inevitable, suddenly
cried out that " if the constitution must be wounded,
let it not receive its mortal stab at this dark and
midnight hour." The appeal, however, fell upon deaf
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 337
ears ; and when Marchmont's motion was put to the
vote it was carried in the affirmative. 1
In both houses of parliament, therefore, the ministry
had more than stood its ground against its enemies ;
and if North only continued as he had begun, George
III. might count upon a notable triumph over what
he persisted in believing to be the forces of faction.
And, as the month of February drew to a close, it
became more and more apparent that the hope which
the opposition had cherished of storming the royal
closet at the point of the sword, was fast fading into
the light of common day. When on Monday, February
1 2th, Dowdeswell asked leave to introduce a bill for
the disenfranchisement of certain of the lower revenue
officers, permission was refused by seventy-five votes,
a majority far larger than the government had expected
upon a proposal which might be expected to commend
itself to the approval of many ; 2 and when, a few days
later, Dowdeswell's resolution of the previous 25th
of January, as amended by North, was reported to
the house, it was successfully carried by the government
against the opposition by a majority of seventy-
eight. 3 As often happens, those who had been beaten
sought to explain away their failure by assigning
every reason except the true one ; and Calcraft in-
geniously argued that the decline in the numerical
strength of the opposition was merely temporary and
accidental. " We rather gain than lose," he wrote
1 Pari. Hist., xvi., 813 ff ; Grafton's Autobiography, 251-252; Walpole's
Memoirs, iv., 58-59.
2 " The motion was popular and constitutional, but the old artillery of
the court, the tories, were played against the proposal, and it was rejected
by 263 against 188." Walpole's Memoirs, iv., 60. George III. also remarks
in a letter to North that, " as the question proposed by Mr Dowdeswell was
well calculated to catch many persons, I think it has been rejected by a very
handsome majority." Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 1,14.
For an account of the debate see Pari. Hist., xvi., 833, ff.
3 Cavendish Debates, 1, 488 ff. ; Parliamentary History, xvi., 807 ff.
Y
338 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to Chatham, " though sickness, loss of relations, idleness
and the ridotto prevented our friends' attendance ;
had not these accidents interfered, we should have
turned two hundred which we have strength to do." 1
But explanations such as these are too common to
gain easy acceptance ; and, to the discerning and
unprejudiced observer, it was quite clear that the
opposition was rapidly losing ground in the house
of commons. Nor was the prospect any brighter
in the upper house ; for when on February 12th
Chatham moved that a capacity for election to parlia-
ment did not depend finally upon a determination of the
house of commons, the motion was defeated by the
previous question being put and carried. 2 Seeing the
ministry thus triumphant in both houses men came
to the conclusion that the tide of good fortune had
turned definitely in favour of the court. " In good
truth," wrote Walpole, towards the end of the month,
" that stock (Wilkes) is fallen very low. The court has
recovered a majority of seventy-five in the house of
commons ; and the party has succeeded so ill in the lords
that my Lord Chatham has betaken himself to the gout,
and appears no more." 3 Such was the general opinion ;
and in a letter, written on the day after the debates
in both houses on February 12th, Simon Fraser,
regardless of grammar, remarked how " to-day the
countenances of the friends of government is cleared
up, and all partys agree that we shall have no change
this winter." 4
It is far easier to state the fact of North's success
than to assign the cause ; and it may be partly for this
reason that little attention has hitherto been paid to
1 John Calcraft to Lord Chatham, Pitt Papers, R.O., ist series, vol. xxv.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, iv., 60.
3 Walpole's Letters, 7, 366-369.
4 Hist MSS. Comm., nth Report, Appendix, Part iv., p. 407.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 339
an achievement which, quite apart from its permanent
value, was at least a triumph of no mean skill. The
simple explanation of bribery and corruption is certainly
not an adequate solution of the problem, for there is
no evidence that Grafton was hindered in the working
of this part of the machinery of government, or that
North was given greater facilities than his predecessor
enjoyed. In one respect, however, North was far more
favourably situated than Grafton for the purpose of
dispensing the loaves and fishes of official life ; for,
as a member of the house of commons, he was more
in touch with the popular assembly in which, after all,
the most momentous battles of the administration
had to be fought. Even a veteran and experienced
leader like Newcastle had found it almost impossible
to control the lower from the upper house, to marshal
the battalions in support of the ministry, and to know
which of the representatives of the people needed to
be rewarded for their devotion ; and what a Newcastle
had found difficult, a Grafton was certainly not likely
to achieve. Yet, when every allowance has been made
for the advantage which North enjoyed from being
a commoner, it remains true that he owed his triumph
not a little to his own skill, vigour, and perseverance.
Whereas Grafton had been listless, indifferent, weary
of the contest, and almost convinced that victory
was as fatal as defeat, North conscientiously believed
that the time had come to make a resolute stand against
the forces of faction both at home and in the colonies.
It was the change of the believer for the cynic that
worked the miracle, and the triumph of North was the
triumph of faith. He may have been misguided, but
at this stage of his career he was at least sincere in
believing that in defeating the opposition he was
preserving the court from the fury of disappointed
340 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
political factions, and safeguarding the English con-
stitution from oligarchical perversion. It was in this
sign that he conquered.
Yet, great as was his courage, it must be remembered
that he profited not a little by the disabilities under
which his antagonists suffered, and the mistakes of
which they were guilty. In electing to continue the
contest against the court upon the old question of the
Middlesex election, Chatham and his associates were
doubtless inspired by a sound political instinct, for
there was no doubt that the treatment of Wilkes had
stirred the indignation of the country, and therefore
made a good rallying cry against the court ; but,
unfortunately for the opposition, the topic had been
so much discussed and debated that it was difficult
to say anything new upon it, and there were in-
dications of a growing indifference in the country.
Few political questions indeed maintain their supremacy
over the popular imagination for any length of time,
and nothing perhaps is quite so extinct as a controversy
which is a twelve-month old. Wilkes had served
his turn, and it would have been well if the opposition
had been able to enlist the sympathy of the nation
in some less well-worn theme. But this was impossible,
for upon the only other topic of interest and importance
then before the country, the treatment of the colonies,
the members of the opposition were certainly not in
agreement ; and so they were compelled to continue
upon a dusty and well-trodden road for want of know-
ing where else to go. The Middlesex election, with all
its numerous ramifications, was their only bond of
union ; and the link was certainly not too strong.
While both Chatham and Rockingham believed that
Wilkes had been illegally disqualified, they differed
as to the method of procedure to be adopted for righting
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 341
the wrong, Chatham favouring a far more democratic
course of action than Rockingham with his aristocratic
prejudices approved ; and although this divergence
of opinion was, for the time being, successfully sup-
pressed, signs are not wanting that no little diplomacy
and skill were needed from the first to avert the dis-
ruption of the so recently concluded alliance. Thus,
only with extreme reluctance and hesitation had the
followers of Rockingham agreed that a motion for the
increase of the navy, which had been originally fixed
to be made by Lord Craven on February 19th, should
be postponed until March 2nd, in order that Chatham,
who was suffering from gout, might be able to attend ;
and Temple was highly indignant that the delay, which
he demanded on behalf of his brother-in-law as a
right, should only be grudgingly granted as a boon.
" Our friends give themselves too many airs of taking
the lead," he wrote to his sister. " I matter not
the outward trappings, but really we must not be
dragged by the Duke of Richmond." 1
1 Lord Temple to Lady Chatham, February 19th, 1770; Pitt Papers,
R.O., 1st series, vol. lxii. In another letter to Lady Chatham, he gives an
interesting meeting at Rockingham's house, summoned to consider the policy
of postponement. " The intention of going on without my dear sister's lord and
master," he wrote, " was indeed at last checked, but the resolution was firmly
taken, and not without much reluctance departed from. My Lord Rocking-
ham is very polite, but be it then known unto your ladyship that above one
dozen of our lordships met in Grosvenor Square in consequence of my pro-
position. . . . Lord Rockingham came to sit by me. He added many, many
arguments to those he had used in the morning for not changing the day,
and not without art. Upon my saying it was Lord Chatham's own proposition ;
it had been talked of in the house of lords by the Duke of Richmond, Lord
Rockingham, and Lord Chatham, and they scarce knew who first dropped the
hint. The council sat. The Duke of Manchester opens strongly . . . for
going on, the Duke of Richmond supports it at large — Lord Coventry and
Lord Bucks declares a contrary opinion ; Lord Shelburne joyns with them,
and adds the warmest testimonies of respect and devotion to Lord Chatham.
Lord Suffolk speaks strongly for putting off, Lord Lyttelton is of the same
opinion, and finally your humble servant, with great modesty and submission
to the determination of that most respectable assembly. ... At last some
of the opposite grandees confer in corners, and the result is consent to put
342 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
By the weakness of his opponents, therefore, as
well as by his own skill, North had contrived to carry
the government successfully through a crisis of its
fortunes ; and from the end of February until the middle
of April, when parliament rose for the Easter holidays,
he more than held his own against those who had
thought in their pride that their hour had at last come.
The parliamentary history of these weeks is no narrative
of the varying fortunes of war, of battles lost and
others won, but a fairly steady record of the triumph
of the ministry. When on the last day of February
Grenville moved for an account of all the civil list
expenses, which had been incurred during the past
year, to be laid before the house, the proposal was
rejected by ninety-seven votes, 1 and Rockingham
had no better fortune when, a fortnight later, he intro-
duced the same motion into the upper house, supported
though he was by Chatham who, in the course of his
speech, made such a pointed reference to the truth
and sincerity of the late king as to suggest that he was
rather at a loss to detect these virtues in the present
occupant of the throne. 2
Nor were the ministers content with standing
upon the defensive, merely repulsing the attacks of
the opposition : assured of their own strength, they
were now prepared to carry the war into the enemy's
camp, and they did not have to wait long for a fitting
it off, but the Duke of Richmond lays in his claim never to do it again, which
I do not understand to be agreed to as a general proposition, though it will
be hard to procure their assent to a further delay than Wednesday sennight
for this question. . . . This event, I am satisfyed, has proved very mortifying,
but really they presume too far, and occasional checks must be given." Pitt
Papers, R.O., February 18th, ist series, v©l lxii. See also Rockingham to
Temple, February 18th, ibid., and Chatham Correspondence, 3, 419-423.
1 Pari. Hist., xvi., 843 ff. ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 475 ff.
8 Pari. Hist., xvi., 849 ff. ; Grenville Papers, 4, 508 ff. Rockingham
Memoirs, 2, 168-169.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 343
occasion. On Wednesday, March 14th, Beckford,
the lord mayor, accompanied by the sheriffs, had
waited upon the king with a remonstrance which, as
addressed to the throne, may fairly enough be termed
insolent and dictatorial. Though styled " the humble
address, of the city of London, in Common Hall
assembled," it was anything but humble, and more of
an ultimatum than an address. " May it please your
majesty," it began, " we have already, in our petition,
dutifully represented to your majesty the chief injuries
we have sustained. We are unwilling to believe that
your majesty can slight the desires of your people, or
be regardless of their affection, and deaf to their com-
plaints : yet their complaints remain unanswered, their
injuries are confirmed, and the only judge removeable
at the pleasure of the crown has been dismissed from
his high office, for defending in parliament the laws and
the constitution." After this minatory preamble the
remonstrance proceeded to rehearse the grievances
under which the people suffered, to declare that in
depriving the electors of Middlesex of their just rights,
the house of commons had been guilty of an illegality
' more ruinous in its consequences than the levying
of ship-money by Charles the First, or the dispensing
power assumed by James the Second," and, to implore
the king, in order that these wrongs might be redressed,
to dissolve his parliament, and to dismiss his evil
advisers. 1
Such uncourtly language and such unfortunate
historical parallels were not likely to be pleasing to
any sovereign, and least of all to the one to whom
they were addressed ; and, if those responsible for
the wording of the remonstrance thought to intimi-
date the king by scantily-draped threats, they clearly
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 517-518.
344 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
showed that they did not understand the man with
whom they were dealing. It is at these moments of
his career that George III. commands respect by
his resolute bearing ; and in his short answer to the
remonstrance, he flung back the defiance which had
been offered him. Calmly declaring that he had always
made the law of the land the rule of his conduct, a
statement all the more startling because it was
absolutely sincere, he expressed his regret that any
of his subjects should have been so misled as to
offer a remonstrance which " I cannot but con-
sider as disrespectful to me, injurious to my parlia-
ment, and irreconcileable to the principles of the
constitution." 1
It was this affront to the royal dignity that the
ministers determined to bring to the notice of the
house of commons, thus indirectly attacking the
parliamentary opposition ; and in so deciding it seems
that they were not guilty of any rash or precipitate
action. On the contrary, they deserve commendation
for an adroit stroke of policy, designed far more to
embarrass their enemies than to defend the king's
honour. It must have been a matter of fairly common
knowledge that Chatham, inasmuch as he was known
to be a personal friend of the lord mayor, extending to
him a confidence which few shared, approved of the
remonstrance ; and it might also be fairly anticipated
that neither Rockingham nor his friends viewed with
pleasure or approbation such an obvious attempt to
subject parliament and the crown to the pressure of
a mob. Thus, by a weapon taken out of the enemy's
armoury, the ministry might destroy the alliance
which at one time seemed so threatening, and at all
times could not fail to be dangerous ; and it was
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 517-518.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 345
probably in this hope * that on Thursday, March
15th, Sir Thomas Clavering was instructed 2 to move
for copies of the remonstrance and the king's answer
to be laid before the house. The success was even
greater than probably the ministers had anticipated,
the address being carried by the very substantial
majority of one hundred and sixty-three ; "a vast
majority," wrote Walpole to a friend, " in the present
circumstances, and composed of . . . many who aban-
doned the opposition." 3 Nor is it difficult to perceive
the cause of this notable defection, for few speakers
on the opposition benches were sufficiently indifferent
to a reputation for moderation, to defend a remon-
strance which certainly had not failed in the matter
of plain speaking. The lord mayor and the two sheriffs,
Townshend and Sawbridge, having already deeply
committed themselves, naturally enough did not
scruple to avow their full responsibility for the offending
document, and their pride in their achievement ;
but the majority of the members, with more to
lose, maintained an attitude of greater caution and
reserve. Thus Wedderburn, who was certainly never
afraid of either giving or receiving hard words, confined
himself, for the most part, to a defence of the undoubted
right of the subject to petition ; and Grenville warned
his hearers to take example by what had happened
in the case of Wilkes, and to refrain from entering
into a contest with the city of London from which they
1 " Every temptation is, or will be, forthwith, held out to Lord Rockingham , ' '
wrote one of Lord Chatham's correspondents, two days before the debate.
Chatham Correspondence, 3, 423-427.
2 Sir Thomas Clavering had the reputation of being unconnected with any
party ; but, as Walpole points out, " the gentleman's independence was a
little sullied by the command of Languard Fort being . . . conferred on his
brother Colonel Clavering, a meritorious officer, to whom it had been promised,
but which made the connection of the elder brother with the court ob-
served." Walpole's Memoirs, iv., 70.
3 Walpole's Letters, 7, 369-372.
346 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
might well find it difficult to emerge with dignity.
But the greatest caution, as had been anticipated, was
displayed by the Rockingham whigs. Though Burke
both spoke and voted against Clavering's motion, he
was careful to state that, in so doing, he did not commit
himself to a belief in the decency of the remonstrance ;
and much the same line was taken by Lord John
Cavendish, a member of the same party. Discouraged
by such a half-hearted defence, it is not surprising
that the opposition suffered a numerical declension ;
and, a few days later, events followed much the same
course when, the papers having been laid before the
house in the interval, a resolution condemning the
remonstrance, and a loyal address to the crown, were
proposed, both being carried by large majorities. 1
The ministers therefore had triumphed, but if they
thought that they had done all they had set out to do,
they were guilty of a mistake. Though they had been
victorious in parliament, and made a demonstration
of strength, they had not succeeded in dividing the
opposition. It is true that the politicians of the
city were deeply disgusted at the poor show their
remonstrance had made in the house of commons,
and attributed the blame to the Rockingham party ; 2
but Chatham was not to be separated from allies
whom he still regarded as indispensable to the success
of his designs. Experience had taught him to rate
political union at a higher value than formerly; and,
though probably aggrieved by what had happened,
he perceived that for the opposition to quarrel would
be to play the ministerial game. Thus, when he
heard that some of his friends, and among them Lord
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 516 ff. ; Pari. Hist., xvi., 874 ff. ; Walpole's
Memoirs, 4, 68 ff. ; Walpole's Letters, 7, 369-372 ; Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston
Underwood MSS., 422.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 438-439.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 347
Shelburne, were beginning to think of the Rockingham
whigs as false allies, he was emphatic in the expression
of his desire for union and harmony to continue. ' I
am a stranger to any particular incident at Lord
Shelburne's," he wrote to John Calcraft, " not being
supplied with over-much communication. I deeply
lament any tendency towards jealousies or animosities
between different parts of the combined forces, who
stand for the public, and upon the maintenance of whose
union all hope of good depends. If that transcendent
and indispensable object shall be thrown away, I
shall esteem nothing worth pursuing with a moment's
thought. . . . May a temper of more manly wisdom,
and some public-spirited candour and indulgence
prevail amongst those who happen to differ in par-
ticular points, than that which seemed just bursting
forth. As for Lord Rockingham, I have a firm reliance
on his zeal for liberty, and will not separate from
him." J
Thus, in a truly statesmanlike spirit did Chatham
speak, averting by wise counsel the catastrophe for
which the court had schemed ; but the fact that his
intervention was necessary testifies to the reality of
the danger. North, indeed, had been successful both
in defence and offence, and these operations had not
exhausted his activity ; for, while thus engaged, he
had carried, in accordance with the decision arrived
at by the cabinet in the previous year, the repeal of
Townshend's revenue act, with the exception of the
tax upon tea which was retained as an assertion of
England's right to levy impositions upon the colonies
for the purpose of obtaining a -revenue. If North had
failed in this part of his task it would indeed have been
a boon to the country ; but it was probably the easiest
1 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 438-439.
348 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
part of his achievement, for it was extremely difficult
for the opposition to make any effective resistance.
An amendment for the total repeal of the act was,
indeed, introduced ; but it only served to illustrate
the difference of opinion existing in the ranks of the
opponents of the government. Grenville, who refused
to believe that a partial repeal would satisfy the
Americans, or that a total repeal was anything but an
unworthy concession to rebellion, declined to vote ;
and though Wedderburn supported the amendment
on the ground that the " duties contended for are not
worth a single debate," he angrily denounced the
doctrine advanced by one speaker that, though
England had an undoubted right to levy taxes upon
the colonies, she ought never to exercise it. " What,
sir," he scornfully declared, " declare that you have
a right, and at the same time declare that the exercise
of it would be impolitic and unjust." In denouncing
such a position as illogical, Wedderburn was un-
doubtedly right ; but, unfortunately in so doing,
he was obliged to bear hardly upon his allies, the
Rockingham whigs. For, having passed the declar-
atory act when in power, they could not deny the
abstract right of parliament to tax the colonies ; and
it was by no means easy for them to show that, though
the right existed, it was inexpedient to exercise it.
Thus, when Sir William Meredith contended that the
existence of the declaratory act dispensed with the
necessity of retaining the tax upon tea, the argument
was hardly convincing since there is a world of differ-
ence between theory and practice ; and though it has
been said that " notwithstanding all the weight of
ministerial influence, the majority was only sixty-two
for continuing the whole act," * the assumption,
1 Cavendish Debates, i, 500, note 1.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 349
underlying this remark, that it was only with difficulty
that the administration gained the day, is certainly
not justified, a majority of that size being very little
below the ministerial average for the session. Indeed,
North could fairly claim that he had been assisted to
victory by being more consistent than his critics ;
but, if the force of logic was with him, the strength
of wisdom was with them. Though unable to make
points in argument, and open to the charge of in-
consistency, they at least understood that the most
ardent spirits among the colonials were not to be
logic-driven into submission, and were determined
not to forego the Englishman's privilege of not having
his money taken out of his pocket without his own
consent. Moreover, the belief in the futility of a
partial repeal seems to have been shared by some
who supported North's bill, to judge by the remark
of one adherent of the government who confessed
that " there is little reason, I fear, to expect that it
will satisfy the Americans : so long as they deny
the authority of parliament to tax them at all, they
will say their burthen is indeed lightened, but that
their grievance remains, while a single farthing is
imposed on them by that authority." *
Successful as North had been by the time that
parliament rose for the Easter recess, it would be
untrue to imagine that his triumphal progress had
been unchecked ; for he had indeed suffered one mis-
adventure which, less skilfully handled, might have
been converted into a serious catastrophe. Convinced
by a long and intimate acquaintance with parliament,
and by a very recent experience, that the most crying
abuse of the age was the trial of election petitions by
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Weston Underwood MSS., 420-421 ; Pari. Hist.,
xvi., 852 ff. ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 483 ff. ; Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 63-64.
350 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the house of commons, George Grenville introduced
a bill by which the exercise of this right was transferred
from the whole body to a select committee which was
to be authorised to hear evidence given upon oath.
Every impartial man was bound to admit that the
reform was in the interests of justice and impartiality,
the house of commons having clearly shown itself
unfit to continue to enjoy a privilege which it had
consistently abused from the time that a seat in
parliament became a coveted honour. As is well
known, the trials of election petitions had for long been
conducted without any reference to impartiality or
fairness, being merely considered as tests of party
strength ; and the scandal of the Middlesex election
was but one of a long series of similar, though less
flagrant, instances of the assertion of might over right.
Thus Grenville's measure was designed to remedy a
crying evil ; and it might be thought that the ad-
vantages, which would ensue from it, were so abundantly
clear as to render any opposition to it impossible.
But such was not the case. With consciences dulled
by habit, many men failed to see the iniquity of a
system to which they had long been accustomed ;
and neither the court nor the ministers were likely
to favour a reform which, whatever its abstract value,
could not fail to circumscribe their influence. Thus,
though supported by all the parties in opposition,
Grenville was not by any means able to count upon an
easy victory ; and his bill did not pass unchallenged
through the lower house. Hardened placemen like
Rigby and Dyson, who never shocked their con-
temporaries except when they pretended to be honest,
were inveterate in their opposition, and North quite
frankly and honestly avowed his dislike of the change.
But the scandal, which the bill sought to remedy, was so
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 351
glaring and disgraceful that the conscience of the
house was touched ; and even trusty and habitual
supporters of the ministry began to desert their colours
on the plea that they could not vote against their
convictions. When Sir William Bagot announced
his intention of supporting the bill, he spoke for a good
many of the country gentlemen ; and when it was
proposed to adjourn the consideration of the measure
for two months, the motion was rejected by sixty-two
votes. A less adroit party-leader than North might
at this critical juncture have made a fatal blunder,
and, by continuing his resistance to the bill, given the
opposition the very triumph which they sought.
Having the wisdom, however, to perceive that he could
not carry his majority with him, and acting like the
experienced commander who declines to give battle
when the enemy has taken up an impregnable position,
he withdrew from the attack, 1 and allowed the bill
to become law without any further serious opposition. 2
Thus, by skilfully changing his tactics in the middle
of the struggle, North had averted disaster, and could
retire to enjoy the Easter holidays with the comfort-
able assurance that the most difficult part of his work
was over. The session, indeed, was not yet ended, but,
as far as it had gone, he had outwitted the opposition,
repaired the evil which Grafton had wrought, and freed
1 " My brother's bill," wrote Temple to Lord Chatham on April 2nd, " is
this day passed in the house of commons ; the court having given up the
design of opposing it on the third reading, which they fully intended, as it
was said yesterday." Chatham Correspondence, 3, 439-440. See also Pari.
Hist., xvi., 923-924-
2 " I made a shift, however," wrote Temple to Lady Chatham on April
3rd, "to go to the house, and get a first reading to our favourite bill. It
is to be read a second time on Thursday ; all thoughts of opposition to it
are entirely vanished, so that I would not by any means have my lord's zeal
and kindness make him so much as think of setting his foot amongst us."
Pitt Papers, R.O., 1st series, vol. lxii. See also Grenville Papers, 4, 515-516.
For a general account of the_ parliamentary debates see Pari. Hist., xvi., 902-
904, 907-924 ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 475 ff., 505 ff.
352 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the king from the harassing anxiety which had weighed
upon him at the beginning of the year. But, if North
had ample cause for self-congratulation, his opponents,
on the contrary, needed no little ingenuity to discover
any source of consolation. The most sanguine of
them could not but acknowledge that their hopes
had been blasted, and their efforts frustrated ; and the
Duke of Richmond was probably not alone in thinking
that it was vain to continue struggling after the tide
of fortune had turned so decisively against them.
Having withdrawn into the country, and disheartened
by what had happened, Richmond began to grudge
the necessity of returning to London after the Easter
holidays were over, informing Rockingham of his
suspicion that they " would all think it best to give
over opposition for this year, as many people will be,
like myself, very unwilling to go to town, nay more so,
for I am persuaded that many good friends will not
attend." * Such a suggestion sprang from no craven
spirit, but from a natural weariness of a vain ex-
penditure of energy ; and if there was an inclination
towards despair in the ranks of the opposition, it is
hardly surprising. But there was one . man at least
who was convinced that the hour had not yet come to
refrain from denouncing the government, and that
man was Chatham. A policy of surrender, of tame
acquiescence in accomplished events, had never been
part of his political creed ; and he was resolved, though
success might be out of the question, never to relax
in his attack upon the ministry. A great wrong
having been committed, there was to be no rest until
reparation had been made, and a stain removed from
the annals of parliament. Never before, save at the
outset of his political career, had Chatham been so
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 177-179.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 353
active in opposition ; and contemporaries, whose
memories did not go back to the days of Walpole and
the war of Jenkins' ear, were astonished to find him
playing what they thought to be such an uncongenial
and unaccustomed role. 1
Thus it was Chatham who infused courage into
the faint hearts of his allies, and decided that the fight
must continue ; and that he was right is beyond all
doubt. An opposition which abandons the contest
confesses to abject failure, and suffers a far severer
loss of dignity and prestige than any defeat, however
humiliating, can inflict upon it. This is axiomatic ;
but skill was needed as well as courage, and, if the
campaign was to continue, it was necessary to
determine the method of attack. It was here that
the difficulty came. The experience of the past two
months had shown that the possibilities of the Middlesex
election, as a political cry against the government, were
fully exhausted ; and yet no new cry was at hand.
If the parliamentary warfare was not to cease, there
was nothing to be done but to prolong the discussion
of a topic of which most men were thoroughly weary ;
and easy though it is to blame the opposition for a
lack of resource, the existence of any alternative
course is certainly not obvious. If the country was
weary of the Middlesex election, it was frankly in-
different to all other possible political questions of
the day ; and thus the opposition had either to repeat
what already had been said, or to say what nobody
wanted to hear. The former alternative was chosen
and proved a failure, but it is by no means certain
that any other policy would have been less disastrous.
1 " Lord Chatham continued, for two months together in a more active
opposition to the ministry than I had ever known in his lordship."
Grafton's Autobiography, p. 252.
Z
354 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Driven between the horns of a dilemma, the opponents
of the court were in a situation which could hardly
be more unfavourable ; and it may fairly be urged in
their defence that, in continuing to thunder against
the past illegalities of the government, they were
not sinning against their own sincere convictions.
They, at least, rallied to a fight on behalf of a cause in
which they believed.
Before parliament had risen for the Easter recess,
Chatham had given notice of his intention to introduce
a bill reversing the proceedings of the house of commons
upon the Middlesex election ; J and, after the holidays
were over, he lost no time in fulfilling his pledge.
During the last days of April he was in active corre-
spondence with Rockingham, and a draft of the bill
having been approved at a meeting of the whig lords
on Sunday, April 29th, 2 Chatham introduced it into
the house of lords on Tuesday, May 1st. The expecta-
tion of victory had, of course, been absent from the
first, but the opposition had reason to be disappointed
with the results of the venture. A motion, appointing
the bill to be read a second time, was easily defeated
by the ministry, only forty-three peers being rallied
in support of it ; and against Camden, who spoke
on behalf of the bill, the court put up Lord Mansfield
whose legal reputation was at least equal to that of
the ex-lord chancellor. 3 Yet, great as the rebuff was,
Chatham does not appear to have been unduly cast
down, for, three days later, he brought forward a motion
condemning the royal answer to the city remonstrance
as a direct and flagrant contradiction to " the clearest
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 924.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 445-449 ; Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 174-
177 ; Lord Rockingham to Chatham, April 29th, 1770, Pitt Papers, R.O.,
1st series, vol. liv.
3 Pari. Hist., xvi. 954 ff. Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 81.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 355
rights of the subject, namely, to petition the king for
redress of grievances ; to complain of violation of
the freedom of election ; to pray dissolution of
parliament ; to point out malpractices in adminis-
tration ; and to urge the removal of evil ministers."
This minatory resolution, however, supported though
it was, like the bill which had preceded it, by all sections
of the opposition, encountered no happier fate, being
defeated by a slightly larger majority. 1
These onslaughts upon the government may well
have been inevitable, but it is undeniable that they
served to illustrate the ineffectiveness of the opposition
and the growing strength of the administration.
However gallantly a party may struggle, it is not likely
to win recruits by revealing the diminution in its
strength, for the scripture maxim that " to him who
hath shall be given " is as true in politics as elsewhere.
But, great as was the disappointment, consolation
was not entirely absent, for, in spite of certain difficulties
and a real divergence of opinion upon particular
questions, the opposition had, at least, preserved
internal harmony. If that was destroyed, if Chatham
or Grenville quarrelled with Rockingham, and the
leaders of the different parties, breaking apart from
one another, fought as rival tribal chieftains, then,
indeed, the last state of the opposition would be worse
than the first, and a crowning mercy be vouchsafed
to the court. And towards the close of the session
it appeared not improbable that the work of destruc-
tion would be completed by this crushing and final
disaster. Though fully aware of the dangers which
beset such a course, Chatham was determined, before
the session came to an end, to propose an address to
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 966 ff. Hist. Comm. MSS. Weston Underwood MSS.,
423-424.
356 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the crown praying for the dissolution of parliament.
In so doing he would undoubtedly be playing into the
hands of the more extreme politicians in the city and
elsewhere, who asserted that, by the exclusion of
Wilkes and the intrusion of Luttrell, the house of
commons had destroyed its legal position, and forfeited
all claim to the respect and even to the obedience of
the nation ; but it is wrong to assume that Chatham
was merely playing the demagogue. It is far more
reasonable to believe that he was influenced by sincere
conviction, and conscientiously believed that only
by a new parliament, untainted with illegality, could
the evils of the state be redressed. ' I could never,"
he emphatically declared about this time, " in any
case wish a friend of mine to go into the king's service,
unless a new parliament was called, it being in my
sense an illusion, little short of infatuation, to imagine
that this house of commons, the violators of the people's
rights, would ever become the safe instrument of a
system of administration founded on the reparation
of the violations, and on a total extinction of the
influence which caused them." 1
In accordance with this opinion, so strongly ex-
pressed, Chatham was determined upon an address
for dissolution, and would have taken this step earlier
in the session had he not feared the opposition of
Rockingham and his followers. 2 Though apparently
as convinced as Chatham that a new parliament ought
to be called, the Rockingham whigs were fearful that
if they supported such an address as Chatham proposed,
they might identify themselves, too closely for their
comfort, with the democratic party ; and their alarm
was increased by Chatham's declaration that " a surmise
more than begins to spread, that zeal for this indis-
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 180-182. 2 Ibid.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 357
pensable measure is slackening every hour " and that
he knew "of no adequate means to prevent the fatal
effects of such an umbrage taking possession of the
public, but a motion of dissolution in the house of
lords." * By these remarks a weight was attached
to public opinion which Rockingham was unable to
admit, and in his answer he clearly implied that, though
Chatham might submit to popular pressure, he himself
was not to be mob-driven. " I cannot just now,"
he wrote, ' recollect my thoughts so fully as to be
able to write to your lordship a decisive opinion on the
subject of the letter I had the honour to receive from
you. As yet I have not seen the Duke of Richmond,
the Duke of Portland, and some other lords whom I
wish much to talk with on the matter. From some
information I have, I should doubt whether in general,
among the lords in opposition, an address for the
dissolution of parliament would be a measure which
they would incline to. It does not strike me that it
is particularly called for ; because I cannot admit
that, though some people may throw out suspicions
or reflections that there is lukewarmness, or that we
or others do not adhere to the measure of dissolution,
and various surmises, etc., yet I must hold an opinion,
that it is neither for your lordship's honour, nor for
ours, to suffer ourselves to be sworn every day to keep
our word." 2
From this interchange of letters it is clear that
there was a danger of dissension in the opposition
camp. Chatham, as was his wont, refused to abandon
his design in deference to what he must have thought
were the craven fears of his allies, and bravely asserted
the existence of " arguments amounting to a political
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 180-182.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 455-456.
358 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
demonstration in favour of the motion, . . . upon
the supposition that dissolution, universally liked or
not, is the measure sine qua non ; " x but, insistent
though he might be, he found it no easy task to convince
others of the pressing character of the necessity.
After having conversed with Rockingham and some
other members of the same party, Temple informed his
brother-in-law that they were " much averse to the
dissolution motion, though firm as to the thing," and
expressed the opinion that " the sacrifice will be great
if they yield to our wishes." - Critical as the situation
undeniably was, the peril was less than it might appear
at first sight, since all were convinced that nothing
could be more disastrous to the cause they had in
common than a quarrel ; and it is seldom that differences
cannot be settled when there is a predisposition towards
peace. Rockingham's objection to the proposal was
sensibly diminished on learning that Chatham was
more influenced by personal conviction than by
popular pressure ; 3 and the question was finally
settled at a meeting held at Rockingham's house on
the evening of Sunday, May 13th. Although no
record survives of this conference, what evidence we
have strongly points to the fact that Chatham carried
his point, and secured the consent of his allies. 4
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 183-184.
2 Temple to Chatham, Friday, 1770; Pitt Papers, R.O., 1st series, vol. lxii.
3 " Your lordship's last letter, putting the matter on your lordship's
own opinion of the propriety of now moving the address, is, I assure your
lordship, of much more weight with me, and may be with others, than the
argument in the former letter, where your lordship, in part, put it on the
necessity of clearing up some doubts which some have spread or attempted
to propagate among the public." Chatham Correspondence, 3, 456-457.
4 The evidence for this belief is a letter written by Chatham to Rocking-
ham on Monday, May 14th, and which runs as follows : " Lord Chatham
presents his compliments to Lord Rockingham, and hopes the following
words will answer his lordship's doubts : . . . though Lord Chatham
still thinks the other mode preferable, he defers with pleasure to Lord
Rockingham's wish, and concludes it will better meet the Duke of
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 359
Having no time to lose, for the session was fast drawing
to a close, Chatham moved the address on Monday,
May 14th, the day after the meeting at Lord
Rockingham's. It would be interesting to know how
far he was supported by those who had so reluctantly
given their consent to the scheme ; but, unfortunately
for the historian, all strangers, with the exception
of sons of peers and members of the house of commons,
were excluded from the debate ; and the very meagre
account in the parliamentary history contains nothing
but a very brief summary of Chatham's speech and
a simple record of the defeat of the motion. 1
Five days later, parliament was prorogued until
the following autumn, and North was given time to
recover from the strain of four months of arduous
conflict. By his success he had more than justified
his appointment ; and in him George III. could feel
that he had a servant who might be trusted to defend
the court to the death, and yet never claim more
independent authority than the crown was willing to
grant. Meanwhile the opposition had nothing to look
back to but a record of consistent failure only re-
lieved by the fact that the alliance between the factions
had stood the undoubtedly severe test of an unsuccessful
campaign. Yet the continuance of this harmony
in the future could not be predicted with any certainty ;
for though Walpole was guilty of exaggeration when
he informed a friend that " disunion has appeared
between all parts of the opposition," 2 he was not,
as has been seen, very far from the truth. It is true
that hitherto disruption had been averted by the
existence of a conciliatory spirit ; but when allow-
Richmond's ideas." Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 185. This letter, which is
misdated Wednesday, May 14th, obviously implies that an understanding
had been arrived at on the Sunday evening.
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 978-979. 2 Walpole's Letters, 7, 375-377.
360 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ance has been made for the frailty of human nature,
and the ease with which misunderstandings arise, it
must be admitted that no great ingenuity or perversity
was needed to provoke a quarrel and destroy the alliance
It was by no means improbable that Chatham might
throw in his lot with the democratic section of
the opposition, and completely identify himself with
those whom Burke so contemptuously referred to as
the " bill of rights people." 1 These more extreme
politicians clamoured for constitutional remedies far
too searching and drastic to be approved by what had
come to be recognised as the official whig opposition ;
and Rockingham and his followers, thinking more
of restricting the influence of the crown than of sub-
mitting themselves to the power of the people, were
certainly not prepared to listen favourably to the cry
for parliamentary reform, the exclusion of placemen
from the house of commons, and for triennial parlia-
ments. In their eyes such remedies were almost
worse than the disease they were designed to cure,
since, damaging as they might be to the authority
of the crown, they would be equally damaging to the
influence of the aristocracy ; and in his pamphlet
' Thoughts on the cause of the Present Discontents,"
which was published in April, 1770, Edmund Burke
gave an eloquent exposition of the political opinions
held by the party of which he was so illustrious a
member. In this famous political tract, probably
the best known~oT all his writings with the exception
of the more famous " Reflections on the French
Revolution," Burke said much which might give
offence to Chatham as well as to the extreme wing
of the opposition. Declaring that he had " no sort
of reliance upon either a triennial parliament, or a
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 228-231.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 361
place bill," he emphasised, over and over again, the
importance of party as an indispensable part of the
machinery of government, and as a panacea for all
the evils which weighed upon the country. " Party,"
he remarked in a passage which has become hackneyed (
from frequent quotation, "is a body of men united,
for promoting by their joint endeavours the national
interest, upon some particular principle in which they
are all agreed " ; and in another place he declared
that " whoever becomes a party to an administration,
composed of insulated individuals, without faith
plighted, tie, or common principle . . . abets a
faction that is driving hard to the ruin of his country.
He is sapping the foundations of its liberty, disturbing
the sources of its domestic tranquillity, weakening
its government over its dependencies, degrading it
from all its importance in the system of Europe."
Burke's pamphlet has been so universally and
justly acclaimed as a work of genius, rich in political
philosophy and in the wisdom which observes eternal
principles underlying ephemeral events, that criticism
cannot but appear somewhat misplaced if not audacious ;
and yet, while allowing that the world would have
been considerably the poorer if Burke had never written,
his discretion in choosing the exact moment that he
did for publication is, to say the least, open to doubt.
A malicious critic might well contend that Burke
had no object in thus giving his opinions to the world
but to break up the alliance between the different
parties in opposition ; and although it is in the last
degree improbable that this was either his intention
or desire, it nevertheless is true that, though fully aware
of the differences of opinion existing between the
factions nominally in alliance, and alive to the fact
that Chatham found much to object to in the modera-
362 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
tion of Lord Rockingham, he did nothing to spare
the susceptibilities of allies whose assistance, he must
have known, was essential to the success of the cause
he had at heart. Chatham could not but be offended
by the insistence upon the necessity of party, and by
the reference to the evil wrought by the man who
practised the principle of " men not measures " ; and
he would be no better pleased by the slur cast upon
the politicians who advocated drastic and extreme
measures of reform. It is true that he had discouraged
the clamour for triennial parliaments, but he had raised
the cry for reform from his place in the house of lords,
and was hand in glove with Beckford, the leader of
the opposition party in the city. 1 Yet neither he nor
his friends had been spared, and it is to his credit,
both as a man and as a statesman, that he refused to
take offence at what he might well have resented as an
] outrage. Though, as Burke narrates, " the bill of
rights people . . . have thought proper at length to
do us, I hope, a service by declaring open war upon
all our connexion," 2 Chatham declined to be respon-
sible for civil strife in the opposition camp. " A good
harmony," wrote the author of the offending pamphlet,
"subsists, at least in appearance, between the capital
members of opposition " ; 3 but, if this was the case,
the credit was due much less to him than to Chatham.
It is true that, a few months later, Chatham, in a letter
to Rockingham, complained how " a pamphlet of last
1 On the occasion of the presentation of the second remonstrance of the
City to the Crown, on May 23rd, Beckford violated all custom and precedent
by delivering a speech which had not been previously submitted to the king ;
and it is worthy of note that Chatham waxed enthusiastic over this breach
of very necessary etiquette. ie declared that he was rejoiced " to hear
that my lord mayor asserted the City with weight and spirit," and told
Beckford himself that " the spirit of old England spoke, that never to be
forgotten day." Chatham Correspondence, 3, 459-460, 462-463.
2 Burke's Correspondence, 1, 228-231. 3 Ibid.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 363
year, however well intended, I find has done much
hurt to the cause ;" l but this seems to have been
the only murmur that escaped his lips. Such restraint
is all the more striking from not being habitual.
Yet, content though Chatham might be silently
to suffer the pin-pricks of a man whom he probably
thought of too little importance to be taken into
serious consideration, it ought not to be assumed that
he had no fault to find with the Rockingham party,
or that he was content to be driven rather than to
lead. " Moderation, moderation," he wrote at the end
of July, " is the burden of the song among the body.
For myself, I am resolved to be in earnest for the
public, and shall be a scarecrow of violence to the
gentle warblers of the grove, the moderate whigs and
temperate statesmen." 2 Such was not the utterance
of a man who was prepared to submit to dictation ;
and warm though he might be in the expression of his
personal approval of Rockingham, 3 it is not unreason-
able to imagine that he found much to lament in the
latter's course of procedure. It seemed to him that
the interval between the two parliamentary sessions
was being wasted, that nothing was being done ; and
it was with unfeigned pleasure that he heard that
the Yorkshire freeholders intended to draw up a
remonstrance for presentation to the crown. Eagerly
did he wait the execution of this design 4 which
1 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 193-195. Twenty-two years later Burke, on
discovering this letter among Rockingham's papers, wrote on the back of it,
" I remember to have seen this knavish letter at the time. The pamphlet
is itself, by anticipation, an answer to that grand artificer of fraud. . . .
Oh ! but this does not derogate from his great, splendid side. God forbid ! "
Whatever Burke thought to be Chatham's " great splendid side," we may
be certain that it was not the aspect which he presented to the Rockingham
Whigs.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 3, 469. 3 Ibid.
* Ibid., 3, 471-472.
364 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
acquired no little importance from the fact that, as
Rockingham's influence was predominant in Yorkshire,
any political action in that county must be associated
with his name, if not actually sanctioned by him.
Through the freeholders of Yorkshire Rockingham
would speak ; and even Burke, with all his prejudice
against extreme measures and playing into the hands
of the mob, was in favour of the plan. 1 Yet, in spite
of Chatham's anxiety and Burke's advice, the design
failed of execution ; for when the freeholders met
on September 25th, and a remonstrance was proposed,
Sir George Savile, the member for the county, and
Lord John Cavendish preached the gospel of modera-
tion and restraint so effectively that nothing was
done. That the fiasco was due to Rockingham's
influence it is almost impossible to doubt ; 2 and
Chatham must have been strengthened in the con-
viction that the only fruit of a policy of moderation
was consistent inaction.
Thus the opposition did nothing but mark time,
a perilous exercise for those who, if they do not advance,
must necessarily fall back ; and the approach of the
parliamentary session, which had been fixed to begin
on November 13th, must have given Rockingham and
his friends as little pleasure as it gave the ministers
anxiety. The opposition alliance still existed, but
no one could predict how long it would continue, for
there were already, as has been seen, signs of approach-
ing discord. The future was indeed dark and uncertain,
and it was at the moment when the fate of his country
and his party was most in doubt that George Grenville
was removed from the stage of political life. For long
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 231-243.
2 Walpole affirms that Rockingham was intriguing with the court, a state-
ment which has neither evidence nor probability to support it. Walpole's
Memoirs, 4, 116- 117.
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 365
his health had been failing, and his death, which took
place on November 13th, came as a shock, but not
as a surprise, to those who knew him. Mourned
sincerely by his friends, and the subject of an eloquent
eulogy by Burke, Grenville has been more the victim
of censure than of praise, having come down in history
with a very unenviable reputation. Condemned on
all sides : by the admirers of Chatham for his inability
to appreciate the merits of his great brother-in-law ;
by the whigs for his colonial policy ; and by the tories
for his treatment of the king ; he has incurred the wrath
of all parties, and, with few to defend, there have
been many to find fault. And, unfortunately for him,
faults are not difficult to find, for few statesmen have
been more unhappy in achievement, or more unattrac-
tive in character. By imposing the stamp act he laid
the foundation of the quarrel with the American colonies,
and by arresting Wilkes he converted a worthless,
though witty, scribbler into a national hero. Moreover,
these mistakes sprang, not from a temporary aber-
ration of judgment, but from deep-rooted defects in
his character. Grenville was in no wise fitted to be a
ruler of men ; and though, if he had practised at the
bar, it is not unlikely that his name would be quoted
with reverence and respect, as a statesman he was
doomed from the first to fail. His legal cast of mind
and his narrowness of vision totally incapacitated
him for grasping the broad issues of the problems
which presented themselves for solution ; and he
thought to rule a great country as a schoolmaster rules
a class. Whether in power or in opposition he never
ceased from being the pedagogue, desiring to enforce
law and to maintain discipline. Thus Wilkes must
be punished for his libel upon the king, the Americans
coerced for their resistance to the stamp act, and
366 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the Rockingham whigs censured and distrusted for
their acquiescence in colonial rebellion. There was
to be no policy but the enforcement of law, and no
object but the maintenance of order. Yet, unattractive
as such a conception of government, and the man who
holds it, are, it must be allowed that, if Grenville was
often objectionable, he was always consistent. Un-
touched by respect of persons or considerations of
expediency, he meted out the same measure to all,
and when the house of commons violated the law, he
granted it no more mercy than he had shown to the
Americans. He was emphatically a man of principle,
and this was no mean glory in an age of political
opportunism. It is true that such men as he do not
easily inspire affection, for they are apt to be intolerant
of differences, and destitute of any diplomacy in
handling either their friends or their enemies ; but
they are not unworthy of the respect so habitually
denied them. It is easy for dazzling opportunists
to despise those who are not brilliant but only sincere,
and the taunt which Napoleon hurled against Mounier
has been often repeated in varying forms ; but virtue,
even though it is unattractive, deserves recognition ;
and the tribute paid by Burke was the offering of one
righteous man to another. In an evil hour for his
fame Grenville abandoned his ambition of becoming
speaker of the house of commons, an office for which
he was in every way suited ; and both he and the
nation have paid to the full the price of his mistake.
He was not even happy in the opportunity of his death
which was to prove a crushing blow to the unity
of the opposition. When Lord George Sackville, one
of Grenville's followers, heard that his leader was ill,
he significantly remarked that " if any accident should
happen to him, it will require very serious consideration
THE UNITED OPPOSITION 367
what part we are then to take " ; and two days later
he wrote to a friend, " If poor Mr Grenville dies, what
is to be the object of opposition ? I hope not to make
Lord Chatham minister. If it is, you cannot suppose
I shall be very sanguine in such a cause." x Such were
the clouds which gathered round the bedside of the
dying statesman.
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Stopford Sackville MSS., i., 1 31-132.
CHAPTER VII
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION
It is not improbable that when parliament was pro-
rogued in May, 1770, until the following autumn,
Lord North indulged himself in the pleasant fancy
that he had seen the worst of his troubles ; and that,
whatever the future had in store, it was hardly likely
to bring that incessant and harassing anxiety which
had attended him in the early stages of his career as
first minister. To all appearances the government
bark had safely navigated the point of danger, and
passed into clear unruffled waters. At peace both at
home and abroad, the nation seemed about to be
granted a welcome immunity from the unrest and
disorder which had so long and so grievously disturbed
it ; and no great insight was needed to perceive that
Lord North, able to count upon the most intimate
confidence of his sovereign, and assured of a majority
in both houses of parliament, was far more firmly
seated in power than any previous minister of the
reign, with the exception of Lord Bute, had been.
Nor was it only by reason of the inherent strength of
his own position that North was justified in regarding
the future with equanimity ; he could, in addition,
count upon deriving no little benefit from the very
probable decline in the vigour and effectiveness of
the opposition. Though led by Chatham, and united
in the desire to dislodge the ministry, the various
368
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 369
whig factions had clearly failed to obtain the end for
which they had fought ; and there was no reason
to believe that disaster in the past would be redeemed
by success in the future. On the contrary, there was
every indication that the whigs, unless they were
prepared to relinquish the contest, and publicly confess
to failure, had no alternative but to continue along the
downward path upon which they had already started.
Internecine strife, for so long their bane, though
temporarily stilled by the hope of victory, might
easily spring into new life when the prospect of a
speedy triumph had faded ; and, unfortunately, this
old and deep-rooted evil was likely to be aggravated
rather than diminished by the loss of George Grenville.
For, strange and paradoxical as it may appear at the
first glance, the death of Grenville was to prove a grievous
and irreparable blow to the opposition ; and the states-
man, who, when alive, had wrought so much harm to
the cause of unity, was to work still further mischief
when dead. It was very possible that his followers,
bereft of their master, might decline to promote the
triumph of either Rockingham or Chatham ; for,
like the comites of the ancient German chieftain,
they had fought more for their leader than for victory ;
and with his death departed their chief incentive to
continue the struggle. Though no man could predict
with any degree of assurance their future course of
action, it was, at least, certain that the disciples of
Grenville, by no means inconsiderable either in numbers
or in ability, had imbibed too much of their master's
teaching to sacrifice principles for the sake of maintain-
ing unity, and., perhaps, too little to refrain from sacrific-
ing them for their own personal advantage.
By the date of Grenville's death, however, that
pleasing prospect of rest and quiet, which had greeted
2 A
370 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the wearied ministers at the close of the previous
session, no longer existed ; for when all had seemed at
peace, the danger had suddenly arisen of the country
being engulfed into a great European war. In a
moment the whole political scene was changed, and
the future charged with risk and peril. Both the
king and North were well aware that their success
in the past had been largely due to the difficulties
under which their opponents suffered ; and that not
the least of these difficulties had been the lack of any
popular cry against the government, The grievances
of Wilkes, and the illegalities connected with the
Middlesex election, had been worn almost threadbare
by lengthy and reiterated discussions ; and the
opposition sorely needed a new ground of attack against
the court, sufficiently important to awaken the passions
and arouse the interest of the people. It seemed that
this precious boon was now about to be granted.
Shortly before the meeting of parliament, news reached
this country that Port Egmont, an English settlement
upon one of the Falkland Islands, had been attacked
and, taken by a Spanish force in the previous June ;
and immediately upon the receipt of this intelligence,
it was understood that, unless ample reparation was
made for what had every appearance of being a
flagrant and wanton insult, England had no alternative
but to resort to the sword. Thus an armed conflict
seemed imminent, and it is not easy to exaggerate
the influence of this sudden and unexpected trans-
formation of the political situation upon the fortunes
of the opposition. Great and deplorable as the
catastrophe of an European war would be, it might
yet bring in its train salvation for the enemies of the
court. If England was either engaged in, or upon
the verge of, hostilities, the cry would be raised for
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 371
Chatham, the statesman who had guided the country
so triumphantly through the difficulties of the Seven
Years' War, to be once more placed at the helm ; and
it was by no means improbable that such a cry would
penetrate through the walls of parliament. Corrupt
and venal as the average member of the house of
commons was, the lust for illicit gain had not completely
dried up every noble instinct in his composition ; and
it might well happen that, convinced that the country
was threatened by a great danger, he would refuse
to continue to sell his support to the government, and,
in the exercise of his vote, allow himself to be guided
by considerations of patriotism rather than by those
of pecuniary profit. Nor would all danger of the
destruction of the administration be removed if war
was happily averted by diplomacy. Following in the
wake of those who had compassed so successfully
and so unscrupulously the overthrow of Sir Robert
Walpole, it would be comparatively easy for the
opposition to represent that peace had been purchased
by the humiliation of England, that the ministers had
truckled to the pride of Spain, and that the prestige
of the country had been materially and needlessly
diminished. Reckless and unfair as such accusations
might be, they would, nevertheless, probably find a
ready hearing with a people quite prepared to believe
the worst of the ministers, and to accept their incom-
petence as an article of faith ; and thus, whether war
was declared or peace maintained, the future of the
administration might be materially affected by a trivial
encounter on a desert island in a remote region of the
globe.
Though discovered towards the close of the six-
teenth century, the Falkland Islands had, hitherto,
played but a very insignificant part in the world's
372 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
history. Claimed by Spain as part of that dominion
in the new world assigned to her by papal decree, they
were for many years left to their native wildness and
desolation, having nothing wherewith to attract
colonists and settlers to whom were open far more
fertile and accessible regions. Situated off the east
coast of South America, and in nearly the same latitude
with the mouth of the Strait of Magellan, the Falkland
Islands, in extent little more than half the size of
Ireland, present a dreary and desolate aspect. Every-
where covered by a peaty soil entirely unsuitable for
vegetation, nearly barren of trees, and the prey of
almost incessant wind and rain, it is hardly surprising
that for well over a century the rights of Spain over
such a desert spot were allowed to pass unchallenged. 1
About the middle of the eighteenth century, however,
the period when the predatory instincts of European
nations began to assume their modern form, it was
suggested that a settlement upon these islands might
be serviceable for purposes of trade and useful in time
of war ; and, in accordance with this advice, an English
1 Darwin's A Naturalist's Voyage round the World. An interesting
account of these Islands was given by Captain Hunt in his report to the
government, dated July 1770. "Near the seashore." he wrote, "the soul
is of a black spongy nature, and, in general, not above eighteen inches deep,
and then you come to a cold yellow clay. The valleys, where it was swampy,
we found good turf ; the other parts of it, and the sides of the hills, afforded
good herbage ; and we found the sheep, goats, and hogs, that we put on shore,
to thrive very well upon it, though the surface is much like our heaths or
moors. We planted cabbages, potatoes, turnips, lettuce, radishes, and several
other things, some of which sprang up, but, in general, they failed, owing,
in my opinion, to the poorness of the soil. There is no wood growing upon the
Islands ; but a few shrubs, and a kind of brushwood, and great plenty of sedge
growing near the seashore, which give the cattle good shelter in the bad weather.
There is but two sorts of fish — the mullet and the smelt — which are very scarce
in winter, and not plenty in summer. At our first coming to Port Egmont,
we found great plenty of wild geese, which now are so scarce that we were
obliged to go a considerable distance to get any number of them. From
the month of September till the latter end of November, we get great quantities
and great variety of eggs." Calendar of Home Office Papers, 84-85.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 373
expedition was fitted out in the year 1748, with a view
of founding an establishment in this hitherto neglected
region. At once the Spanish ambassador protested
against the enterprise as a direct violation of his
master's territorial rights, and although the expedition
was abandoned, this change of plan was not made in
deference to the Spanish claim, the validity of which
was stoutly denied by the English ministry of the day.
From that time, the disputed question of ownership
was allowed to rest until the year 1764, when Choiseul,
the French minister, taking possession of the most
easterly of the Falkland Islands, founded a settlement
which he named Port Louis ; and two years later his
example was followed by the English who, occupying
the island to the west of that seized by the French,
erected a fort which, in honour of the then first lord
of the admiralty, was given the name of Port Egmont. 1
It is highly probable that both France and England
were well aware that, in so acting, they were running
counter to the claims put forward by the Spanish
court ; and they had not to wait long for a protest to
be made. France was the first to be called to account,
the Spaniards lodging a formal remonstrance against
the establishment of Port Louis ; and Choiseul,
unwilling to offend an ally whose assistance against
England had been useful in the past, and might be still
more useful in the future, promptly surrendered the
French settlement which, passing into the hands of
Spain, was renamed Port Soledad. This somewhat
tame submission on the part of the French court was
decidedly unfavourable to England who was thus
deprived of her partner in a policy of very doubtful
legality ; and, as might have been anticipated, the
Spaniards, having succeeded in ousting the French,
1 Stanhope's History of England, 1713-17S3, vol. v. 276-277.
374 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
were by no means prepared to allow the English to
enjoy their recent acquisition undisturbed. Towards
the end of the year 1769, Captain Hunt of the frigate
Tamar, then stationed off Port Egmont, received
several messages from the Spanish governor of Port
Soledad, the main purport of which was to protest
against the English occupation of what was claimed
as Spanish territory ; and, unfortunately, in his
replies to these remonstrances, Hunt displayed much
of the frankness of a sea-captain and little of the tact
of a diplomatist. Instead of contenting himself with
a polite denial of the Spanish claim, and a firm
assertion that the island belonged to England by the
double right of discovery and occupation, he proceeded
to unnecessary and unjustifiable lengths, and, returning
threat for threat, menaced the Spaniards with eject-
ment from Port Soledad. Such minatory language
was not likely to make the Spaniards more willing to
acquiesce in the English occupation, and, when he left
for England shortly afterwards, Hunt must have
realised that the seeds of a conflict had already been
sown. On his arrival home in June, 1770, he duly
reported to the government his passage of arms with
the Spanish governor ; but his information came too
late to be of any practical value to the ministry.
Possibly alarmed lest the threat uttered by Hunt
might be speedily translated into action, the Spaniards
resolved to be first in the field ; and much about
the same time that Hunt arrived in England, a Spanish
force, consisting of five frigates, which had set sail
from Buenos Ayres early in May, under the command
of Buccarelli, the governor of that city, appeared off
Port Egmont, and called upon the garrison to surrender.
Resistance was out of the question, the assailants
having a decided advantage both in numbers and
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 375
equipment ; and the English, having perfunctorily
fired a few shots, hoisted a flag of truce, and sur-
rendered the island and fort into the hands of the
Spaniards. 1
When every allowance has been made for the
wound inflicted upon Spanish pride by a foreign
establishment in the Falkland Islands, and for the
apprehension aroused by Hunt's idle words, it still
remains difficult to defend the assault upon Port
Egmont, smacking as it does more of piracy than
the conduct of a civilised European power. Friendly
relations existed between England and Spain, and no
notice had been given that such an avowed act of
hostility was in contemplation. It is, of course, quite
possible, as was alleged at the time by Prince Masserano,
the Spanish ambassador in England, that Buccarelli
had acted entirely on his own responsibility, and
without any specific orders from the government at
Madrid ; 2 but the actions of subordinates are sometimes
1 Annual Register for 1771, 232-234.
2 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 63-64. In a speech delivered in the
house of lords on January 22nd, 1800, the Earl of Carnarvon, who asserted
that he had received his information from D'Ossun, the French ambassador
to the Court of Madrid, gave a rather different version of this incident.
' Where can be found," he remarked, " in the history of mankind, a more
atrocious instance of insidious treachery, or more perfidious breach of faith,
than that which took place on the treaty of peace which preceded, and was
disturbed by the capture of Falkland's Island ? At the very moment that Spain
and France signed peace with this country, an order was signed by the minister
of Spain, in concert with the Duke de Choiseul, to attack Falkland's Island
on a given date some years after, in order to produce a rupture, resolved on,
at the very instant of executing a treaty, professing perpetual amity ; at the
time when this sealed order was opened and put in execution, it suited the
interests and views of neither court, and produced equal astonishment in both.
M. D'Ossun, then ambassador from France to the Court of Spain, from whom
I heard this anecdote, was directed to remonstrate against this act of aggres-
sion, which embarrassed the court of Paris ; he found equal surprise at Madrid,
for the order was forgotten by both, nor was recollected till the attack was
defended by the production of the order." Pari. Hist., vol. xxxiv. p. 1239.
See also Adophus' History of England, from the accession to tbe decease of
King George the Third (1840), vol. i. p. 441.
376 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
fraught with momentous consequences, and, at one
time, it seemed extremely likely that an obscure
Spanish colonial governor was to enjoy the very
doubtful honour of having precipitated an European
conflict. English dignity had incurred a dire affront,
and, unless the ministers were prepared to face a
storm of national indignation far exceeding in fury
that which had greeted Walpole on the conclusion
of the famous Spanish convention, they must demand
instant reparation for so grievous an injury and so
public an insult. Yet a request of this character,
however moderately expressed, was not unattended
with danger, for it was clear that Spain believed that
she had suffered as well as inflicted a wrong, and it
was by no means certain that she would be ready to
grant all that England asked. The evil-doer is not
always prepared to atone for his guilt, or to confess
that his crime was without provocation ; and, great
though the power of England might be, it was not
improbable that Spain, counting upon the assistance
of France, might prefer to save her pride by incur-
ring the risks of war. Much indeed would depend
upon the attitude of France at this critical juncture.
Connected as she was with Spain by the Pacte de
Famille of 1761, and still smarting under her humilia-
tion by England in the Seven Years' War, it was
quite possible that France might elect to throw in
her lot with her Bourbon neighbour, and, in that
event, there would be but a remote chance of
maintaining peace.
It was, therefore, no easy task which fell to the lot
of Lord Weymouth, the secretary of state for the
southern department. Though fully alive to the very
serious influence that an outbreak of war might exert
upon the course of domestic politics, he was also
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 377
aware that an ignominious peace might be equally
disastrous, and that salvation could only be procured
by a settlement, possible for Spain to accept, and,
at the same time, satisfactory to English pride.
Strait and confined indeed was the diplomatic road
which the secretary of state was called upon to tread
if he was to reach the goal of " peace with honour " ;
and those acquainted with his habits during that
large part of the day and night which he devoted to his
pleasures might well be appalled to think that so
narrow a path was to be trodden by so drunken a
debauchee. Yet, such apprehensions did Weymouth
some wrong, for a plentiful indulgence in vice had not
entirely ruined his good natural ability. Called upon
to make a great effort, he appears, for a time at least,
to have risen to the occasion, and to have expended
upon diplomacy some of that energy which was
commonly devoted to less arduous, though perhaps
more diverting, pursuits. Nor can be he accused of
failing to perceive the importance of the issue, or
of procrastination ; and he deserves no little credit
for his handling of an exceedingly difficult and delicate
negotiation. It was early in September that he learnt,
both from Masserano and from James Harris, then a
youthful charge d'affaires at the court of Madrid,
and only on the threshold of a diplomatic career which
was to bring him both renown and a peerage, that a
Spanish force had set sail from Buenos Ayres with
hostile intentions against Port Egmont ; x and he
wasted no time in stating the redress which England
expected to receive, the Spanish ambassador being
promptly informed that peace could only be preserved
by the formal disavowal of Buccarelli's action, and
1 Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, i, 59 ; Calendar
of Home Office Papers, 63-64.
378 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the restoration of Port Egmont ; and Harris being
instructed to lay the same demands before Grimaldi,
the minister of the king of Spain. 1
In formulating such requirements, Weymouth was
certainly not guilty of opening the negotiation in an
unduly aggressive or hostile spirit ; for, unless pre-
pared to admit without further parley that England
had no right to a single inch of territory in the Falkland
Islands, it was incumbent upon the cabinet to proclaim,
from the outset, the complete absence of any justifica-
tion for Buccarelli's action, and to demand reparation
in no uncertain tone. Yet, firm though Weymouth's
attitude might be, he certainly was not blind to the
urgent necessity of a careful scrutiny of French
diplomacy. He was well aware that the reception
accorded in Spain to the English demands would largely
depend upon the opinions which prevailed at the court
of Madrid upon the stability of the Pacte de Famille ;
and it is significant that the letter to Harris was first
sent to Robert Walpole, a nephew of the great prime
minister, and secretary to the English embassy at
Paris, who, in the absence of Lord Harcourt, the
ambassador, was instructed to communicate its contents
to Choiseul, and then despatch it to Spain. 2 The
motives which inspired this somewhat tardy method
of procedure are not difficult to perceive. Before
plunging deeply into the negotiation with Spain,
it was advisable for Weymouth to ascertain how far
there was a danger of England being called upon to
meet the combined onslaught of the two Bourbon
powers ; for, though Choiseul had already intimated
that he hoped war would be averted, and a friendly
1 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 63-64.
2 Weymouth to Walpole, September 12th, 1770. Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 379
settlement reached, 1 it was by no means certain that
he would continue in the same pacific state of mind
when he learnt the degree of reparation which England
expected. Yet, from the point of view of this country,
no conversation could have been more re-assuring
than that which took place between Choiseul and Wal-
pole at Versailles on the morning of September 16th.
" When I had read the letter to Mr Harris," wrote
Walpole to the secretary of state, " the Due de Choiseul
expressed himself highly satisfied with it, and desired
me to leave it with him, that he might the more
easily be able to communicate it to his most Christian
majesty in its very words. He said that Marquis
Grimaldi could not do better than subscribe his name
to your lordship's letter, that he would write imme-
diately to Marquis Grimaldi, and would adopt the
sentiments and language of it ; and would recommend
it very warmly to Marquis Grimaldi to direct a memorial
to be presented to the court of England in answer to
what is demanded ; wherein the conduct of Monsieur
Buccarelli should be disavowed in the strongest terms,
an engagement made to re-establish the affairs of the
settlement at Port Egmont, and that even an indemni-
fication should be promised to be made to the sufferers ;
and he would desire that this might be done imme-
diately, that the alarm and apprehension upon this
occasion might entirely cease." 2 No utterance could
have been more friendly or pacific, and Choiseul did
not confine himself to words alone. Two days after
the conversation at Versailles, he told Walpole that,
with the approval of Louis XV., who was in entire
sympathy with the English demands, he had already
1 Walpole to Weymouth, September 12th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
2 Walpole to Weymouth, September 16th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
380 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
written to Grimaldi, " exhorting him in the strongest
manner, and with all the reasons he could think of,
to procure from his Catholic majesty a declaration
under his own hand, acquiescing in what the court of
England demanded, and to despatch this without
loss of time." 1
Thus Choiseul breathed peace and conciliation ;
but it is a penalty attaching to all statesmen and
diplomatists that their words, and even sometimes
their actions, are not always sufficient to carry con-
viction ; and the question of the French minister's
sincerity must inevitably arise. It has been con-
tended with no little plausibility that Choiseul was,
in reality, playing a double game, that, while he professed
to be seeking for peace, he was engaged in scheming for
war, and that the only object of his pacific utterances
was to lull England into a false and delusive belief
in the security of her own position. Weighty arguments
can be urged in support of such a view. It can be said
that the time had come for the two Bourbon powers
to unite in humiliating the country under whose
supremacy they had suffered, that the interests of
France were closely engaged in fomenting a quarrel,
and that Choiseul's personal predominance, inasmuch
as he was no longer as influential at court as he once had
been, depended upon the outbreak of a war which he
might utilise to render himself indispensable, and to
regain his control over the king. Moreover, it is known
that as late as the month of July, 1770, he had instituted
inquiries into Spain's readiness for war, and given
every indication of being anxious to strike without
delay a blow against the power of England ; 2 and it
1 Walpole to Weymouth, September 18th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
2 Le Regne de Louis XV., H. Carre (1909), 390.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 381
can, therefore, be contended that, though not ab-
solutely convicted, the French minister falls under
grave suspicion of having been guilty of duplicity
in expressing his desire for the maintenance of peace.
No mistake, however, is greater than to attribute
consistency to statesmen, who, as experience shows,
are generally quite willing to trim their sails to the
changing breeze ; and there is good reason to believe
that, whatever may have been his disposition in the
previous July, Choiseul in September was by no means
desirous of war. It is not of much weight, perhaps,
that both Robert Walpole, and, later, Lord Harcourt,
testified strongly to his sincerity, for diplomatists are
not proof against deception ; l but when we learn
that Choiseul advised the Spanish ministry to avoid
a contest, even at the cost of a surrender to England, 2
the testimony of Walpole and Harcourt becomes credible
and easy of acceptance. Nor is it difficult to account
for this sudden change in French policy. A little
reflection had convinced Choiseul that, attractive as
was the idea of a war with England, the internal
condition of France rendered it impossible to carry
such an enterprise to a successful conclusion. Con-
fronted by a depleted treasury, and precluded from
imposing fresh taxes by the quarrel between the
French crown and the parlements, which was then at
its height, he realised that, even with the assistance
of Spain, France was in no condition to undertake
the subjugation of a nation which, though she might
be destroyed, would be certain to make a long and
desperate resistance ; and that, therefore, it was
in accordance with the best interests of his country
1 Walpole to Weymouth, September 18th, 1770 ; Harcourt to Weymouth,
November 18th, 1770 ; Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281.
2 Le Rtgne dc Louis XV., H. Carre, 390.
382 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
to endeavour to avert an European war for which she
was not ready, but in which she could not but be
involved.
Yet, though the weight of France might be thrown
into the scale for peace, it was by no means certain
that Spain would follow tamely in the wake of its
ally, and there was a real danger that the lesser power
would draw the greater, and Choiseul be compelled
by the Pacte de Famille to take part in a war for
which he had no liking. So much, therefore, depended
upon the reception accorded at Madrid to the English
demands that no little interest attaches to the first
meeting between Grimaldi and Harris, which took
place on Tuesday, September 25th. In accordance with
the instructions communicated to him by Weymouth,
Harris informed the Spanish Minister of the reparation
England demanded, and stated that, if the request
was not fulfilled, war would be inevitable. Such
a communication was certainly plain and straight-
forward enough, but it did not have the effect of elicit-
ing equal frankness on the part of Grimaldi. It is
true that he expressed his regret for what had happened,
his anxiety for the maintenance of peace, and his
desire for a speedy settlement ; but he laid a very
unpleasant emphasis upon the very doubtful status
of the English in the Falkland Islands, and roundly
asserted that Buccarelli had only acted in accordance
with " the established laws of America," a statement
which might be taken to imply that it was the duty of
all the Spanish governors in that continent to defend
their master's dominions against foreign aggressions.
From remarks so general, and, therefore, so obscure,
it was almost impossible to gather Spain's probable
course of action, and Harris learnt but very little more
from his second meeting with Grimaldi, which took
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 383
place three days later. " He said," wrote the English
charge d'affaires, " he had laid my memorial before
the king, and that his majesty was resolved to do every-
thing in his power to terminate in an amicable manner
this affair ; that, therefore, he admitted our demand,
and that he assented to it in every point consistent
with his honour, which, as well as ours, was to be
considered : that . . . orders had been given to
Prince Masserano to lay before your lordship the several
ideas which had been suggested on this head ; and,
as they only differed in the terms, and not essentially,
he trusted some of them would be adopted. I begged
his excellency would tell me, in general, in what those
terms consisted ; he said they were various ; we might
choose those we liked best ; that it was needless to
tell them to me, since I might be satisfied they differed
only in the mode, not in the effect, from our demand.
I then asked him if I might consider this as an answer
to my memorial ; he said I might, and that he hoped
my court would look upon it as a favourable one, since
nothing could induce them to condescend so far but
their great desire of maintaining the good harmony
between the two courts." 1
A careful reading between the lines reveals the
essentially unsatisfactory character of this vague and
ambiguous communication. It was certainly not a
hopeful sign that Grimaldi had refused to admit Harris
into his confidence, and it was very significant that,
though he attempted to minimise the difference, the
Spanish minister allowed that what his government
was prepared to give, did not quite coincide with what
England had asked. Indeed, the very noticeable stress
laid upon the honour of the country, the justification of
Buccarelli's action, and the doubtful legality of the
1 Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, i, 59-63.
384 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
English occupation pointed to the fact that the Spanish
government, convinced that the wrong-doing had not
been exclusively on one side, was more prepared to
conclude a bargain than to sue unconditionally for
surrender. Such was, indeed, the case, and when
Masserano, having received his instructions from
Madrid, submitted the proposals of his government
to Weymouth, it at once became clear that the two
countries had made little or no progress towards an
agreement. Instead of undertaking that the English
demands should be fulfilled without delay, the Spanish
Ambassador proposed the conclusion of a convention
under which both countries would be pledged to make
certain concessions. Thus Spain, on her part, was to
disavow Buccarelli's conduct, and to promise to restore
Port Egmont, but, in return for receiving this repara-
tion, England was to admit that Buccarelli had acted
in accordance with his general instructions and his
oath as governor, to disavow the threat of Captain
Hunt, which was alleged by Spain to have provoked
the attack upon Port Egmont, and to agree that in
restoring the English settlement the king of Spain in
no way acknowledged that England possessed any
legal right to territory in the Falkland Islands. 1
It is clear that such proposals were very far from
complying with the demands of England ; and
Weymouth and his colleagues in the cabinet were
justified in expressing their profound dissatisfaction
with the attitude adopted by Spain. From the first
1 Weymouth to Harris, October 17th, 1770 ; Foreign State Papers, R.O.,
185. In their original form Masserano's instructions contained a suggestion
that both countries should evacuate the Falkland Islands, but Choiseul,
realising that England would never assent to such a proposal, contrived to
obtain its withdrawal. It may be to this incident that a curious tale told
by Grafton in his Autobiography refers. Walpole to Weymouth, October 7th
and October 9th, 1770; Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281 ; Grafton's Auto-
biography, 255-256.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 385
they had acted on the not unreasonable assumption
that they were entitled to receive unconditional re-
paration ; and they now discovered that this point of
view was not shared by the court of Madrid. Both
the idea of a convention, and of making any concessions,
however trivial, were entirely unpalatable to the
ministry with the fear of the parliamentary opposition
and public opinion before its eyes ; and the terms were
decisively and unhesitatingly refused. " I was ordered
to tell the Spanish ambassador," wrote Weymouth to
Harris on October 17th, " that when the king's modera-
tion condescended to demand of the court of Madrid
to disavow the proceedings of the governor of Buenos
Ayres, and to restore things precisely to that situation
in which they stood before the rash and unwarrantable
undertaking of the governor, as the smallest reparation
for the injury received that he could possibly accept,
his majesty thought there was nothing left for dis-
cussion except the mode of carrying that disavowal
and that restitution into execution. I was also ordered
to say that his majesty adheres invariably to his first
demand; and that, without entering into the insur-
mountable objections to the matter of this proposed
convention, the manner alone is totally inadmissible ;
for his majesty cannot accept under a convention that
satisfaction to which he has so just a title without
entering into any engagements in order to procure it ;
that the idea of his majesty becoming a contracting
party upon this occasion is entirely foreign to the case,
for, having received an injury, and demanded the
most moderate reparation of that injury, his honour will
permit him to accept, that reparation loses its value
if it is to be conditional, and to be obtained by any
stipulation whatsoever on the part of his majesty." 1
1 Weymouth to Harris, October 17th, 1770 ; Foreign State Papers, R.O., 185.
2 B
386 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
The immediate consequences of the refusal of the
English ministry to continue the discussion along the
lines suggested by Spain, was the temporary suspension
of the negotiation, no further progress between
Weymouth and Masserano being possible until the
latter had received fresh instructions from his govern-
ment. Thus the situation was critical in the extreme,
for it apparently lay with Spain to determine whether
the peace of Western Europe was to be broken, and
it was by no means easy to foresee what she would
do. According to D'Ossun, the French ambassador
in that country, the court of Madrid was in favour of
a bellicose policy, and was supported in this by public
opinion ; x while Harris believed that Spain was in no
condition to embark upon hostilities, was genuinely
desirous of peace, and feared " nothing so much as our
breaking with them." 2 Yet even Harris, sanguine
though he was, admitted the existence of a warlike
party in the government and nation, and narrated
how, early in October, Grimaldi had told him that the
king of Spain " was not so reduced as to suffer himself
to be menaced," and that " he had a powerful ally
who would indisputably share his fate." 3 From such
conflicting accounts the truth is not to be easily dis-
entangled, but it may be that the key to the puzzle
lies in Grimaldi's boast that France would be certain
to come to her ally's assistance. It is clear that Spain,
inasmuch as she had already offered to fulfil the de-
mands of England, was not desirous of provoking a
conflict at all cost ; but it is equally clear that she was
keenly desirous of saving her pride, and of receiving
something in return for the concessions she was pre-
1 Le Regne de Louis XV., H. Carre, 390.
2 Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, 1, 63-66.
3 Harris to Weymouth, October nth, 1770; Foreign State Papers, R.O.,
185.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 387
pared to make ; and, therefore, it was only too probable
that, if the English ministers continued to demand an
unconditional surrender, Spain, trusting in French
support, might prefer the burden of a war to the loss
of her dignity.
If this interpretation of the situation be correct, the
outlook was certainly not very hopeful. The English
ministry, fearful of its own safety at home, was not
likely to recede from its original position ; and, if com-
promise was outside the range of practical politics, there
appeared to be no solution of the problem but the blunt
and clumsy method of resort to armed force. It is
not surprising that Choiseul was appalled at such a dire
prospect. Convinced that it was not a suitable time
for entering upon hostilities with England, and equally
convinced that he could not allow Spain to embark upon
a war alone, he saw the only salvation for himself and
his country in peace, and strained every nerve to pro-
mote an amicable settlement. With Walpole he dis-
cussed the terms which Masserano had offered and
Weymouth rejected, seeking to represent them in as
favourable a light as possible. With some show of
plausibility he contended that Spain had really
granted all that England had ever asked, that the
demand for the conclusion of a convention was of little
or no account, and that the failure of the two countries
to come to a speedy agreement had been rather the
fruit of a misunderstanding than of a real difference of
opinion. Moreover, in order to promote a settlement,
he undertook, with the approval of the Spanish
ambassador in France, to recommend Grimaldi both
to tell Harris that the English demands would be
fulfilled and to instruct Masserano to sign a declara-
tion embodying a similar assurance. More he could
hardly do, and Walpole was sanguine enough to believe
388 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
that Choiseul had sufficient influence over the Spanish
government to avert the catastrophe of an European
war. 1 Such an expectation, however, seriously under-
estimated the difficulties of the French minister's
task. Grimaldi was clearly chagrined by the summary
rejection of his offer, somewhat petulantly remarking
to Harris that " we have allowed ourselves to be in the
wrong, we have offered the most ample reparation ;
surely it is very hard in the point wherein we are
insulted (meaning the menace of Captain Hunt), you
will not listen to our solicitations, although they are
such as you might acquiesce in without the least
diminution of the satisfaction we give you." 2 Such a
declaration did not testify to a conciliatory disposition,
and the situation, already quite critical enough, was
rendered no easier by the fact that all three countries
were busily preparing for war.
It was on October 29th that Harris waited upon
Grimaldi to learn what steps the Spanish government
proposed to take, now that its first offer had been
refused ; but it was not until November 7th that he
received the information he sought. Nor when it came
was it hopeful for peace, Harris being told by Grimaldi
that though Spain was willing to abandon the idea of
a convention, and to allow England to select the mode
of giving the promised satisfaction, she still required
that, her honour should be safeguarded, and that " the
affair should be ultimately and decisively terminated." 3
The meaning of these studiously vague and ambiguous
phrases was fully revealed by Masserano in the many
conversations he had with Weymouth after Monday,
November 19th, the day on which he received his new
1 Walpole to Weymouth, October 21st, 1770; Foreign State Papers
R.O., 281.
2 Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, 1, 66-68.
3 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 104-106.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 389
instructions from Madrid. The suggestion of a con-
vention was not, indeed, again put forward, but
Weymouth, much to his disgust, was not slow to
discover that this was a concession more in appearance
than in reality, inasmuch as the principle of reciprocity
was maintained. Thus, the conduct of Buccarelli,
though to be disavowed, was again to be excused as
having been provoked by Hunt's menaces, and though
Masserano was authorised to sign a declaration such
as England had demanded, he was only to do so on the
understanding that immediately afterwards a negotia-
tion should be set on foot between the two countries
with a view of settling their rival claims in the Falkland
Islands. To such terms it was clearly impossible for
the ministry to accede, and Weymouth met them with
a definite refusal. 1
1 The general trend of these conversations between Weymouth and
Masserano can be gathered from various sources. In a letter to Weymouth,
dated November 14th, Walpole, writing from Paris, mentions that " the
courier arrived from Spain yesterday morning with dispatches for the Due
de Choiseul, the Spanish ambassador here, and Prince Masseran. ... I
saw the Due de Choiseul last night. He and the Spanish Ambassador think
the contents of their dispatches are good . . . that the court of Madrid
gives Prince Masseran full powers to negotiate upon the affair with his
majesty's ministers, and he is ordered to make a declaration whereby he will
disavow the enterprise of Monsieur Buccarelli, though he is at the same
time to excuse his conduct in that the menace of Captain Hunt was the cause
of it. He is then by the same declaration to consent to the re-establishment
of his majesty's subjects in the Falkland Islands, as has been required, and is
to desire that his majesty would be disposed to enter into a negotiation on
the fond of the matter, as soon as the declaration shall be made and accepted."
Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281. In a letter to Lord North, dated November,
23rd, George III. wrote, " I saw Lord Weymouth on his coming from the
Spanish ambassador ; the project produced this day differed but little
from that of Wednesday. Lord Weymouth has renewed the demand of the
governor of Buenos Ayres being disavowed, and the island restored, un-
attended by any discussion on the right." Correspondence of George III.
with Lord North, 1, 210. " I cannot account," wrote Walpole to Harris on
December 1st, " for such unreasonable behaviour in the court of Spain,
and can neither see the justice or the prudence of it. The obstinacy in not at
once granting what the honour of our nation justly requires makes me think
that court more in the wrong than what I have all along wished, or been
inclined to do, for where is the difficulty of disavowing the conduct of a giddy
390 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Thus, for a second time, the negotiation reached a
deadlock, and the clouds of war loomed larger than ever
upon the political horizon. Choiseul, who had nattered
himself that peace was within sight, was aghast to hear
that the Spanish offer had been summarily rejected ;
and promptly begged Lord Harcourt, who had now
returned to his ambassadorial duties, " to write
immediately to your court that we may know their
final determination, what they want, and what they
wish, that I may make a last effort to obtain the
satisfaction they desire. ' ' x But, though willing to make
this final attempt to bring about a peaceful solution,
he appears to have cherished but little hope of success,
bitterly exclaiming to Harcourt that " this paltry
island . . . will probably draw us into a war, as con-
trary to our several interests as to our inclinations," 2
and in a dispatch to D'Ossun, dated December 4th, he
took for granted that war was inevitable. 3 Nor was
he at all singular in this opinion, for in England there
was an equally strong conviction that there was but
a very slender prospect of the maintenance of peace.
Harcourt was told by Lord Weymouth that now his
most important work was to procure intelligence of
military and naval preparations in France ; 4 and
Harris was instructed that " as Prince Masserano con-
tinues to hold a language which gives very little reason
to expect just satisfaction for the insult committed in
the midst of profound peace ... it is thought proper
officer, and putting things in the situation they were before the undertaking.
. . . Our court, therefore, keeps firmly to its two first propositions, and will
hear of no foreign matter whatever." Diaries and Correspondence of the
Earl of Malmesbury, i, 68-70.
1 Harcourt to Weymouth, November 27th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
2 Ibid.
3 Le Regne de Louis XV., H. Carre, 390.
4 Weymouth to Harcourt, November 28th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 391
that Coates should be dispatched to you with this in-
formation, in order that you may take such method, as
you shall think most advisable, to apprise, as privately
as possible, the lieutenant-governor of Gibraltar of this
uncertain state of affairs, and of letting him know that
general Cornwallis and other officers belonging to
that garrison are ordered to their posts, and are to
embark immediately." 1 Moreover, in addition to
sending these significant instructions to its representa-
tives abroad, the ministry made active preparations
at home. In order that Ireland might be put into a
state of defence, the lord-lieutenant of that country
was officially warned that " the language which the
Spanish ambassador holds is unpromising with regard
to peace " ; 2 an order in council was approved, placing
an embargo on all provision ships in Irish port ; 3 and
the lieutenant-general of ordnance was instructed
" to report on the state of the ordnance stores of
all kinds, and particularly the quantity of gunpowder
ready for use on any emergency ; and also as to the
quantity of stores abroad, etc., and as to the supply of
the different articles necessary for the demands which
may possibly be made in case of a war with France and
Spain." 4
It was while the negotiation was passing through
this critical and dangerous stage that parliament
assembled, the session having been begun on November
13th ; and it was tolerably certain that, difficult as the
1 Weymouth to Harris, November 28th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 185.
2 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 93. 3 Ibid. 97.
4 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 96. The lieutenant-general of ord-
nance at this time was Henry Conway. On the resignation of Lord Granby, in
January 1770, the mastership of ordnance had been offered to Conway who
had declined it on the plea that, having lived in friendship with Granby, he
did not wish to profit by his fall. Conway, however, consented to discharge
the duties of the mastership without possessing either the title or emoluments
of the post.
392 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ministerial task had been in the past, it was likely to
be still more difficult in the future. Never are the
dangers associated with the existence of a systematic
parliamentary opposition so great as when the inter-
national situation is complicated and the clouds of
war hang low over Europe ; for then arises the peril
that the opponents of the administration of the day,
impelled partly by hunger for office, and partly,
perhaps, by the honest conviction that only by a
transference of power can the country be saved, will
resort to reckless and irresponsible criticism, advocate
violent measures and indiscreet revelations, and, in
their haste to destroy the government, run the risk of
precipitating an European conflict which but for them
might have been avoided. Such had been the fatal
policy pursued by the enemies of Sir Robert Walpole,
and such was the line of conduct which commended
itself to the opposition in the autumn of 1770. Con-
vinced that they had received a clear call for battle, that
no time could be more favourable for an united attack,
and that it was incumbent upon every patriot to de-
nounce the ministers for having failed to prepare for
a struggle which was certain, both Rockingham and
Chatham were keenly anxious for an onslaught to be
made, and were desirous of working together in the
closest harmony. 1 It would be wrong, however, to
imagine that they were encouraged to undertake this
venture by any hope of immediate victory ; their
intention was rather to disseminate the belief, both in
and out of parliament, that the country was in danger
of descending from that proud eminence upon which
she had once rested, and of falling an easy prey to the
1 After an interview with Rockingham, shortly after parliament met,
Chatham declared that " my esteem and confidence in his Lordship's upright
intentions grow from every conversation with him." Chatham Correspond-
ence, 3,480-481.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 393
joint attack of the two Bourbon powers. It was by
raising a panic in the nation that they hoped to drive
North and his colleagues from office ; and it is difficult
to find any sufficient excuse for their conduct. Both
Rockingham and Chatham were experienced statesmen
who could not but know that they would best serve
their country by assisting rather than thwarting the
ministers at this critical juncture, that a quarrel over
the possession of a barren island was not a sufficient
justification for a European war, and that no useful
purpose could possibly be served by spreading abroad
alarming rumours about the incompetence of the
government and the defenceless condition of the
country ; but, like other politicians before and since,
they placed the interests of party above the welfare
of the state, and hoped to obtain an end, which they
thought to be good, by means which they must have
known to be unjustifiable.
The storm did not break at once, the first day of
the session being quiet enough ; but this calm at the
beginning was largely due to the absence of Chatham,
Temple, and the followers of Grenville, 1 who abstained
from attending out of respect to the dead statesman. 1
Nor were signs of a tempest in the future altogether
wanting. No fault, indeed, could be found, even by
the most bellicose member of the opposition, with the
speech from the throne, the king being made to declare
that he would not relinquish his preparations for war
until he had received " proper reparation for the injury,
as well as satisfactory proof that other powers are
equally sincere with myself to preserve the general
tranquillity of Europe " ; 2 but, though the speech might
1 Walpole's Letters, 7, 418-421.
2 It is worthy of note that Choiseul at first interpreted the king's speech
as tantamount to a declaration of war ; Harcourt to Weymouth, November
20th, 1770 ; Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281.
394 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
be generally approved, the address of thanks was not
allowed to pass without encountering some hostile and
pungent criticism. Various members of the opposi-
tion complained that they had not been told of the
steps that had been taken to put the country into a
state of defence ; and Sir Charles Saunders, a follower
of Lord Rockingham, who,, for a brief period, had held
the office of first lord of the admiralty in Chatham's
administration, expressed his regret that preparations
for war had not been begun upon the arrival of Hunt in
England at the beginning of June. 1
Unfair as much of this criticism was, it has the
interest of being indicative of the line of attack that
the opposition intended to follow. The contest against
the government was waged in both houses, but it was
in the upper house that the fight was fiercest. On
Thursday, November 22nd, the Duke of Richmond,
having previously consulted with Chatham, introduced
three motions, so framed that, if they were carried, the
ministers would be obliged to reveal how far they
had been aware of the danger which threatened Port
Egmont before the actual news of its fall was known
in England ; and the debate certainly made up in
acrimony whatever it may have lacked in effectiveness.
Thus Richmond, while energetically disclaiming any
desire to complicate the negotiations, modestly declared
that he was content merely to reveal to the world the
sloth and treachery of the royal advisers ; and Chatham,
exclaiming that " something must be done, my lords,
and immediately, to save an injured, insulted, un-
done country," thundered in fury against " those
servants of the crown, by whose ignorance, neglect, or
treachery this once great flourishing people are reduced
1 Cavendish Debates, 2, 37-54 ; Pari. Hist., xvi. 1030-108 1 ; Walpole's
Memoirs, iv. 128-130 ; Chatham Correspondence, 3, 489-492.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 395
to a condition as deplorable at home as it is despic-
able abroad." Nor was Shelburne behindhand in
denunciation ; for although he discarded the bludgeon
for the rapier, he was equally, if not more, effective in
criticism, remarking with withering sarcasm that a war
would be but a small price to pay for the downfall of
the ministry. 1
Yet, in spite of the scorn thus so lavishly heaped
upon the government, the opposition only numbered
twenty-one on a division, and this very meagre figure
was not exceeded when on Wednesday, November 28th,
Chatham, acting on a suggestion thrown out by
Rockingham, 2 moved that Captain Hunt should be
summoned to the bar of the house, and that the
ministers should state when they first learnt that the
Spaniards intended to take Port Egmont by storm. 3
Nor was the Duke of Manchester any more successful
when, in accordance with a plan suggested by Chatham,
and approved by Rockingham, 4 he moved that a
strong naval force should be stationed at Gibraltar,
Minorca, and Jamaica, only fourteen votes being given
for the motion. 5 Moreover, in the house of commons
the ministry was equally victorious. On Thursday,
November 22nd, Dowdeswell moved for " copies of
the intelligence received by his majesty's ministers
previous to the twelfth of September . . . touching
any hostility commenced or designed to be commenced
by the crown of Spain against any part of the British
dominions," but his motion was easily rejected, the
previous question being carried by two hundred and
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 1081-1119; Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 133-136; Walpole's
Letters, 7, 423-424.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 26-29.
3 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 139-140.
4 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 46-48.
5 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 1 50-151; Pari. Hist., xvi. 1321-1322.
396 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
twenty-five votes to a hundred and one ; x and when,
a week later, he asked for information about the state
and disposition of the Spanish fleets, only forty-three
members were found to vote against a motion for
adjourning the debate. 2
Such were the first-fruits of a crusade from which
so much had been expected ; and it was indeed a barren
harvest. Victory, indeed, had not been expected by
those who had planned and executed this venture,
but they certainly had not anticipated such a com-
plete and overwhelming repulse. An opposition, which
dwindled rather than increased in numbers, was not
likely to acquire that national confidence so essential
to its success ; and Chatham can hardly be blamed for
believing all to be lost, and concluding, in the bitter-
ness of his soul, that the times were " pollution in the
very quintessence." 3 Yet the catastrophe was by
no means inexplicable. It must have been clear to
impartial observers that the designs of the opposition
were far more factious than patriotic, and that, even
assuming that no adequate preparations for war had
been made, it was not a fitting time to proclaim the
fact to the world at large. 4 Such considerations, how-
ever, though they may be held to account for the con-
1 Cavendish Debates, 2, 57-88 ; Pari. Hist., xvi. 1119-1124.
2 Cavendish Debates, 2, 177-184.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 31-32.
4 In the course of a debate in the house of commons, on December 12th,
the opposition represented the navy as being in a deplorable condition, and,
on the previous day, Chatham declared in the house of lords that half our
ships were rotten. It would have been better to have deferred making such
accusations until peace was assured, but they certainly were not devoid of
truth. Sir Edward Hawke, though a distinguished naval commander in his
day, had not proved himself in his old age an efficient first lord of the
admiralty, and there appears to be no doubt that, though on paper our navy
was adequate, many of our ships were unseaworthy and much undermanned.
For some interesting details about the navy at this time, see a speech by
Lord Sandwich in 1775, reported in Pari. Hist., xviii. p. 280; and also
Walpole's Memoirs, iv. 136-137 ; Cavendish Debates, 2, 194-213.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 397
spicuous failure of the opposition to win new recruits,
cannot be advanced to explain the actual declension
in its numerical strength, which is rather to be attri-
buted to that lack of unity, the cause of so many of its
disasters in the past. Close and cordial as were the
relations between Rockingham and Chatham, 1 they
had failed to rally the full strength of the opposition
to their support. Both Temple and Camden had
declined attending the debates in the upper house ; 2
and, what was of far greater moment, the conduct of
the former followers of George Grenville had been
strangely hesitating and uncertain. It would not be
true to describe them as having broken with the
opposition, but there is no doubt that they were
pursuing a policy of waiting upon events, and by
no means anxious to bind themselves by words to
definite allegiance either to Chatham or Rockingham.
Wedderburn and Lord George Sackville had, indeed,
supported Dowdeswell in the house of commons, but
other members of the same party were conspicuously
absent when Chatham moved for Captain Hunt to be
1 According to Horace Walpole (Memoirs, 4, 133-136), Chatham, in the
debate on November 22nd, spoke with contempt of the opposition, and de-
declared his freedom from any party connections ; but this statement appears
to be a very decided exaggeration. Quite apart from what we know of the
intimate relations between the two opposition leaders at this time, there is
nothing in the account of the debate in the Parliamentary History to show
that Chatham bore in any way hardly upon the Rockingham whigs. It is
true that he spoke warmly in favour of impressment, a practice which the
Duke of Richmond had opposed ; and that he remarked that " an administra-
tion formed on an exclusive system of family connections, or private friendships,
cannot, I am convinced, be long supported in this country" ; but he also
referred to " men who, if their own services were forgotten, ought to have
a hereditary merit with the house of Hanover," and, though he denounced
the practice of restricting admission to high office to the members of a few
great families, he expressly said that " no man respects or values more than I
do that honourable connection which arises from a disinterested concurrence
in opinion upon public measures, or from the sacred bond of private friend-
ship and esteem." Pari. Hist., xvi. 1081-1119.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 29-30; 31-32; Walpole's Memoirs, 4,
139-140; Walpole's Letters, 7, 423-424.
398 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
called to the bar of the house ; * and, although Lord
Lyttleton had spoken in support of the Duke of
Richmond's motion, it is to his credit that he differ-
entiated himself from all the other speakers against
the government by expressing the opinion that it was
not becoming in wise and responsible statesmen to
" intimidate the people by our fears when we ought to
fire them by our resolution."
From these scattered hints it may be gathered
that the Grenvilles had by no means enthusiastically
co-operated with the other parties in opposition, and
upon them must rest no small share of the responsibility
for the fiasco. But, unfortunate as the enterprise
had been, the hope of ultimate victory was not quite
dead ; for, were the peace of Europe to be broken,
Chatham might once again come into power upon the
shoulders of the people. And, to the dismay of all wise
men, war now appeared to be almost inevitable. The
rejection of the second Spanish offer was followed by
that ominous calm which so often precedes the storm.
The negotiation with Spain was discontinued, 2 and, in
each of the three countries most intimately concerned,
preparations for war were actively hurried on. Harris,
though still retaining his belief in Grimaldi's pacific
disposition, began to fear that the warlike party in
Spain would carry the day, 3 and Choiseul, convinced
1 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 139-140.
2 Thus, on December 21st, Lord Rochford, who had succeeded Weymouth
as secretary of state for the southern department, informed Lord Harcourt
that " negotiation has long been at an end between us and the Court of Spain."
Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281.
3 " M. Grimaldi, however," wrote Harris to Weymouth on December 17th,
" I am convinced will strain every nerve to accommodate this affair. . . .
Nevertheless, I fear the restless and ambitious temper of Monsieur D'Aranda,
who has, on one hand, represented to the king that the honour of the Spanish
nation would be exposed by acceding to our propositions, and, on the other,
painted the state of both its army and it finances in the most flattering and
. . . false colours ! I fear, I say, these arguments will have more weight
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 399
of the futility of endeavouring to maintain peace,
definitely determined upon hostilities. Aware that
he no longer enjoyed the favour of the king, and be-
lieving Spain to be resolved upon war, he thought to
re-establish himself in his former omnipotence by
remaining faithful to the Pacte de Famille, and uniting
with Spain to humiliate the pride of England. He
was not blind to the dangers which beset the road he
had chosen. He knew that Louis XV. was averse to
war, and that his political opponents, who were seeking
to drive him from office, were of the same opinion ; x
but he thought to persuade the king that nothing
could be done to avert a conflict between England and
Spain, and that France was compelled, both by honour
and by interest, to come to the assistance of her ally
and neighbour. If his arguments carried conviction,
great would be his triumph ; for he might well hope
that one immediate consequence of the outbreak of
war would be the return of his former political
supremacy. Engaged in a great conflict with the old
enemy, England, neither Louis XV. nor his people
would be inclined to dispense with the services of the
most experienced statesman which France possessed.
It was just when the international situation had
assumed this aspect of extreme gravity that Lord
Weymouth astonished his countrymen by abandoning
office, resigning the seals on December 16th, 1770.
For this dramatic and unexpected retreat no really
adequate explanation has ever yet been given. It has
than they ought ; and greatly obstruct, if not totally prevent, an amicable
conclusion of this affair." Foreign State Papers, R.O., 185.
1 " I am informed," wrote Harcourt to Rochford on December 16th,
" that the king continues extremely averse to the thoughts of a war ; and the
party in opposition make no difficulty of declaring that a war . . . will com-
plete the ruin of it." Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281. See also Le Rigne
de Louis ZF.,H. Carre, p. 390.
400 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
been asserted that Weymouth fell a victim to the peace
party in the cabinet, and that, for refusing to give way
to Spain, he was driven from office by Lord North
and the king, who had been converted to a policy of
conciliation by the fear that a war with the two Bourbon
powers might involve the return of Chatham to power. 1
Such an explanation, however, is exceedingly difficult
to accept. If the English demands had been diminished
in extent after Weymouth's departure from the cabinet,
it would, doubtless, be reasonable to assume that his
resignation was due to a division of opinion in the
ministry ; but no such modification took place, and,
therefore, little faith can be placed in an interpretation
which is both unsupported by evidence, and in conflict
with well-established fact. What is far more probable
is that Weymouth, believing war to be inevitable, and
realising that his indolent and profligate habits
rendered him totally unfit to occupy an office of great
responsibility in a moment of stress, adopted the un-
heroic course of seeking safety in retirement ; 2 and
though it is not possible to bring forward any evidence
in support of this view, it is at least not inherently
improbable. But, amidst much which is so doubtful,
we know at any rate that no abatement in the English
demands followed upon Weymouth's resignation. To
fill his vacant place Lord Rochford was transferred
from the secretaryship of state for the northern de-
partment which was given to Lord Sandwich ; and
Rochford proved himself as determined as ever his
predecessor had been, to obtain reparation for the insult
to England. At a cabinet meeting on December 19th,
it was decided to recall Harris 3 who, in a dispatch
a Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 157-158. For a slightly different account, see
Almon's Anecdotes and Speeches of the Earl of Chatham, 2, 249-250.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 158.
3 Calendar of Home Office Papers, 102.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 401
written by Rochford, two days later, was instructed to
leave Madrid after formally taking leave. 1
The withdrawal of the English representative at the
Spanish court could only be interpreted as a preliminary
to a declaration of war ; and it may fairly be assumed
that the cabinet was led to adopt this extreme measure
by the conviction that any further delay was useless,
and that the sooner war began the better. It is not
easy to censure such pessimism, seeing how black the
outlook was ; but, nevertheless, the ministers stand
convicted of having neglected some very essential
factors in the situation. They took for granted, not
only that Spain was bent upon hostilities, but that
France would come to her assistance ; and in this
latter particular they were guilty of a fundamental
error. It was not the French king but Choiseul who
had decided upon war ; and the last word did not rest
with him but with his master. Were he to fail to
persuade Louis XV. that war was the only alternative,
it was extremely probable that Spain, deprived of the
hope of French assistance, might show herself far more
ready to come to terms with England ; and it was this
possibility that the ministers failed to include in their
reckoning. They thought that war was inevitable,
whereas, as a matter of fact, it was not. Louis XV.
was well aware that the outbreak of hostilities would
involve the cessation of his conflict with the parlements,
and, consequently, a decline in the prestige of the crown ;
and, compelled to come to a final determination, he
decided for peace abroad and war at home. He gave
orders for a letter to be written to the King of Spain,
imploring him to make every possible sacrifice in the
cause of peace ; commanded D'Ossun to use all his
influence to promote a speedy settlement with England ;
1 Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, i, 71-73.
2 C
402 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and, having taken these steps to avert the approaching
war, dismissed Choiseul from office on December 24th,
1770. 1
Four days later, the news of ChoiseuTs fall was
known in England ; 2 and though amateur politicians
were at first puzzled to determine the precise influence
of this cabinet revolution upon the international
situation, 3 the ministers were not long in learning that
it was likely to be a very powerful factor in the pro-
motion of peace. " It has been intimated to me,"
wrote Harcourt to Rochford on December 26th, " by
a person well acquainted with this court, that, as soon
as the new minister is appointed for the foreign affairs,
I shall receive the strongest assurances of the pacinck
disposition of this court," 4 and this cheering intelligence
was confirmed by a change for the better in the attitude
of Masserano,who now, in the words of a well-informed
contemporary, " declares that he expects daily orders
from his court to give us the satisfaction we demand." 5
Thus, at the bidding of an aged voluptuary, the
clouds of war began to disperse, and the English
ministers had good reason to regret their hasty action
in recalling Harris. It might well happen, for such is
the instability of the foundations upon which the peace
of nations and the happiness of thousands rest, that
the prospect of a happy settlement might be suddenly
1 Le Regne de Louis XV., H. Carre, 389-391.
2 Harcourt to Rochford, December 24th, 1770. For the date of the
arrival of this dispatch, see Walpole's Letters, 7, 430-432.
3 The Due de Choiseul is fallen. . . . There ! there is a revolution ! there
is a new scene opened. Will it advance the war ? Will it make peace ?
These are the questions all mankind is asking. Walpole's Letters, 7,430-432.
It is interesting to notice that Chatham still persisted in believing war to be
certain. Chatham Correspondence, 4, 64-65.
4 Harcourt to Rochford, December 26th, 1770; Foreign State Papers,
R.O., 281.
5 Thomas Bradshaw to the Duke of Grafton, January 5th, 1771 ; Grafton's
Autobiography, 260-261. Bradshaw was a secretary of the treasury and
enjoyed Grafton's intimate confidence.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 403
blasted by a trivial question of diplomatic etiquette.
When on January 3rd, 1771, the Spanish ambassador
was informed that a dispatch had already left England,
instructing Harris to return home, he did not disguise
his deep annoyance, and declared that, " should he now
receive full power to acquiesce in our demand, he
should look upon himself as tied up till he knew the
sentiments of his court relating to the recall of Mr
Harris," ' but, fortunately, he did not continue in this
unbending attitude. With the authorisation of his
government which, now that it could no longer depend
upon France, was prepared to come to terms, 2 he signed,
on January 22nd, 1771, a declaration by which the
conduct of Buccarelli was disavowed and the restoration
of Port Egmont was promised, but, at the same time,
it was expressly stated that " the engagement of his
said Catholick majesty to restore to his Brittanic
majesty the possession of the fort and port called
Egmont cannot or ought in any wise to affect
the question of the prior right of the sovereignty
1 Rochford to Harcourt, January 7th, 1771 ; Foreign State Papers, R.O.,
282.
2 When the Spanish ministry dispatched this authorisation to Masserano,
it was not aware that Harris had been recalled ; and this statement can be
proved by a comparison of dates. It was not until January 12th, that Harris
informed Grimaldi that he had been recalled, and in a dispatch to Rochford,
dated the same day, the English ambassador in France states : " The night
before last a messenger arrived from Spain, and yesterday morning the Spanish
ambassador had an audience of the king that lasted one hour and a half.
I am assured that the Spaniards will acquiesce to our demands, and that
the Prince de Masserano will have orders to signify as much to your lord-
ship." It may, I think, be taken as fairly certain that this messenger was
on his way to England with instructions to Masserano, and it is obvious that
he must have left Spain some days before Harris informed Grimaldi that he
had been recalled. Moreover, according to Walpole, it was at the advice of
the French king that Masserano consented to make use of the full powers
granted to him, and we have on the same authority, the doubtful, though
dramatic, story that two days after the Spanish ambassador had signed the
declaration, he received orders commanding him to return to Spain without
delay. Foreign State Papers, R.O., 282 ; Diaries and Correspondence of the
Earl of Malmesbury, 1, 71-73 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 175.
404 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
of the Malouine Islands, otherwise called Falkland
Islands." 1
This happy conclusion to a negotiation which at
one time seemed about to end in a rupture between
three great nations and the horrors of an European
war, was approved by all wise men ; but to Chatham
and his political allies, their eyes blinded by the
passions aroused by domestic strife, it was more an
occasion for sorrow than for joy. They had not un-
reasonably hoped that the outbreak of war would give
the signal for the downfall of the ministry, and they
were now called upon to undergo the mortification of
witnessing the conclusion of a settlement which only
by blind and embittered partisanship could be repre-
sented as dishonourable or inadequate. Nor was the
blow any easier to bear from coinciding with another
and a greater misfortune — the defection of several of
the leading members of the Grenville party. Such a
secession had for long been regarded as possible and
even probable. Almost from the very beginning of
the session, sinister, and unfortunately well founded,
rumours had been circulated that Wedderburn was
about to make his peace with the court, 2 and there is
good reason to believe that the ministers were well
aware of their adversary's readiness to be bought. 3
Nor had Wedderburn been the only object of suspicion.
Writing to Mann at Florence about the middle of
1 Annual Register for 1771, p. 238.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 20-23; 3Q-3 1 - Wedderburn stated his
own point of view in a letter to Lord Clive, written on November 14th, 1770.
" I have not yet been, " he wrote, " in the house of commons ; and if people
would impute my absence to its true cause, a real indifference to all that
passes there at present, I should continue for some time in the same ignorance.
... It is possible, I believe, even in these times, for a man to acquire some
degree of credit, without being enlisted in any party ; and, if it is, the situa-
tion, I am sure, is more eligible than any other that either a court or an opposi-
tion have to bestow." Quoted in the Cavendish Debates, 2, 81-82.
3 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 1, 45.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 405
January, 1771, Horace Walpole had mentioned that
" Mr Grenville's friends point due west to St James's " 1
and before his letter reached its destination what he
hinted at had come to pass. In a letter to Lord Temple,
dated January 22nd, 1771, Lord Suffolk, who was
commonly looked upon as Grenville's successor in the
leadership of the party, announced that he had that
day formally accepted the office of lord privy seal ; 2
and, a few days later, it was announced that Wedder-
burn had been appointed solicitor-general, that Thomas
Whately, who was well-known to have enjoyed
Grenville's closest confidence, had been named a
commissioner of the board of trade, and that to
Augustus Hervey, afterwards Lord Bristol, had been
given a lordship of the admiralty. 3 At the same time,
moreover, some important internal changes were made
in the ministry. The great seal, which had been in
commission since the dismissal of Camden, was given
to Henry Bathurst who was raised to the peerage as
Lord Apsley ; and though, as a lawyer, Bathurst was
beneath contempt, being probably the most in-
significant man who has ever sat on the woolsack, he
could be trusted to stand by the court which had
rewarded him so richly for his services. Onlookers
might be astonished at the sight of the greatest prize
of the legal profession being given to a notoriously
incompetent lawyer, but no surprise was felt at the
promotion of Edward Thurlow, who had already given
ample proof of having great abilities and few scruples,
from the office of solicitor to that of attorney-general.
Nor could any objection be taken to the appoint-
ment of Lord Sandwich as first lord of the admiralty
in place of Sir Edward Hawke now almost in his
1 Walpole's Letters, 8, 1-3. 2 Grenville Papers, 4, 529-530.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 74-76 ; 80-82.
406 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
dotage ; 1 though it was possible to doubt the wisdom
of transferring Lord Halifax, who, according to Horace
Walpole, " knew nothing, was too old to learn, and
too sottish and too proud to suspect what he
wanted," 2 from the comparatively sinecure office of
lord privy seal to be secretary of state in place of Lord
Sandwich.
The internal reconstruction of the administration,
important though it was, attracted far less attention
than the admission of Wedderburn and his friends into
office, and it was round these new recruits that the
interest centred. All of them were denounced as vile
and self-seeking apostates, but Wedderburn above
the rest. Yet that shrewd Scotchman, and those
who stood with him in the same condemnation, were
certainly not incapable of making a rational defence,
being able, indeed, to bring forward arguments of un-
doubted force in support of their action. It must in
fairness be remembered that when George Grenville
and his followers had thrown in their lot with the
opposition, they had been impelled to take this step,
partly by the wish to speeden the downfall of the
government, so that room might be made for a cabinet
in which Grenville should have the predominant
influence, and partly by a sincere desire to take their
part in protecting the rights of electors against the
oligarchical usurpation of the house of commons. The
death of Grenville, however, and the apathy with
which the nation had come to regard the once burning
question of the Middlesex election, now rendered it
1 " The admiralty, in which he had formerly presided with credit, was the
favourite object of Lord Sandwich's ambition : and his passion for maritime
affairs, his activity, industry, and flowing complaisance, endeared him to
the profession, re-established the marine, and effaced great part of his un-
popularity." Walpole's Memoirs, iv. 170.
2 Walpole' s Memoirs, iv. 173.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 407
impossible for either of these ends to be attained ; and,
therefore, the causes, which had originated and main-
tained an alliance, essentially artificial, ceased to be
operative. But, on the other hand, the old sources
of dissension, the difference of opinion upon colonial
policy, and the jealousy between the rival parties, still
existed in undiminished vigour ; and it is, therefore,
hardly surprising that, after the death of their leader,
and the collapse of any widespread interest in the
wrongs of Wilkes, some of Grenville's followers sought
for admission into a government with which they had
really far more in common than with their supposed
allies. Yet, though justified by reason, the secession
proved a death-blow to the Grenville faction which
from this time ceased to exist as an independent
political party. Some of its members elected to play,
for a time at least, an independent part, alternately
criticising and supporting the court, and others pre-
ferred to follow in the wake of Wedderburn ; but each
man did what was right in his own eyes, and that
which had been a political organisation, endowed with
an unity and coherence of its own, was dissolved into
separate and disconnected fragments.
Thus with Grenville died his party, and the loss to
the opposition was wellnigh irreparable, reduced as it
now was to the followers of Chatham and Rockingham.
Moreover, the danger was not remote that even this
alliance might break asunder. Temple had retired
from public life on the death of his brother ; x and
Camden, though friendly enough with the Rockinghams,
was aggrieved with Chatham with whom he declared
himself to be no longer connected. 2 If dissension broke
out in this reduced and attenuated band, it would,
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 37; Grenville Papers, 4, 530-531.
2 Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 197-198; Walpole's Memoirs, iv. 140-141.
408 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
indeed, be vain to continue the struggle ; and it was
somewhat difficult to see how the unity, so much
desired, could be retained unless a new cry against
the government could be discovered upon which all
were agreed. Experience shows, however, that when
a grievance is needed it can generally be found ; and
just as the convention with Spain in 1739 had been
converted into a weapon of attack against Walpole,
so now the opposition agreed to unite in throwing
ridicule and scorn upon the declaration recently
signed by the Spanish ambassador and approved by
the cabinet. For such a policy it is almost impossible
to find any sufficient excuse. Spain had fulfilled the
original demands of England, the dignity of the nation
had been preserved, and a totally unnecessary, and
therefore entirely wicked, war averted ; and though
many and weighty are the crimes with which North
and his colleagues can be truly charged, it ought never
to be forgotten that, at least in one instance, they co-
operated to prevent the catastrophe of useless blood-
shed. But their very virtue was an offence in the eyes
of men who had seen in a war their own salvation ;
and directly it was known that the declaration was to
be submitted to both houses of parliament on Friday,
January 25th, the preparations for attack were begun.
In letters to his friends Chatham was unsparing in
his objections to the terms which the ministers had
accepted, declaring that the article which reserved
the question of the right of sovereignty in the Falkland
Islands, was " lower and more abject, as well as more
dangerous in consequence and extent than I could
imagine even our ministry could have furnished hearts
to conceive, heads to contrive, or hands to execute " ; x
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 73-74. His bitterness may have been in-
creased by the belief, for which Barre was responsible, that the article in
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 409
and roundly asserting, without a shadow of evidence
to support his theory, that " the whole will be found
to be an ignominious collusion with the present views
of France." x So thinking, he naturally accepted with
eagerness an invitation to attend a meeting of the
opposition peers, which was to be held at the Duke
of Richmond's house on the evening of Thursday,
January 24th, and warmly encouraged his devoted
follower, Calcraft, to attend an assembly of members
of the house of commons, summoned by Dowdeswell
for a similar purpose. 2
At these conferences projects were discussed and
plans settled ; and the design of the opposition was
well expressed by the Duke of Richmond who told
Chatham that " it seems necessary, after the late
defection, that we should show no languour, but by
some spirited conduct tell the world, as early as possible,
that we remain steady and firm in the cause we have
undertaken." 3 Thus the ministerial foreign policy
question was secret and implied that England had consented to evacuate Port
Egmont at some future date. A few years later, it was asserted that in a
dispatch to his government, dated 16th March 1771, the Comte de Guines,
then French ambassador in England, stated " que les ministres anglais an-
nonant qu'immediatement apres le retour des vaisseaux charges de reprendre
possession des Isles Falkland, leur premier soin sera d'envoyer l'ordre de les
abandonner ." Called upon for an explanation by Horace St Paul, then secretary
to the English embassy at Paris, the Comte de Guines, in a letter dated May
16th, 1775, replied : " M. le C. : de Guines vient de s'assurer par lui-meme
du contenu de la depgche du 16 Mars, il ne peut en envoier l'extrait litteral
a monsieur le colonel St Paul, mais il a l'honneur de l'assurer qu'en parlant
du discours que nous tenaient alors les ministres de sa magiste Brittanique,
il eut dit en propres formes : d la reserve cependant de milord Rochford."
If the secretary of state for foreign affairs refrained from giving any promise
to abandon the Falkland Islands, it may with safety be assumed that the
utterances of the other ministers on this point were entirely unofficial, and
made upon their own responsibility. Colonel St Paul of Ewart, edited by
George G. Butler (191 1) vol. ii. pp. 75, 133-134; Chatham Correspondence,
iv. 71-72.
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 76-77.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 78-79 ; 82-86.
3 Ibid., 78-79.
410 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
was the occasion, but not the cause, of the attack ; and
never was a better demonstration given of factious
criticism and perverted ability than on Friday,
January 25th, when the Spanish declaration was laid
before parliament. No blame, indeed, attaches to
the opposition for calling for papers connected with
the negotiation ; for no harm could ensue, now that a
settlement had been reached, from a publication of
documents which, a few weeks before, could not have
been safely revealed ; and the request was willingly
granted. Nor is the Duke of Richmond to be censured
for moving that all the memorials which had passed
between England and France should be laid before
the house, since he could justify his demand by the
popular, though entirely baseless, belief that France
had been allowed to interfere in the negotiation, and
had practically dictated the terms of the settlement. 1
But what, indeed, was worthy of blame was the violent
and factious tone adopted by the opposition speakers.
Thus Richmond, instead of being content with Roch-
ford's plain and truthful statement that no Anglo-
French memorials could be produced as none existed,
proclaimed the truly startling doctrine that the word
of a minister ought never to be accepted by the nation ;
and in this wild contention he was supported by
Chatham who, though he refrained from giving
Rochford the lie direct, asserted that he knew as a
positive fact that France had interfered in the negotia-
tion. In the house of commons, moreover, the same
1 It is necessary carefully to discriminate between influence and participa-
tion. It is, of course, true that France very materially influenced the negotia-
tion, but this was inevitable from her position as a possible ally of Spain in
the event of war. It is not true, however, to say that she interfered ; and
there is an interesting dispatch from Rochford to Harcourt, dated December
21st, 1770 (Foreign State Papers, R.O., 281), which illustrates the care taken
by the English ministers to safeguard against any suspicion of French
mediation.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 411
recklessness in accusation was displayed, the most
notable speech being made by Dowdeswell who
declared that the declaration was shameful, that the
satisfaction obtained was miserably disproportionate
to the length of the negotiation, that it was impossible
not to believe that Spain, from the very first, had been
willing to grant such meagre reparation ; and that, if
the ministers had never intended to ask for more, they
had grossly deceived the people in making preparations
for a war which could never have been a serious
possibility. 1
Such were the charges, the offspring of ignorance
and faction, produced by the opposition ; and the
campaign of misrepresentation was not confined to a
single day. When the papers, which had been de-
manded, were laid before the house of commons on
February 4th, the cry was again raised that France
had interfered in the negotiation, and no heed was
paid to North's denial of the charge. " Sir," said
Dowdeswell, " we know the court of France has in-
terfered ; and we ought to know in what way the elder
branch of the house of Bourbon has interfered " ; and
the same accusation was repeated in slightly varying
forms by nearly every speaker on the opposition side.
Thus Barre proclaimed that it was " the public opinion
of all Europe that the whole transaction is by France
alone," and Burke, going still further, declared that
he knew, " from a better source than common rumour,
that France has interfered, not as a mediator but as
a party." 2 Nor did even this attack exhaust the
activity and satisfy the venom of the opposition ; and
when, on February 13th, an address of thanks for the
Cavendish Debates, 2, 218-226; Pari. Hist. xvi. 1 336-1345 ; Chatham
Correspondence, 4, 86-88.
2 Cavendish Debates, 2, 231-243.
412 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
settlement of the dispute with Spain was moved in
the house of commons, Dowdeswell seized the oppor-
tunity to make a lengthy and violent assault upon the
ministers. According to him their crimes were, indeed,
many. They had neither prepared for the attack upon
Port Egmont, nor obtained compensation for the pro-
tracted refusal of Spain to do justice to this country ;
and, filling the cup of their iniquity, they had approved
a declaration, the terms of which were so vague and
ambiguous as to give neither satisfaction for the past
nor security for the future. 1 In the upper house the
government was subjected to the same ill-informed and
vindictive criticism, but, unfortunately, we know little
of the debates in that assembly at this time. It seems
that Chatham was foremost in the fray, speaking for
two hours to an amendment to the address of thanks
on February 14th ; 2 and, a few days earlier, the Duke
of Bolton had moved that the instructions, which had
been given to Hunt when he was sent to the Falkland
Islands, should be laid before the house, in the hope,
it has been asserted, that the publication of these
orders, which were excessively minatory, would so
outrage the Spanish court as to induce it to refuse to
ratify the declaration, and provoke it into embarking
upon a war with England. 3
Yet, in spite of all their labours, the opposition
failed in their crusade. They aimed at bringing dis-
credit and disgrace upon the government, and they
did not attain the end they sought. It was not their
bitterest grief that they had been easily outvoted in
both houses, for that had been a foregone conclusion :
it was of much greater moment that they had been so
1 Cavendish Debates, 2, 272-306.
2 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 182-183 ; Pari. Hist., xvi. 1379-1385.
3 Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 179.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 413
entirely unsuccessful in stirring up any national dis-
content against the ministry. Like Carteret before
them, they had endeavoured to fan the war fever,
to disseminate the belief that the honour and welfare
of the country had been sacrificed, and that nothing
could be more disastrous that a peace purchased at so
high a rate ; but the people, to whom they appealed,
refused to listen to them. Their case was, indeed, too
bad to be rendered even plausible by the eloquence
of Chatham and the reasoning of Burke ; and it may
be that because they failed, the iniquity of their con-
duct has been generally overlooked. Baffled intriguers,
however, cannot plead the frustration of their plans
as an excuse for their actions ; and though Chatham's
opposition to Sir Robert Walpole has sometimes been
pardoned on the ground of his comparative youth, it
is instructive to remember, in connection with this plea,
that he was guilty of an even less defensible display
of factious opposition when well advanced in years and
one of the most famous and experienced of European
statesmen.
Having thus failed to plunge the country into war,
the opposition, if it was to continue, was obliged to
find another grievance against the government ; and
this time the discovery was not easy to make. All
the possibilities of the Middlesex election had long
been exhausted ; and although this much over-debated
question was again raised in both houses in the course
of the session, the futility of such a revival was made
quite obvious. Only twenty supporters rallied to the
side of Chatham, when, in the house of lords on
December 5th, he moved that the judgment of the house
of commons upon the capacity to be elected a member
of parliament was neither final nor conclusive ; x and
1 Pari. Hist. xvi. 1302-13 12 ; Walpole's Memoirs, iv. 140-141.
414 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
when, a few weeks later, Sir George Savile asked leave
of the commons to introduce a bill dealing with the
rights and privileges of electors, he suffered the in-
dignity of addressing a half-empty and inattentive
house, many members having paired or withdrawn to
neighbouring coffee-houses in order to avoid hearing
arguments which they already knew by heart. 1 It
was, indeed, time decently to inter the Middlesex
election, especially as another question of almost equal
importance had lately arisen and awaited discussion.
It is by no means an unimportant part of the functions
of a parliamentary opposition to defend the subject
against that tendency towards arbitrary and oppressive
conduct which exists, in more or less degree, in every
government ; and Chatham and his friends were now
given an opportunity to play this role. It was open to
them to make amends for past failures and mistakes
by nobly standing up in defence of what, in spite
of many drawbacks and unhappy consequences, is one
of the surest guarantees of constitutional liberty,
the freedom of the press.
During the year 1770, public attention bad been
attracted to the very unsatisfactory character of the
existing law of libel ; and, in order to understand the
awakening of this widespread interest in a subject
which might well be thought too technical and abstract
to evoke much enthusiasm, it is necessary to go back
to the publication, in the Morning Advertiser of December
19th, 1769, of Junius' famous letter to the king. With
almost unparalleled malice and spleen this vindictive
and anonymous letter writer drew his sovereign's
1 Pari. Hist., xvi. 1355-1358 ; Cavendish Debates, 1, 245-256. According
to the Parliamentary History " one reason the numbers were but small on
either side, was that this point, having often been debated, several paired off,
and the question being put before it was expected, many gentlemen were
absent in the coffee-houses."
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 415
attention to the consequences of nine years of personal
government. He showed how the affections of England,
of Ireland, and of the Colonies had been so success-
fully alienated that the king was obliged to depend
upon the Scotch whose loyalty was now so great
that " one would think they had forgotten that you
are their lawful king, and had mistaken you for a
pretender to the crown." Yet, cruel as such gibes
were, they appear almost innocent in comparison
with the threats and admonitions with which the epistle
closed. Covering the indecency of his language with
a certain mock reverence and respect which doubled
its offensiveness, Junius informed the king that before
he could hope to subdue the hearts of his subjects,
" he must gain a noble victory over his own, that the
pretended power, which robs an English subject of his
birthright, may rob an English king of his crown " ;
and that a prince, who elected to model his conduct
upon that of the Stuarts, might well profit by the ex-
ample of their fate.
Such threatening and denunciatory words could
easily be construed as an incitement to rebellion and
sedition ; and George III. and his advisers are hardly
to be blamed for resorting in self defence to the weapon
of the law. Unfortunately, however, the chief offender
was beyond their reach, being concealed in that well-
contrived obscurity from which he has never completely
emerged ; and the victims of the royal vengeance were
the subordinate agents in the crime, the printers and
publishers of the offensive letter. Of these sufferers
the most famous were Henry Woodfall, the printer
of the Morning Advertiser, and John Almon, a book-
seller, who had sold a reprint of the libel. Both were
arrested and brought to trial ; and in the course of
the legal proceedings against them, Lord Mansfield
416 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ruled, though not for the first time, that a printer
or publisher was responsible for the actions of his
subordinates, and that, in cases of libel, the jury was
restricted to returning a verdict upon the mere facts
of printing and publication, leaving it to the bench to
determine the all important question whether what had
been printed or published was actually a libel. In
both trials, the lord chief justice laid particular
stress upon the latter point, carefully instructing the
jury, in the case of Woodfall, that " as for the intention,
the malice, the sedition, or any other harder words
which might be given in informations for libels, public
or private, they were merely formal words, mere words
of course, mere inferences of law, with which the jury
were not to concern themselves."
In proclaiming such a doctrine Lord Mansfield was
able to defend himself both by precedent and reason.
Many eminent lawyers in the past, and among them
the great Lord Hardwicke, had upheld a precisely
similar view ; and it is impossible to contend that
such a limitation of a jury's province was entirely
unreasonable. It may fairly be argued that though
the united opinion of twelve average and uninstructed
men may be of great weight upon a subject which
demands for its understanding no particular knowledge
or training, it is to the experts we look when a highly
specialised topic is under discussion ; and that twelve
grocers are no more qualified to determine the libellous
character of a publication than they are to decide the
question of the authorship of St John's Gospel. Many
are the men who have discovered to their cost how dark
and intricate the law of libel is ; and it may well appear
the height of unreason to expect the untrained and
ignorant layman to find his way through a labyrinth
which has sometimes puzzled even a lawyer. Yet,
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 417
in spite of the undoubted weight of such arguments,
and supported though they were by many precedents,
the opinion expressed by Mansfield had for many
years been challenged, even in legal circles. The
greatest opponent of the lord chief-justice was Lord
Camden who had always maintained that it was the
business of the jury to decide the criminality of a libel
as well as the fact of its publication, and that this privi-
lege was guaranteed by the law of the land. Public
opinion, moreover, had always supported that party
in the controversy to which Camden belonged, and for
very obvious and cogent reasons. It was abundantly
clear that if the judiciary alone was to decide whether
publications were libellous or not, the much boasted
freedom of the press would quickly become very little
more than a mere empty vaunt. Few would dare to
criticise the actions of the government, or to voice the
grievances of the nation, if they were to be left to the
mercy of judges who, appointed by the crown, and
by reason of their training and environment far more
in sympathy with the maintenance of authority than
with the assertion of freedom, would be only too likely
to affix the stigma of libel to every writing which ran
counter to the wishes of the court or tended to provoke
discontent against the government. Free criticism,
it was urged, would be quickly stifled, and the press
converted into an engine of royal tyranny ; and the
only possible safeguard against such a danger was to
allow a reputed libeller that privilege of being tried by
a jury of his fellow-countrymen, which was not denied
to the lowest criminal.
It is evident that much of the disagreement between
the two schools was due to a fundamental difference in
their point of view. Mansfield, and those who shared
his opinions, not unnaturally resented the claims of
2 D
418 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the layman to interfere in what they regarded as the
province of the lawyer ; whereas Camden, paying
perhaps too little heed to the necessity of specialised
knowledge in legal administration, thought almost
exclusively of the great constitutional question which
was at stake. It seemed to him far more important
that the press should be free than that the law of libel
should be scientifically applied ; and there can be
no doubt that he was substantially in the right. The
practical, and, therefore, the real value of any system
of law depends upon the degree to which it promotes and
develops a well-ordered and vigorous national life, and
it is certain that if the judicial bench were able to control
the most powerful organ of political criticism that has
ever existed, constitutional growth, if not impossible,
would, at least, be rendered exceedingly difficult. There-
fore, if the law of libel really was as Mansfield had
always stated it, it must be changed in the interests of
the nation as a whole ; for men had come to perceive
that what was scientifically true might easily be
politically dangerous, and that it was necessary for
them to take steps to prevent their liberty being
sacrificed to the pedantry of lawyers. Thus, in
Woodfall's trial, the jury, circumventing rather than
defying the instructions it had received from Lord
Mansfield, returned a verdict of " guilty of printing
and publishing " only ; and when Miller, another
printer, was charged at the Guildhall, the jury dis-
regarded both the weight of evidence and the elementary
principles of justice by returning a verdict of " not
guilty."
A conflict between law and public opinion is always
attended by serious danger, and when such discord
arises, the easy and natural remedy to adopt is to bring
the law into conformity with the national will. Un-
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 419
fortunately, however, it was in the last degree unlikely
that a ministry which depended upon the court, and
upon the court alone, would make a change which
must result in the multiplication of its already numerous
critics ; and, therefore, what the administration would
not attempt, the opposition must. Indeed, there
was much to induce Chatham and Rockingham to essay
the task which the ministry declined. If they suc-
ceeded, their names would be for ever linked with an
important constitutional development ; and, if they
failed, they would, at least, enjoy the satisfaction
which comes from a gallant struggle against a combina-
tion of ignorance and interest, and could count with
security upon the gratitude of contemporaries and the
admiration of posterity. Thus, inaction would indeed
be fatal ; but it would be still worse if, after having
engaged in battle upon behalf of the nation, the leaders
of the opposition turned their swords against one
another, and saved the enemy the trouble of destroying
them by bringing destruction upon themselves. Yet
it was this miserable fate which befell them ; and
never was a greater opportunity missed, or a catas-
trophe more complete. The only result of the crusade
to reform the law of libel was the complete collapse
of the party which had undertaken it. Henceforth,
dissension between the followers of Chatham and
Rockingham was open and avowed ; anything ap-
proaching an united opposition ceased to exist ; and
the parliamentary conflict was stilled until the days
when England was on the verge of war with the colonists.
The tragedy of the disaster was rendered all the
greater by being totally unnecessary ; for the difference
of opinion, which separated the two parties in opposition,
was comparatively slight, and could easily have been
adjusted by the timely exercise of a little tact and
420 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
forbearance. Both were agreed in considering the
law of libel, as interpreted by Mansfield, to be a serious
menace to the freedom of the press, and, as this was the
main point at issue, it might be thought that little
room was left for any serious disagreement. History,
however, teaches that embittered quarrels, both
between nations and individuals, often spring from
very trivial causes, and it was over the method to be
adopted to attain an end which all desired that there
arose the dispute which wrecked the opposition.
Taking what may fairly be called the common sense
view of the situation, Rockingham and his supporters
desired to remove the prevalent doubt and uncertainty
upon a very important legal point by introducing a
bill definitely giving the jury the right to decide whether
a publication was libellous or not. It was not, they
might truly say, for them, mere politicians and lay-
men, to arbitrate between such eminent jurists as
Camden and Mansfield upon a question of law ; but,
at the same time, it was their duty as statesmen to
endeavour to end the confusion which arises when
lawyers disagree. Thus, having no desire to inquire
into the past, to plunge into a controversy for which
they were not equipped, or to censure Mansfield
for expressing a belief which, they were well aware,
he could support by far better arguments than ever
they could produce, they sought a remedy for the
future, and approached the problem, not as lawyers
which they were not, but as statesmen which they
were. Yet, it was by this very wisdom and restraint
that they incurred the wrath of the ally who could
frustrate their plans and defeat their hopes. Chatham
who, though he had the insight of genius, could never
think clearly or logically, was entirely unable to dis-
tinguish between the legal and the constitutional
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 421
aspect of the question. Rightly convinced that the
doctrines, enunciated by Mansfield, were inimical to
freedom and alien to the spirit of the constitution,
he at once concluded that the lord chief-justice was
guilty of a grievous error. To him it seemed far more
likely that the man, who was well known to favour
autocratic methods of government, should twist and
pervert the law to his own evil ends than that the law
itself should be an engine of tyranny and oppression.
So thinking, he could not favour the design of a legis-
lative change, for that might be well construed as a
confession of weakness, as an admission that Mansfield
was right and Camden was wrong : what he sought to
promote was an inquiry into the administration of
the law of libel, confidently believing that such an
inquisition would reveal the evil deeds of wicked
judges, and establish, once and for ever, the true
doctrine that the freedom of the press, though assailed
by those who had most to fear from it, enjoyed the
protection of the law of the land.
Thus, the antagonists of the court inclined once
more to range themselves under opposing banners ;
and the line of demarcation between the followers
of Chatham and Rockingham became unpleasantly
well-defined. It is certain that a great deal of difficulty
in the future might have been avoided if a plan of
campaign had been discussed and settled between the
two parties ; and there is reason to believe that this
very obvious method of adjusting differences was
ruled out of consideration by Chatham and his followers,
who were determined to act independently of men whom
they were already beginning to regard with distrust
and suspicion. It was in accordance with this most
unfortunate resolution that though Chatham and his
friends had originally intended that the campaign
422 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
should be opened by Charles Cornwall, a very insig-
nificant member of the opposition, moving for the
institution of an inquiry into the administration
of justice, the idea was promptly abandoned when it
was found that Cornwall felt himself pledged in honour
to communicate his intention to the Rockinghams.
An equally effective, though more roundabout, method
was contrived ; for when it was discovered that Captain
Constantine Phipps, an independent member of parlia-
ment, intended to move for leave to introduce a bill
dealing with the attorney-general's power of filing
informations ex officio for libel, it was at once arranged
that Cornwall, in speaking to the motion, should press
for an inquiry into the administration of justice on
the ground that far more mischief was being wrought
by the judges than by the attorney-general ; and that
then Phipps should extend his proposition in order to
meet this criticism. 1
This was an ingenious contrivance, and, save in
one particular, successfully executed. On November
27th, 1770, Captain Phipps moved that " leave be given
to bring in a bill to explain, amend, and render more
effectual, the act of the 4th and 5th of William and
Mary, to prevent malicious informations in the court
of king's bench," and after the motion had been
seconded by Sir William Meredith, and opposed by
Welbore Ellis, Cornwall rose to play his pre-arranged
part of the friendly and sympathetic critic. While
allowing that the public mind was strangely agitated,
Cornwall contended that this did not spring from any
abuse of the power lodged in the hands of the attorney-
general, but rather from juries being told that " upon
the trial of a libel . . . they were only judges of the
fact, not of the law " ; and that, therefore, the agitation
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 20-23.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 423
in the nation would best be allayed by the appoint-
ment of a committee to inquire into the administra-
tion of justice. According to the original programme,
Phipps ought then to have consented to amend his
proposal ; but, with the natural pride of a father, he
found it impossible, when the time came, to mutilate
his own offspring, and retorted upon Cornwall by
asserting that "if it should be proved, that there is
a power within the letter of the law, which militates
against the constitution, why, before we correct the
evil, should we go into so serious an inquiry, as whether
the administration of justice is correctly administered
or not ? ' Yet, though Phipps had proved himself
unexpectedly obdurate, and no motion for an inquiry
was made, Cornwall's interposition was certainly not
without value as a preparation of the ground for
future operations, and as a test which, from Chatham's
point of view, divided the sheep from the goats. Thus
Dunning, who had once been solicitor-general in
Grafton's ministry, and had only recently joined the
opposition, and Serjeant Glynn, a leading member of
the " Bill of Rights " Society, and a consistent opponent
of the court, won Chatham's good opinion by their
denunciation of Mansfield's doctrines and their en-
thusiastic support of Cornwall's suggestions ; and it
equally did not pass unnoticed that Dowdeswell had
remained silent, and that Burke, though he pressed
for an inquiry, had been frank enough to admit that
juries might be corrupt as well as judges. 1
" If Burke's picture of juries, and of that mode
of justice," wrote Chatham, on receiving an account
of the debate, " be to be adopted, I will separate from
so unorthodox a congregation " ; 2 and this was certainly
1 Cavendish Debates, 2, 89-116; Pari. Hist., xvi., 1127-1211; Chatham
Correspondence, 4, 30-31.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 31-32.
424 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
no idle threat. Aware that in Dunning and Glynn he
had supporters of established legal reputation, 1 and
determined to be no longer fettered by what he deemed
the sickly moderation of the Rockingham party,
Chatham resolved to push on the campaign in complete
independence of his former allies ; and, using Shelburne
as his go-between, persuaded Glynn to father the
resolution which Cornwall had abandoned. 2 Con-
sequently, on Thursday, December 6th, Glynn moved
" that a committee be appointed to inquire into the
administration of criminal justice, and the proceedings
of the judges of Westminster Hall, particularly in cases
relating to the liberty of the press, and the constitutional
power and duties of juries." The rejection of this
motion was, of course, a foregone conclusion, but the
debate afforded an interesting illustration of the very
clearly marked divergence in opinion between the two
parties in opposition. All Chatham's followers who
joined in the discussion were unanimous in denouncing
Mansfield's conception of the law of libel, not only as
antagonistic to freedom, but as actually illegal. Thus
Glynn declared that " these doctrines . . . have no
authority from our laws and constitution," and Calcraft
scornfully remarked, " What does it signify to have
proved that the arraigned doctrines are conformable
to precedent, since they have not been proved con-
formable to the principles of the constitution " ; while
Alderman Oliver, who seconded the motion in a short
but extremely violent speech, boldly accused Lord
Mansfield of maladministration. On the other hand,
it was very noticeable that all the members of the
1 " Mr Dunning's visit yesterday," wrote Chatham on December 3rd,
" has filled me with the highest satisfaction. He is another being from any
I have known of the profession. . . . Mr Dunning is not a lawyer, at the
same time that he is the law itself." Chatham Correspondence, 4, 41.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 35-36.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 425
Rockingham party who spoke were careful, while
supporting the motion, clearly to dissociate them-
selves from the opinions expressed by Glynn and his
friends. Thus Sir George Savile argued that he
favoured an inquiry because, confused by the division
of opinion among the experts, he was anxious to have
his doubts cleared up, and Burke had the honesty to
avow that if Lord Mansfield " has erred, he has erred
in the best company." x
" Upon the whole," wrote Chatham in reference
to this debate, " the day was a good and great one for
the public," 2 and it is very significant that he should
find pleasure in what might have been expected to
produce a very different emotion. Doubtless it was
well that a protest should be made against an inter-
pretation of the libel law, which ran counter to the
spirit of the constitution, but it would have been still
better if such a protest had come from an opposition
which was agreed, not only upon principles, but also
upon a programme. Only seventy-six votes had been
given for Glynn's motion, and such an attenuated
minority suggests that not a few of the Rockingham
party had not troubled to attend the debate. Nor can
they be blamed for their absence, for, unconsidered
and unconsulted, they were under no obligation to
support a method of procedure which they did not
approve. To them it seemed that to institute an
inquiry into the administration of justice was not
only to shake the foundations upon which all ordered
government rests, but also to convert what ought
to be a crusade on behalf of the freedom of the press
into a malicious assault upon a single individual.
There was good reason to believe that Chatham and
2
Cavendish Debates, 2, 121-148 ; Pari. Hist., xvi., 1211-1301,
Chatham Correspondence, 4, 45-46.
426 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
his friends were aiming far too much at making a
personal attack upon Lord Mansfield ; and this sus-
picion gained no little support from the proceedings
of the opposition in the house of lords. When, on
Friday, December 7th, Mansfield informed the peers
that he wished the house to be summoned for the
following Monday, as he had an important communica-
tion to make, it is very probable that Chatham believed
that he had succeeded in driving the lord chief-justice
out into the open, and that the latter was about to
commit the serious indiscretion of making a public
defence of his conduct. In this expectation, however,
he was disappointed, for, when Monday came, Mansfield
did no more than inform his hearers that he had left
a copy of the judgment of the court of king's bench
in Woodfall's case with the clerk of the house. As
there was no motion, there could be no debate ; and
although, on the day following, Camden, instigated by
Chatham, 1 sought to entrap Mansfield by addressing
to him six questions upon the law of libel, the lord
chief-justice rightly refused to be interrogated without
notice ; and, though he gave a general promise that
the topics raised by Camden should receive discussion,
stoutly declined to name any particular day for the
debate. 2
The motion for an inquiry having been rejected
in the lower house, and Camden being determined not
to renew the attack upon Mansfield, 3 it seemed that
Chatham was at the end of his resources, and that it
was now the turn of the Rockingham whigs to move
1 According to Horace Walpole, Camden confessed that " Lord Chatham
had driven him into the attack on Lord Mansfield, which he did not like,
and in which at last he declared he would meddle no further : he did not
care to have all the twelve judges against him." Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 149.
2 Pari. Hist., xvi., 1312-1317, 1321-1322 ; Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 143-144,
146-148.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 97-99.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 427
in the matter. That they would steer a different course
was certain, for they had not approved of the method
hitherto adopted ; and Rockingham was only express-
ing the opinion of the majority of his followers when
he said, " I early thought that the mode of proceeding
in the house of lords, by debates, queries, questions,
etc., between Lord Camden and Lord Mansfield, would
ultimately end in nothing advantageous to the public,"
and that " the inquiry into the proceedings of the courts
of law in the house of commons seems to have been
instituted more to gratify popular clamour than for
any expectation or plan of public security to ensue." x
Indeed, realising that Mansfield was by no means
singular in his interpretation of the law, and that by
far the larger proportion of the judiciary sympathised
with him rather than with Camden, the Rockingham
whigs fully appreciated the futility of an inquiry,
and sought to effect the needed change by statute.
In this they showed greater wisdom than Chatham
had displayed. Nothing could be more detrimental
to the public welfare than the prevailing uncertainty
on a legal question of great importance for the
community at large ; and the Rockinghams are
deserving of credit for their determination to introduce
a bill which, if carried, would dissipate all doubt, and
establish beyond dispute the freedom of the press by
giving the jury the right to decide the criminality of
a libel.
No time was lost in preparing a bill on these lines,
the work being entrusted to the experienced hand of
William Dowdeswell ; and it speaks volumes for the
forbearance of the Rockingham whigs that they were
1 The Duke of Richmond refers to " those doubts which the opinion of
seven judges of the king's bench, countenanced by that of perhaps all the
judges now living, has created in the minds of many well-meaning people."
Chatham Correspondence, 4, 97-99.
428 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
willing to ask Chatham, who had so recently treated
them with such scant courtesy, to co-operate with them
in this enterprise. They realised, if he did not, how evil
must be the consequences of disunion and dissension ;
and, in the absence of Rockingham, who was prevented
from coming to London by his wife's ill-health, the
Duke of Richmond waited upon Chatham to learn his
views. The reception he encountered was certainly
not encouraging. It is true that Chatham was pre-
pared to abandon his original design, and to support
the introduction of a bill ; but he suggested that Camden
and not Dowdeswell should be entrusted with the con-
duct of this measure, which, moreover, should be so
framed as simply to declare that by the existing law,
a jury was fully competent to determine the criminality
of a libel as well as the fact of its publication. 1 It
is not difficult to perceive the motive of Chatham's
preference for a declaratory over an enacting measure.
He was resolved never to admit that Mansfield, and
those who agreed with him, were justified by law, and
he feared that the introduction of a bill, such as the
Rockingham party had designed, might be used as
an argument in support of the position occupied by
the lord chief-justice. It is certain that this was by
no means an imaginary danger, for it might fairly
be contended that if the law of libel was really as
Chatham and Camden represented it, no statutory
change was necessary : and that the only possible
1 There is no direct account of this interview ; but Rockingham, after
having heard from Richmond, wrote to Dowdeswell that " the conduct Lord
Chatham holds in this matter shows very plainly that, at the bottom, one
cause of difference between our friends and him arises from a jealousy that
our friends might get credit. The proposal that the bill you had given notice
you should move, should be altered, and put into Lord Camden's hands, was
a very evident mark that he could accommodate a little on the main point
where the public were concerned, if he and his friends were to appear in public
as the leaders of the business." Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 200-203.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 429
logical deduction to be drawn from the introduction
of an enacting measure was that Lord Mansfield was
justified by law in having consistently confined the
scope of the jury's verdict.
Political progress, however, is not governed by
dialectic however skilful ; and the Rockingham whigs
refused to be convinced by these arguments, preferring
to dispense with Chatham's assistance rather than
accept it upon such terms. " If you yield now, the
horseman will stick to you while ever you live," x wrote
Burke to Dowdeswell who, indeed, did not need much
persuasion to remain firm ; and both Rockingham and
Richmond were sincerely convinced that it would be
fatal, both to their credit and to their political utility,
to surrender to Chatham. 2 Nor was their refusal
dictated by pride of party alone. By making the
alteration in their measure which Chatham demanded,
they would pledge themselves to a definite belief in
either the ignorance or villainy of Lord Mansfield ;
and this they were not prepared to do. " We wish,"
wrote the Duke of Richmond to Chatham, " to leave
the past just where it is, and shall be well satisfied
if this bill can be carried through, and thereby security
obtained on this great point for the future. Your
lordship and the friends of this bill all mean alike
the support of this material part of the constitution ;
we differ only in the means, and I think not very widely.
I shall, therefore, ever lament, if your lordship should
think it necessary to go so far as to oppose those honest
endeavours, for which we are pledged to the public,
and which, after repeated and mature deliberation,
we think ourselves bound to pursue." 3
1 Burke's Correspondence, i, 251-252.
a Rockingham Memoirs, 2, 200-204.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 97-99.
430 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
It is sad to record that this dignified and almost
pathetic appeal did not meet with the response which
it deserved. Either on the very day that he received
Richmond's letter, or the day following, Chatham
informed Barre that " Mr Dowdeswell peremptorily
will move his bill concerning juries in the course of
next week ; when the friends of the constitution will,
it is hoped, strenuously resist this compound of con-
nection, tyranny and absurdity " ; 1 and to Calcraft
he expressed the hope that the bill would " meet with
the reception from the public which such a task-master
deserves." 2 Moreover, taking his cue from his leader,
Barre, when asked by Dowdeswell to attend a meeting
at Sir George Savile's house, declined the invitation
on the ground that it was impossible for him " to make
part of a company which was to discuss a measure
which I not only disliked, but thought myself bound
to oppose " ; 3 and if this sort of spirit were to continue
to animate the followers of Chatham, it seemed likely
that when Dowdeswell introduced his bill into the house
of commons, he would be fiercely attacked by many
influential members of the opposition, whose votes
would go to swell the ministerial majority. Such a
complete breach, however, was averted by a timely
meeting between Rockingham and Chatham, at which,
though no reconciliation between the two points
of view was affected, it was probably arranged that
Chatham's followers should vote for the introduction
of Dowdeswell's bill on the understanding that they
should be completely at liberty to oppose it at a later
stage. " I have seen," wrote Chatham to Shelburne
on March 2nd, " Lord Rockingham, who has entered
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 100.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 103-104.
3 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 100-102.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 431
largely, in his candid and temperate manner, into the
reasons for pursuing Mr Dowdeswell's bill. Your
humble servant remained . . . unconvinced, and next
week, I believe Thursday, it will come on. I fear much
the consequence, and false comments, if our friends of
the long robe should take the plan of saying nothing
the first day. A silent disapprobation of a bill simply
enacting, will not be distinguishable from the disap-
probation of ministry to any assertion of the juror's
rights. The wrong bill, it seems to me, should be
admitted to be brought in, in order to make it right,
that is, declaratory, in the committee." 1
Such a compromise, to give it a name which it
hardly deserves, was essentially unsatisfactory ; and
the debate in the house of commons on March 7th,
when Dowdeswell asked leave to introduce his bill,
illustrated the deep division of opinion between those
who ought to have stood united. Not by their votes,
which, for the most part, they gave against the ministry,
but by their words did the followers of Chatham betray
their dislike of Dowdeswell's measure. Barre, Calcraft
and Dunning chorused their disapproval of the bill and
their fervent intention to amend it in committee, and
there were some who went further than they did.
Thus James Grenville, a nephew of the dead statesman,
declared that he could not give his vote for Dowdeswell's
motion as he would never admit " the dangerous
proposition that juries are judges of the fact, but not
of the law," and Sir William Meredith, once a loyal
and enthusiastic member of the Rockingham party,
seconded a motion for adjournment which was proposed
by Constantine Phipps, and carried by two hundred
and eighteen votes to seventy-two. Such a substantial
victory was all the more gratifying to the court from
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 108-109.
•
432 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
having been obtained without a single member of the
government, with the exception of Conway who was
more of the body than of the soul of the administration,
raising his voice in the discussion. " I sincerely
rejoice at the very good conclusion of yesterday's
debate," wrote George III. to his first minister, " and
at nothing more than the wisdom of leaving the opposi-
tion, as they were divided in their sentiments, the
whole altercation ; besides, if gentlemen can let their
reason guide them to differ with their friends on what
they might deem a popular question, it is to be hoped
they will by this be encouraged to hold on future
occasions the same propriety of conduct." 1
Nor was it only at court that there was joy, for
something not unlike scornful exultation prevailed
amongst the followers of Chatham. " You see, my
lord, what a glorious day yesterday was for the opposi-
tion, and particularly for its leaders," wrote Barre
to Chatham on March 8th. " Nothing under the
humour of a Swift or a Rabelais can describe it to you.
I went down to the house very angry with them, but
in less than an hour they forced me to pity them.
Poor things ! They told me that they never would
do the like again." 2 Such contemptuous pity was
characteristic of the vitriolic Barre, but the same
bitter tone can be detected in the milder Calcraft's
almost gleeful utterance that " Mr Dowdeswell, Mr
Burke, and their few followers were completely dis-
graced." 3 Yet, it is difficult to see any justification
for joy over what, from the standpoint of the vigour
1 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, i, 62. For the debate
see Walpole's Memoirs, 4, 188 ; Pari. Hist., xvii., 43-58 ; Cavendish Debates, 2,
352-377 ; Letters of the first Earl of Malmesbury (1870), 1, 219-220 ; Chatham
Correspondence, 4, 109-114.
2 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 109-114.
3 Calcraft to Chatham, March 8th, 1771 ; Pitt Papers, R. O., 1st series,
vol. xxv.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 433
and effectiveness of the opposition, was nothing short
of a crowning disaster. Henceforth, the supporters
of Chatham and Rockingham were divided by a gulf
which, if not unbridgeable, was, at least, unbridged. A
fatal breach had been effected, and the history of the
concluding weeks of the session, though not without
interest, is doleful reading enough. A detailed account
of the famous struggle between the commons and the
city of London is hardly necessary, since the tale has
already been brilliantly told ; but it cannot be entirely
overlooked, affording as it does such ample illustration
of the lack of union and co-operation between the
enemies of the court. Few pages in eighteenth-century
history are more familiar than those which record the
ignoble attempt to prohibit the publication of the
parliamentary debates, the apprehension of the printers
who dared to disobey the orders of the house, their
discharge by the city magistrates, and the committal
of the lord mayor and Alderman Oliver to the Tower
of London ; but it is not so well known that in the
various stages of this lengthy, tedious, and essentially
futile struggle, the followers of Rockingham and
Chatham, while certainly united in opposing a policy
which could only end in loss of dignity and the outburst
of popular passion, acted so independently of one
another as to make their resistance of little or no
account. At the very height of the contest Chatham
was informed by Calcraft that " opposition are in
great want of a leader and a general system " ; x and
the same thought was probably in George III.'s mind
when, a few weeks earlier, he told North that " there
being so many of the principal persons of the opposi-
tion in the minority this day, and yet the number
amounting only to nineteen, appears rather extra-
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 125-127.
2 E
434 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
ordinary." l But this phenomenon might have
occasioned less surprise to the king if he had known,
like Calcraft, of the absence of a " general system."
There are no traces of any meetings between the two
parties during this struggle, of any elaboration of
plans in common, or of any general programme of
attack ; and negative though such testimony may be,
it throws no little light upon the parlous condition
into which the opposition had fallen. " I need not say,
my dear friend," wrote Chatham to Calcraft, " how
little is left to keep up my animation towards public
affairs : the desultoriness and no plan of our friend
in Pall Mall ; 2 the poor weakness of Lord Camden ;
the no- weight of such advice as I can give, either in
the city or Grosvenor Square 3 are circumstances not
very encouraging " ; and this was a cry from the heart.
Despair, indeed, reigned, and although, before the session
was brought to an end, Chatham moved an address
for the dissolution of parliament, this was but the
last and final rally before the complete abandonment
of all hope. On all sides he encountered disappoint-
ment. Lord Camden whom he suspected unjustly
of carrying on an intrigue with the government, ex-
pressed his strong disapproval of the address, 4 and was
supported by Lord Lyttleton ; 5 and Temple, though
he approved, refused to emerge at his brother-in-law's
bidding from that political seclusion to which he had
condemned himself for some time past. 6
The downfall of the opposition was indeed complete,
and when parliament re-assembled in January, 1772,
1 Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, i, 58-59.
* Lord Temple. 3 Lord Rockingham.
4 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 161-162.
5 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 163-164.
6 Grenville Papers, 4, 533-534. Chatham Correspondence, 4, 154-155,
163-164.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE OPPOSITION 435
Chatham was not found in his place. Writing from
his Somersetshire home, he told Shelburne that he
did not see " that the smallest good can result to the
public from my coming up to the meeting of parlia-
ment. A headlong self-willed spirit has sunk the City
into nothing : attempting powers it has no colour of
right to, it has lost the weight to which it is entitled.
In another quarter, the narrow genius of old-corps
connection has weakened whiggism, and rendered
national union on revolution principles impossible ;
and what but such an union can have any chance to
withstand the present corruption." x He was, indeed,
only too right in his assertion that an united opposi-
tion existed no longer, and that it was vain to continue
the battle against the administration. There is no
doubt that George III. had won the greatest victory
of his reign, and England now stood upon the threshold
of that era of personal government which was destined
to be productive of so much mischief. All the per-
sistence, the courage and the gallantry which had been
expended upon the struggle against North and his
predecessor, Grafton, seemed wasted ; and the political
ideals, which George had cherished from the first
and never abandoned in the hour of greatest adversity,
were about to find complete realisation. Thus the
curtain is rung down upon a triumphant king and the
defeated whigs ; and the grouping of the characters
at the close of this act in the political drama was
certainly not accidental. The opposition had failed
very largely because it deserved to fail, and neither
Rockingham, Chatham nor Grenville can escape their
share of the responsibility for the disaster. All three
in their different ways helped unconsciously, but none
the less effectively, to promote the triumph of the
1 Chatham Correspondence, 4, 186-187.
436 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
court. Rockingham, not marked oat by nature for
a political career, was but a poor substitute for
Newcastle as a leader of a party ; and neither Chatham
nor Grenville, though the one had genius and the other
most exemplary industry, ever really grasped the
essential conditions of success in parliamentary warfare.
Yet to argue that it would have been better if the battle
had never been waged, would be to overlook much of
permanent value in the struggle. No little instruction
can be gleaned from blunders and mistakes in the
past ; and a study of this brief though critical period
in the reign of George III. enforces the old lesson
contained in the well-known adage, " united we stand,
divided we fall." It is easy enough for us to see how
fatal were the consequences of the division of the whig
party into three separate and, too often, rival camps ;
but it may well be that we are able to appreciate the
value of political unity because we have been instructed
by events in the past. In the early days of George
III., those who consistently opposed the court were
constitutional pioneers, hewing their way through
many obstructions, and compelled to make their own
road as they went along ; and if they sometimes went
astray, and were lost in the desert, their journey was
not in vain ; for by their labours they lightened the
task of those who came after them.
INDEX
Abhorrers, in the reign of Charles II., 276 and n. 1.
Albemarle, George Keppel, third Earl of, and the fall of the Rockingham
ministry in 1766, 36 ; and the overtures to the Bedford party in
December 1766, 97 ; opposed to reduction of land tax, 106 ; and the
Duke of Bedford's motion on 10th April 1767, 134 ; prepared to forego
his claims to be commander-in-chief, 156, 157 n. 1 ; and the negotia-
tion of July 1767, 160-162 ; his visits to Woburn, ibid, and 183 and n. 4 ;
his theory to account for failure of negotiation, 1 74 ; his anxiety for union
with Bedford party, 177 ; see also 156 n. 1, 181, 187.
Aldborough, borough of, and general election of 1768, 213 and n. 4.
Almon, John, libel suit against, 415-416.
America, South, 372.
American colonies and the question of taxation of, 38, 46, 55, 96 ; discon-
tent in, after repeal of stamp act, 107-108, 128 ; views of English parties
upon, 108 -1 10; proper policy to be pursued towards, 128-129;
Shelburne's sympathy with, 51, 130; attitude of Lord Chatham and
Camden towards, in 1767, 130-131 ; ministerial policy towards, in 1767,
129-145 ; taxation of, by Charles Townshend, 141 - 145 ; included in
secretaryship of state for the southern department and then transferred,
161, 192 ; attitude of George Grenville towards, 167-168, 175 ; influence
of dispute with, upon domestic politics, 176 ; resistance of, to revenue
act, 232-234; parliamentary action against, in session of 1768-69, 247-
255 ; Chatham's defence of, in 1770, 294 ; and repeal of the revenue act,
347-349; see also 47, 121, 123, 162, 169, 293, 305, 323-324, 328, 365,
415,419.
Ancaster, Peregrine Bertie, third Duke of, moves the address in the House
of Lords, 1770, 293.
Anne, Queen, 319.
Apsley, Henry Bathurst, first Lord, becomes lord chancellor, 405.
Archer, Lord, 202.
Archer, Mr, 202.
Arthur's club, 23 ; meeting of Rockingham and Gower at, 135.
Austria and Frederick the Great, 71.
Bagot, Sir William, 351.
Bailey, Abraham, the Duke of Newcastle's steward, 215 n. 1.
Banbury, borough of, represented in parliament by Lord North, 321.
Barrd, Isaac, and the American colonies, 248 ; and John Wilkes, 271 ; and
the Falkland Islands, 408 n. 1, 411 ; and the law of libel, 430-432.
Barrington, William Wildman, second Viscount Barrington, secretary
437
438 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
at-war in Lord Rockingham's first administration, 38 ; his political
opinions, ibid. ; and the American colonies, 248 ; and John Wilkes, 263,
264, 266.
Bath, William Pulteney, first Earl of, in opposition to Walpole, 25-26 ;
compared with Chatham, 58 n. 2 ; see also 29.
Bath, Lord Chatham at, 69, 98, 101, 112 ; the Duke of Bedford at, 69,
216 n. 4.
Bathurst, Henry, first Lord Apsley ; see Apsley.
Beaconsfield, 285, 287.
Beauchamp, Francis Seymour Conway, Viscount, 79.
Beckford, William, and East India Company, 93, 102-103, 123-125 ; and
the remonstrance of city of London, 342-346, 362 n. 1 ; see also
100-101, 292 n. 3, 362.
Bedford, John Russell, fourth Duke of, his character, 59 ; a member of Gren-
ville's administration, 60 ; rejects Chatham's overtures in October 1766,
69 ; negotiations with Chatham in November and December 1766, 86-87,
195 n. 2 ; his views on the East India Company, 95, 204 ; his relations
with Grenville in December 1766, 95-98 ; his motion in the House of
Lords on 10th April 1767, 133-134 ; visited by Newcastle on 14th April
I 7&7, I 34- I 35 5 his estimate of parliamentary strength of the opposition
in 1767, 136; and the act suspending the powers of the New York
Assembly, 139; his relations with Rockingham in 1767, 121, 133, 152,
153 ; and the negotiation of July 1767, 161 and n. 1, 163, 165, 167-170, 176 ;
and his attitude towards the Rockingham whigs in the autumn of 1767,
176-184, 179 n. 1 ; his blindness, 183, 193; and the demand of the
treasury for Grenville in the autumn of 1767, 183 n. 4; anxious to
attack the ministry in the autumn session 1767, 186 ; his anger with
Rockingham, 186-187 ; his quarrel with the Rockingham party, 186-
191 ; his interview with Newcastle, November 1767, 188-190, 193; allies
himself with the ministry, 191 - 193 ; and the electioneering contest
between Lowther and Portland, 216 n. 4 ; and the American colonies,
252 ; his visit to Devonshire in 1769, 278-279 ; see also 136, 153, 173,
and Bedford party.
Bedford House, 135.
Bedford party, their character and political opinions, 59-60 ; difference of
opinion with Rockingham whigs, 60 ; their relations with Rockingham
whigs in the summer of 1766, 65 ; attitude towards Chatham in 1766,
66 ; and the embargo upon export of corn, 73-75 ; and the indemnity
bill, 89; and the Eastjndia Company, 94, 103-105, 124-125, 204; and
the Rockingham whigs in December 1766, 95-98; negotiation with the
Rockingham whigs in March 1767, 119-121; their demand of the
treasury for George Grenville, 120 ; improvement of their relations
with the Rockingham whigs in the spring of 1767, 121-122, 124-125 ;
unite with Rockingham whigs in attacking ministerial colonial policy,
133-141 ; their suggested inclusion in the ministry in May 1767, 148-
149 ; overtures to, in June 1767, 149 ; and the negotiations of July 1767,
I 53-I54 J 156-170, 158 ?i. 1, 173; their relations with the Rockingham
whigs during the autumn 1767, 176-184; their rupture with Rockingham
INDEX 439
whigs, 186-191 ; their accession to ministry, 191-192, 192-193, 195-197
and n. 1, 235; and John Wilkes, 227, 228, 229, 230, 260; their
antagonism to Shelburne, 234-235 ; and Lord Rochford, 236 ; opposed
to Camden, 237 n. 4 ; and the American colonies, 245 ; see also 63,
147, 332.
Bengal, conquest of, 90.
Bennet, curate at Aldborough, 213 and «. 4.
Bentinck, William Henry Cavendish, third Duke of Portland ; see Portland.
Berkeley Square, the Jesuit of, nickname of Lord Shelburne, 51.
Bernard, Sir Robert, 277 n. 2.
Bertie, Peregrine, third Duke of Ancaster ; see Ancaster.
Bessborough, William Ponsonby, second Earl of, resignation of, 80-84 ;
attempts to reconcile the Rockingham whigs with Chatham, 82-84 '■>
appointed to approach Lord Gower, 97 ; his opinion of the Rockingham
whigs, 98 ; and Bedford's motion on 10th April 1767, 134.
Blackstone, Dr, and John Wilkes, 270-271.
Bolingbroke, Henry St John, first Viscount, political philosophy of, 4-5 ; and
George III., 212 ; see also 63.
Bolton, Harry Paulett, sixth Duke of, and the Falkland Islands, 412.
Boroughs, treasury and rotten, 11 ; sale of, at general election of 1768, 212-
213 and 213 n. 1 and 2 ; and Chatham, 329.
Boston, and Townshend's revenue act, 232, 249 ; and Sons of Liberty of,
256 ; see also 247, 252.
Boulton, Henry Crabb, a director of the East India Company, 125.
Bradshaw, Thomas, secretary of the treasury, 402 n. 5.
Brett, Sir Piercy, appointed to a place on the board of admiralty, 87.
Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, third Duke of, 187, 189, 191.
Bristol, George William Hervey, second Earl of, 242 n. 1.
Bristol, Augustus Hervey, afterwards third Earl of, supports nullum tempus
bill, 210 ; accepts a lordship of the admiralty, 405.
Buccarelli, the governor of Buenos Ayres, 374 ; and the attack upon Port
Egmont, 374, 375 and ?i. 2, 377, 378, 379, 382, 384, 389 and n. 1, 403.
Buckinghamshire, John Hobart, second Earl of, his opinion of the Duke of
Richmond, 40 and n. 1 ; his opinion of Charles Townshend, 185 n. 1 ;
see also 280 n. 2, 341 n. 1.
Buckinghamshire, petition of, in 1769, 287 and n. 2.
Buenos Ayres, 374, 377, 385.
Burke, Edmund, and the party system, 14 ; elected to a seat in parliament
in 1766, 22 ; defence of the first Rockingham ministry, 36 ; secretary to
Lord Rockingham, 37 ; estimate of Chatham's ministry, 55 ; attacks the
indemnity bill, 89 n. 2 ; and the East India Company, 94, 104, 203 ;
opposed to opposition to land tax, 106-107 ; his allusion to Charles
Townshend, 117-118 : and the negotiations in July 1767, 174; his in-
fluence over Rockingham, 178 ; his partiality for Conway, 178 n. 2 ; his
opinion of Chatham's administration, 196; and the nullum tempus
bill, 210; and colonial policy, 251, 253; and the Middlesex election,
261-263, 267-271 ; and the popular agitation for Wilkes, 276, 277 n. 1,
278, 364; and co-operation with Grenville in 1769, 280, 287-290; his
440 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
dislike of Chatham, 282 n. 1, 286-287, 289-290, 363 n. 1 ; contemptuous
opinion of Newcastle, 291 ; and the remonstrance of City of London,
346 ; his "Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents," 360-363 ;
and the remonstrance of Yorkshire freeholders, 363-364 ; his eulogy on
Grenville, 365-366 ; and the Falkland Islands, 411, 413 ; and the law of
libel, 423, 425, 429, 432 ; see also 248, 326.
Bute, John Stuart, third Earl of, his character and statesmanship, 6-8
appointed secretary of state, 7 n. 1 ; becomes first lord of the trea
sury, 6 ; his resignation, 8 ; political influence after resignation, 8-9
supported by Shelburne, 51 ; and Frederick the Great, 70 and n. 1 ; and
Lord Chatham, 81, 87-88 ; attack upon his house by the mob in 1768,
224; and Wilkes, 228-230; his unpopularity, 318; and Wedderburn
327 ; and Lord Percy, 331 ; see also 2, 18, 22, 29, 30, 33, 136, 162, 171
179, 180 ft. 2, 181, 205, 218, 368.
Calcraft, John, and Lord Chatham, in 1770, 331, 337-338, 347, 409 ; and the
law of libel, 424, 430-432 ; see also 433"434-
Cambridge, county of, 311.
Camden, Charles Pratt, first Earl, promoted to peerage, 39 ; consulted by
the king about the formation of the Chatham ministry, 44 n. 3 ; his
ruling on parliamentary privilege and general warrants, 52, 221 ; be-
comes lord chancellor, 52-53, 298 ; opposed to the declaratory act,
55, 237 n. 4, 250 ; his views on the suspending power, 74, 88 ; and the
American colonies, 130, 168 ; and John Wilkes, 219, 227 and n. 2, 228, 260
and n. 1, 292 and n. 3, 295 ; and Chatham's resignation, 236-238 ; and
expulsion of Shelburne, 237 ; his dislike of the administration, 242 n. 1,
245 ; and repeal of the revenue act, 254, 255 n. 1, 292 ; treacherous
conduct of, 291-292, 292 n. 3 and 4 ; his relations with Chatham in
1 769- 1 770, 292-293, 292 n. 4 ; opposes the government in January 1770,
295 ; dismissed from office, 295-296, 300 and n. 2, 309, 319 ; hostility to
the ministry, 326 ; attacked by Weymouth and Sandwich in February
j 77 j 336 ; and the Falkland Islands, 397 ; friendly with the Rocking-
ham whigs, but discontented with Chatham, 407 ; and the law of libel,
417-418, 420-421, 426 and n. 1, 427, 428 and n. 1 ; see also 148, 155,
156, 157 n. 1, 160, 196, 299, 301, 354, 405, 434.
Canada, conquest of, 28, 232 ; government of, 41.
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 173.
Carlisle, election at, in 1768, 217.
Carnarvon, Henry Herbert, first Earl of, 375 n. 2.
Carteret, John, Lord Carteret, Earl Granville, and George II., 7 ; in opposi-
tion to Walpole, 25-26 ; see also 29, 413.
Caulfeild, James, fourth Viscount and first Earl of Charlemont ; see
Charlemont.
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, opposed to the Bedford party, 179 and «. 2 ;
see also 156 n. 1, 180.
Cavendish, Lord John, resigns his place at the treasury board, 61 ; opposed
to the Bedford party, 179 ; see also 156 n. 1, 180 n. 2, 346, 364.
Cavendish, William, fourth Duke of Devonshire ; see Devonshire.
INDEX 441
Charlemont, James Caulfeild, fourth Viscount and first Earl of, 270.
Charles I., 343.
Charles II., 40 and n. 1, 276 and n. 1.
Chatham, Hester Pitt, Countess of, 29, 283 and n. 1, 284 and n. 3, 325,
351 n. 2.
Chatham, William Pitt, first Earl of, political and constitutional opinions of,
30-33, 39-40 ; in coalition ministry, 5-6, 57 ; popularity of, 6, 27-28 ;
nickname of the "great commoner," 28 ; resignation of, in 1761, 28, 29,
240; accepts pension, 29; declines to join the opposition, 29-30, 31,
33 ; refusal to take office in May and June 1765, 34-35 ; relations with
Grafton in the first Rockingham ministry, 37-38 ; relations with first
Rockingham ministry, 38-40 ; summoned by the king to form an
administration, 44 ; his poor opinion of Lord Rockingham and Dowdes-
well, 45, 53 ; construction of his ministry, 44-54, 321 ; views on colonial
taxation, 46, no; opposed to the declaratory act, 55, 250; and Lord
Shelburne, 51 ; relations with Rockingham whigs embittered by
Charles Yorke, 52 ; his dependence upon support of the crown, 55, 56,
65, 86, 199 ; accepts office of privy seal and a peerage, 57-58, 65 ; his
loss of popularity, 58-59, 58 and n. 2 ; antagonism to party system,
44 n. 2, 49-50, 55, 60, 86-87, J 49> I 9S > sanguine hopes at beginning of
his administration, 64-65 ; his attitude towards the Rockingham whigs,
69; his overtures to the Bedford party in autumn, 1766, 69, 86-87,
195 n. 2 ; and the Prussian alliance, 39, 55, 69-72 ; and the embargo
on export of corn, 72-74 ; and the dismissal of Lord Edgecumbe, 75-86,
82 n. 2 ; alliance with followers of Lord Bute, 87-88 ; insensible to the
difficulties of his ministers, 98-99; at Bath, 112; and East India
Company, 89-92, 94, 100, 101, 102 and n. 3, 125-126, 281 ; and the
American colonies, 109, 130-131, 168, 294; and Charles Townshend,
54, 115; his breakdown in health, 112-116; at Hampstead and Hayes,
115-116, 194, 235 ; dissensions in his administration, 54, 94, 99, 100,
105, 124-125, 128 ; refusal to see Grafton, 146 ; interview with Grafton
in May 1767, 147-149 ; appealed to by George III. in June and July
1767, 150, 151 ; and the admission of the Bedfords into the cabinet,
235 ; his resignation, 235-237, 242, 246 ; his reappearance in public in
1769, p. 281 ; his interview with the king, 281, 282 n. 1 ; and John Wilkes,
219-223, 281, 284 and n. 3, 294, 340, 354, 413, 414; his reconciliation
with Grenville and Temple in 1769, 282-286; in favour of petitioning,
287, 340-341 ; in favour of co-operation with Lord Rockingham in 1769-
1770, 289-290, 295, 325, 327 ; his anxiety to attack the government, 291,
326 ; his relations with Camden in 1769- 1770, 292-293, 292 n. 4 ; attacks
the government in House of Lords in January 1770, 293-294 ; and offer
of lord chancellorship to Charles Yorke, 303 ; disliked by George III.,
316-320 ; his visit to Lord Rockingham in January 1770, 325, 327 n. 1 ;
speeches against the government in January and February 1770, 328-
33°) 336-338 ; and parliamentary reform, 329 and n. 1, 362 ; his deter-
mination to adhere to Lord Rockingham in 1770, 340-341, 342, 346-347,
363, 392 n. 1 ; and the remonstrance of the City of London in 1770,
344, 354-355, 362 n. I ; his determination to persist in opposition, 352-
442 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
354, 353 n. I ; his address for the dissolution of parliament, 355-359,
358 n. 3 and 4, 434 ; his sympathy with the extreme section of the
opposition, 356, 360 ; his dislike of the moderation of the Rockingham
whigs, 361-364 ; and "Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discon-
tents," 361-363, 363 n. 1 ; and the Yorkshire remonstrance, 363-364;
and the Falkland Islands, 392-398, 396 n. 4, 404, 407-413, 408 n. 1 ; and
the law of libel, 419-432 ; his high opinion of Dunning, 424 and n. 1 ;
his breach with the Rockingham party, 419, 432-436 ; see also 15, 136,
3i6, 33°, 332, 333, 335, 34* »• h 362 n. 1, 365, 367, 368, 371, 397 n. 1,
426 n. 1, 428 n. 1.
Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of, and the general elec-
tion of 1768, 212 ; and the Duke of Newcastle, 239 ; and Wilkes, 244.
Chichester, Thomas Pelham, of Stanmer, first Earl of, 215.
Chichester, parliamentary election at, in 1768, 216.
Choiseul, Due de, and the annexation of Corsica, 232 ; and the dispute
between England and Spain over the Falkland Islands, 373, 375 n. 2,
378-382, 384 n. 1, 386-391, 389 n. 1, 393 n. 2, 398-399, 4°i ; fall of, 402
and n. 3.
Churchill, John, first Duke of Marlborough ; see Marlborough.
Claremont, meeting at, in December 1766, 97.
Clavering, Colonel, and Languard Fort, 345 and n. 2.
Clavering, Sir Thomas, and the remonstrance of the City of London in 1770,
345 and n. 2, 346.
Clive, Robert, first Baron Clive, and general election of 1768, 214 ; and
Wedderburn, 404 n. 2.
Cocks, Charles, opinion of Worcestershire petition, 278 n. 2.
Colonies, American ; see America n. colonies.
Compact, family, of 1761, political importance of, 70, 376, 378, 382, 399.
Conway, Francis Seymour, first Earl of Hertford ; see Hertford.
Conway, Francis Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp ; see Beauchamp.
Conway, Henry, his character, 77-78, 118; secretary of state in the first
Rockingham ministry, 41 ; relations with Rockingham and Newcastle,
41 ; retained by Pitt as secretary of state, 45, 50 ; reasons for his trans-
ference to the northern department, 50-51 ; relations with the Rock-
ingham whigs, 67-69, 68 n. 2 ; and dismissal of Edgecumbe, 77-86 ;
his threat of resignation, 79 n. 2, 82 ; anxiety of Rockingham whigs to
force him into resignation, 78-84 ; he continues in office, 84-85 ; his
dissatisfaction with Chatham, 85-86 ; introduces indemnity bill, 88 ;
and the East India Company, 94, 101, 102-103, 124-125, 124 n. 3, 127 ;
and the American colonies, 55, 109, 130, 131, 138, 139-141 ; in agreement
with Charles Townshend, 118; and the Rockingham whigs in the
spring of 1767, 134; differences with his colleagues, 145-146; his
anxiety to resign, 149, 165-166 ; and the negotiations in July 1767, 154-
158, 155 11. 2, 165 n. 1, 168-169, 173-174 ; consents to continue as secre-
tary of state, 171-173, 172 n. 1 ; Rockingham's partiality for, 176 ; and
the Rockingham whigs in the autumn of 1767, 177-184, 178 n. 2, 179,
n. 1, 180 n. 2 ; resigns secretaryship of state, 192 ; and John Wilkes,
220, 228, 261, 267 ; superseded by North as leader of the House of
INDEX 443
Commons, 228 and n. 3, 321 ; and repeal of revenue act, 254 ; interview
with king on 22nd January 1770, 316; as acting master of ordnance,
391 n. 4; and the law of libel, 432; see also 42, 61, 165-166, 196, 197 n. 1.
Cooke, George, and the land tax act, 106 n. 1.
Cooksey, Holland, and the Worcestershire petition, 278 n. 2.
Corn, embargo placed upon export of, 72-74 ; parliamentary attack upon,
74-75-
Cornwall, electioneering influence of the Crown in, 1 1 ; Lord Edgecumbe's
electioneering influence in, 76, 214.
Cornwall, Charles, and the law of libel, 422-424.
Cornwallis, General, 391.
Corradini, and John Wilkes, 219.
Corsica, annexation of, by France, 231-232, 234.
Cotes, Humphrey, 277 n. 2.
Covent Garden, gentleman of the Cave in, 256.
Coventry, George William Coventry, sixth Earl of, 341 ft. 1.
Craven, William Craven, sixth Lord, 341.
Crown, influence of, under George I. and II., 2, 12, 13, 32 ; under George
III., 2-5, 5 n. 1, 7, 8-12, 15-16, 18, 35-37, 56, 65, 86, 152, 203.
Cumberland, influence of Sir James Lowther and the Duke of Portland in,
at general election of 1768, 205, 206, 216-217.
Curwen, Henry, one of the parliamentary representatives for Cumberland,
248 n. 2.
Cyder tax, 23, 27, 175, 328 ; repeal of, 36.
D'Aranda, Monsieur, 398 n. 3.
Dartmouth, William Legge, second Earl of Dartmouth, 274 11. I.
Darwin, Charles, his account of the Falkland Islands, 372 and n. 1.
Dashwood, Sir Francis, Lord Despenser ; see Despenser.
Declaratory Act, Newcastle opposed to, 38; Pitt opposed to, 55, 250;
Camden opposed to, 55, 237 n. 4, 250 ; supported by Conway, 55 ; see
also 348.
Despenser, Francis Dashwood, Lord, made Joint Postmaster-General, 87 ;
his character, ibid.
Devizes, 278.
Devonshire, Lord Edgecumbe's electioneering influence in, 76 ; the Duke
of Bedford's visit to, in 1769, 278-279.
Devonshire, William Cavendish, fourth Duke of, a member of the Rocking-
ham party, 19 ; his opinion of Pitt, 30 ; see also 22, 79.
Dividend act, 126-127, 203-205.
D'Ossun, French Ambassador in Spain, 375 n. 2, 386, 390, 401.
Douglas - Hamilton, Elizabeth, Dowager-Duchess of Hamilton ; see
Hamilton.
Dowdeswell, William, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the first Rockingham
Ministry, 53 ; his loss of office, ibid. ; his political ability, 53-54 ; and
the East India Company, 104, 203 ; proposes reduction of the land tax,
105-107 ; and the New York Suspending Act, 140-141 ; and the nego-
tiations of July 1767, 167-169 ; and the nullum tempus bill, 210 ; and
444 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
the proposal to revive a treason law, 253 ; and John Wilkes, 271 ; and
overtures to Grenville in May 1769, 273 ; and Worcestershire petition,
278 n. 2 ; and the parliamentary session of 1770, 330, 334-335, 337 and
n. 2 ; and the Falkland Islands, 395, 397, 409, 411, 412 ; and the law of
libel, 423, 427-432, 428 n. 1 ; see also 22, 54 n. 3, 139, 156 n. 1, 187, 188,
201 and n. 1, 248, 295, 326.
Dundas, Sir Laurence, 104 n. 1.
Dunk, George Montagu, second Earl of Halifax ; see Halifax.
Dunning, John, and the Aldborough election, 213 n. 4 ; solicitor-general,
261 ; and John Wilkes, ibid. ; opposes ministry in 1770, 295 ; resigna-
tion of, 315 ; and the law of libel, 423, 431 ; Chatham's high opinion of,
423, 424 and n. 1.
Dyson, Jeremiah, introduces the dividend bill, 127 ; and the elections act, 350.
East India Company, its growth and development, 90-92 ; parliamentary
inquiry into, 92-93, 99-101, 102-105, 122-125 '■> declares a dividend of 10
per cent, in 1766, 93 ; ministers divided about, 93-94, 99-101 ; and the
Rockingham whigs, 95, 97, 103-105, 203-205 ; and overtures to govern-
ment, 100 and n. 1, 102 and n. 2 and 3, 125-126 ; act dealing with, 126-
127 ; and the act restraining dividends, 126-127, 203-205 ; defended by
Charles Yorke, 298 ; see also 107, 133, 145.
Edgecumbe, George, third Baron, a member of the Rockingham party, 75 ;
his electioneering influence in Devon and Cornwall, 76 ; dismissal from
the office of treasurer of the household, 75-85 ; and the general election
of 1768, 214.
Egerton, Francis, third Duke of Bridgewater ; See Bridgewater.
Egmont, John Perceval, second Earl of, first lord of the admiralty in the
ministries of Rockingham and Chatham, 53 ; and alliance with Prussia
and Russia, 55; resignation of, 65 and n. 2; not a member of the
Rockingham party, 67.
Egmont, Port, English settlement in the Falkland Islands, 373 ; attacked
and taken by the Spaniards in 1770, 370, 374-375, 375 «• 2, 377, 379,
384, 394, 395, 403, 412.
Election, general, of 1768, 21 1-2 17, 223-224, 248 n. 2.
Elections Act, of George Grenville, 349-351, 351 n. 1 and 2.
" Essay on Woman," 264-265.
Essex, 278.
Exeter, attack upon the Duke of Bedford at, 279.
Excise bill, 27.
Falkland Islands, description of, 371-372, 372 n. 1 ; French and English
settlements in, 372-373 ; Spanish attack upon English settlement in,
37o, 373-375, 375 n. 2 ; negotiations with Spain concerning, 375-389,
389 n. 1, 391, 398-404, 408 n. 1 ; the parliamentary opposition and, 391-
396, 408-413.
Finch, Daniel, eighth Earl of Winchelsea ; see Winchelsea.
Fitzherbert, Mr, and John Wilkes, 257 n. 1.
Fitzmaurice, William, second Earl of Shelburne ; see Shelburne.
INDEX 445
Fitzroy, Augustus Henry, third Duke of Grafton ; see Grafton.
Fletcher, Henry, and the Cumberland election, 248 n. 2.
Florence, Sir Horace Mann at, 404.
Fox, Henry, first Lord Holland ; see Holland.
Fox, Stephen, eldest son of Lord Holland, and the meeting at Devizes, 278.
France, war and peace with France, 7, 18, 28, 30 ; and Frederick the Great,
72 ; Wilkes in, 219 ; annexation of Corsica by, 231-232, 234 ; and the
Falkland Islands, 373, 375 n. 2, 376, 378-382, 386-391, 389 n. 1, 398-399,
402 and n. 3, 403 n. 2, 409-411, 410 n. 1 ; see also 70.
Frankland, Frederick Meinhardt, 215.
Fraser, Simon, 338.
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 27-5 project of an alliance with, during
the first Rockingham ministry, 39 ; Pitt in favour of, and Lord Egmont
opposed to an alliance with, 55 ; Chatham's overtures to, 69-72 ; and
the Russian alliance, 71.
Frederick, Prince of Wales, n n. 1.
Gage, William Hall, second Viscount Gage, and the parliamentary election
at Lewes in 1768, 215.
General warrants ; see warrants.
Genoa, loss of Corsica by, 231-232.
George II., decline of influence of the crown under, 2, 12-13, 3 2 i l S 2 > an d
the Duke of Newcastle, 15 ; his opinion of Lord Weymouth, 198 ; death
of, 41.
George III., his accession and constitutional opinions, 1-5, 3 n. r, 5 n. 1 ;
his attack upon the coalition ministry, 5-8 ; and ministerial relations
with George Grenville, 8-10 ; and the overthrow of the whig party, 10-
12, 15-16; and John Wilkes, 26-27, 218-222, 227, 230, 260, 275; and
William Pitt in 1761, 28-29; his fear of a coalition between Pitt and
Newcastle, 33 ; his dislike of George Grenville, 33-34, 35, 39, 149, 320 ;
negotiations with the Rockingham whigs in May 1765, 34 ; his negotia-
tions with Pitt in June 1765, 34 ; and the offer of the chancellorship to
Charles Yorke, 43-44, 296, 306 and n. 3, 307-308, 307 n. 3 ; and the first
Rockingham ministry, 35-37 ; his refusal to create peers, yj ; his
objection to the Duke of Richmond as secretary of state, 40-41 ; his
situation in the summer of 1766, 41 ; he dismisses the first Rockingham
ministry, 42-44 ; and the formation of Lord Chatham's administration,
44 and n. 2, 45 ; Chatham's confidence in, 55-56 ; his dislike of the
system of party government, 86-87 ; visited by Grafton and Northington
in May 1767, 146 ; his appeals to Chatham, 146-147, 150, 151 ; in favour
of overtures being made to the Rockingham whigs in June 1767, 149 ;
visited by Grafton on 3rd July 1767, 150-15 1, 150 n. 3 ; his conspicuous
courage, 151-152; and negotiations with the whig opposition, 152-175,
164 n. 1, 172 n. 1 ; his opinion of Lord Sandwich, 192 n. 2 ; his original
distrust of the Bedford party, 196-197 ; his conciliatory disposition
towards, 197 ; ministerial relations with Lord Chatham, 199 ; his
opinion of Lord Hillsborough, 199 ; advantage accruing to, from the
accession of the Bedfords to the ministry, 199-200; and the "patriot
446 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
king," 212 ; his dislike of Shelburne, 234 ; and the Duke of Grafton, 243 ;
his anxiety about the parliamentary session of 1770, 293 and n. 2 ; and
the resignation of Grafton, 315-320 ; calls upon Lord North to.be prime
minister, 315-317, 320-321 ; the difficulties he encountered during the
first decade of his reign, 318-320; his antagonism to Rockingham and
Chatham in 1770, 316, 320; and Lord North, 322, 324, 328, 335, 351-
352; and the city of London in 1770, 343-344 ; and the Falkland
Islands, 389 n. 1, 393"394 \ letter of Junius to, 414-415 ; and the parlia-
mentary debates on the law of libel, 432 ; his triumph over the opposition,
433-43 6 ! see also 309» 333? 337 and n. 2.
Gibraltar, 391, 395.
Glynn, John, serjeant-at-law, and the law of libel, 423, 424, 425.
Gower, Granville Leveson-Gower, second Earl, his character, 198-199, 199
n. 1 ; a member of the Bedford party, 66 ; invited to become first lord
of the admiralty, 66 ; offered the post of master of the horse, 86 ; to be
approached by Lord Bessborough, 97 ; his meeting with Rockingham
on 3rd May 1767, 135 ; his motion in the House of Lords on 6th May
1767, 135 5 and on 22nd May 1767, 136; overtures of Grafton to, in
June 1767, 149, 195 n. 2; and in July 1767, 153-154; and the negotia-
tion with the Rockingham whigs in July 1767, 157 ; joins the ministry,
192, 196 ; and the East India Company, 204 ; opposes total repeal of
revenue act, 254 ; see also 158, 243, 317.
Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, third Duke of, his character and political
ability, 19-20, 231 ; in opposition to the court, 19-20 ; secretary of state
for the northern department in first Rockingham ministry, 37 ; his
relations with his colleagues, 37-38 ; enthusiasm for Pitt, 37-38, 44 n.
2, 68 ; resignation of office, 40 ; accepts the office of first lord of the
treasury in Chatham's ministry, 49-50; his anxiety to have Charles
Townshend as chancellor of the exchequer, 54 ; his relations with the
Rockingham whigs, 67-69 ; timidity of, 86 ; and the East India Company,
93, 100, 124-125; his weakness in the cabinet, 99, 112, 116-119; and the
American colonies, 109, 130, 143, 233-234, 248-255 ; and Charles Town-
shend, 112 ; and Chatham's return to London in 1767, 114-115 ; reasons
for his continuance in office, 116-117; dissensions in his cabinet, 146,
245 ; his visit to the king in May 1767, 146 ; his anxiety to resign, 147,
148, 150, 152, 159;?. 2, 166, 171 and n. 1, 194-195, 242-245, 291 ; his in-
terview with Chatham on 31st May 1767, 147-149; weakness of his
ministry, 148, 231 ; overtures to Lord Gower, 149, 153-154, 195 n. 2 ; his
visit to the king in July 1767, 1 50-1 51, 150 n. 3 ; the desire of the king to
retain him at the treasury, 153, 159 n. 2 ; interview with Rockingham on
7th July 1767, 158-160; and the negotiations of July 1767, 163-167, 164
n. 2, 165 n. 1, 166 n. 1, 173 ; interview with Rockingham on 23rd July
1767, 1 70-1 7 1 ; consents to continue in office, 172 and n. 1 ; his hopes
for the parliamentary session, 1767-1768, 184 and n. 3, 186; and the
alliance with the Bedford party, 192-193, 195 n. 1, 195-197, 197 n. 1,
204; and the general election of 1768, 214, 217 and n. 2; and John
Wilkes, 219-223, 228, 230, 257 and n. 1, 260 and n. 1 ; his conversation
with Rockingham in 1768, 229; and Lord Shelburne, 234-235 ; and
INDEX 447
resignation of Chatham, 235-236; his position in the autumn of 1768,
242-245 ; and repeal of the revenue act, 254 ; and the offer of the
chancellorship to Charles Yorke, 296, 301-303, 305 and n. 2, 306, 314 ;
his resignation, 315 and n. 2, 318-320, 332-333, 335 ; seconds an opposi-
tion motion in the upper house on 22nd January 1770, 328 ; see also
40 n. 1, 61, 310, 319-321, 339-340, 35I> 384 n. 1, 402 n. 5, 435.
Granby, John Manners, Marquis of, master of ordnance in first Rockingham
ministry, 53 ; commander-in-chief, ibid. ; voted against the repeal of the
stamp act, 55 ; and John Wilkes, 228 ; and repeal of the revenue act,
254 ; treacherous conduct of, 291-293 ; opposes the ministry in 1770, 295 ;
resignation of, 307 n. 4, 309, 315, 319, 391 n. 5 ; see also 155, 156, 157 n. 1.
Grantham, Thomas Robinson, first Lord, supports the Duke of Bedford's
motion on April 10th, 1767, 134.
Granville, John, Lord Carteret, Earl ; see Carteret.
Grenville, George, character and statesmanship of, 9-10, 10 n. 1 ; becomes
first lord of the treasury, 8 ; and George III., 8-10, 33-35, 39, 149, 320 ;
and stamp act, 36, 96, 175, 232-233; and formation of Chatham's
ministry, 47; antagonism to Shelburne, 51 ; his opinion of Chatham's
attack upon the party system, 66 ; and the embargo upon export of corn,
73-75 '■> and the indemnity bill, 88-89, 89 «. 2 ; and the East India Com-
pany, 94, 95, 104-105, 104 ?i. 1, 204-205, 205 n. 2 ; and the Rockingham
whigs in December 1766, 95-98; and the land tax, 106-107 ; and the
extension of the mutiny act to America, 108 ; and the Rockingham
whigs in March 1767, 119-121 ; conciliatory attitude towards Rocking-
ham in the spring of 1767, 133; and the New York suspending act,
139-141 ; presses Charles Tovvnshend to tax the colonies, 141 ; pro-
scribed in the negotiation with the Bedford party in June 1767, 149;
co-operation with Rockingham in 1767, 152, 153; proscription placed
upon, in negotiations of July 1767, 160-161, 164; and the negotia-
tions of July 1767, 160-162, 161 11. 1, 165, 167-171, 173-176,
179 n. 1 ; colonial policy of, 162, 175, 247, 250, 251 ; and the peace
of Paris, 175 ; and John Wilkes, 175, 218, 246, 258 and n. 2, 261-267,
264 n. 1 and 2, 271-272, 284-285, 284 n. 3 ; and the Rockingham whigs
in the autumn of 1767, 179-184, 180 n. 2, 183 n. 4 ; his declaration
against Rockingham party in house of commons, 187-191, 193 n. 1,
238 ; deserted by the Bedfords, 191-192, 197 n. 1 ; his isolation at be-
ginning of 1768, 200 ; and the nullum tempus bill, 210 and n. 2 ; and
the Rockingham whigs in the autumn of 1768, 245-246 ; disclaims all
connection with the Rockingham whigs in 1769, 264 and n. 2 ; and
the dinner at the Thatched House Tavern, 273 ; and the popular
agitation about Wilkes, 280 and «. 2, 287 and n. 2 ; reconciled with
Chatham, 282-286; his visit to Hayes in 1768, 283 and n. 2; his co-
operation with Rockingham and Chatham in parliamentary session of
1770, 295, 325-326, 342 ; and Alexander Wedderburn, 327 ; and the
repeal of the revenue act, 348 ; his elections act, 349-351, 351 n. 1 and
2 ; death of, 364-367, 369; see also 22, 27, 29, 153, 156, 276, 279, 316,
318-319, 355,435,436.
Grenville, James, 431.
448 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Grenville party, their political opinions, 59-60 ; points of difference with the
Rockingham whigs, 60 ; attitude towards the Rockingham whigs in
1766, 65 ; and the embargo upon the export of corn, 75 ; and the East
India Company, 103-105, 124-125, 204-205, 205 n. 2 ; and the Rock-
ingham whigs in March 1767, 1 19-12 1 ; and the colonial policy of the
administration, 133-141 ; and the negotiations of July 1767, 158-159,
163 ; and the general election of 1768, 218 ; effect of Grenville's death
upon, 369, 393, 396-398 ; their defection, 404-407 ; see also 63.
Grenville-Temple, Richard, first Earl Temple ; see Temple.
Grey, Jemima Yorke, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell, and Marchioness de, and
Mrs Agneta Yorke, 304 n. 2.
Grimaldi, Marquis, and the dispute over the Falkland Islands, 375 n. 2,
378-380, 382-384, 386-389, 398 and n. 3, 403 n. 2.
Guildhall, meeting in, on 24th June 1769, 277.
Guilford, Francis North, first Earl of, 321.
Guines, Comte de, French ambassador in England, 408 n. 1.
Gunnersbury House, meeting of Newcastle and Bedford at, in 1767, 178,
179 n. 1.
Halifax, George Montagu Dunk, second Earl of, becomes secretary of state,
406.
Hamilton, Elizabeth Douglas-Hamilton, Dowager Duchess of, 224-225.
Hampden, Thomas, and the parliamentary election at Lewes in 1768,
215 n. 1.
Hampstead, Chatham at, 11 5-1 16, 147, 194, 280 ; Lord Mansfield at, 304 ;
see also 150, 235.
Harcourt, Simon Harcourt, first Earl, English ambassador in France, 378,
390, 398 n. 2, 399 n. 1, 402, 403 n. 2.
Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, first Earl of, 19, 22, 416.
Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, second Earl of, his opinion of the first Rockingham
ministry, 37 n. 3 ; and the negotiations of July 1767, 163, 173, 174;
and the popular agitation on behalf of Wilkes, 276 n. 1 ; and the re-
conciliation between Chatham and the Grenvilles in 1769, 285 ; and
the offer of the chancellorship to Yorke, 300 n. 1, 301-302, 304-312, 304
n. 2, 314 n. 2 and 3 ; see also 229, 283 n. 2, 299.
Harris, James, afterwards first Earl of Malmesbury, and the dispute with
Spain over the Falkland Islands, 377-391, 389 n. 1, 398 ; recall of, 400-
403, 403 n. 2.
Hastings, borough of, and the general election of 1768, 214.
Hawke, Sir Edward, appointed first lord of the admiralty, 87 ; and the
repeal of the revenue act, 254-255 ; and the navy in 1770, 396 n. 4 ;
resignation of, 405-406.
Hay, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas, and the parliamentary election at Lewes
in 1768, 215.
Hayes, Chatham at, 235, 280 ; Temple's visits to, 282-283, 283 n. 1 and 2 ;
Grenville's visit to, 283 and n. 2 ; see also 284, 293.
Henley, Robert, first Earl of Northington ; see Northington.
Henley, Robert, Lord Henley, 247.
INDEX 449
Henry VIII., 252-253.
Herbert, Henry, first Earl of Carnarvon ; see Carnarvon.
Hertford, Francis Seymour Conway, first Earl of, persuades Henry Conway
not to resign office, 85, 172 ; and the negotiations of July 1767, 165 n. 1.
Hertfordshire, 301 and n. 4.
Hervey, Augustus, afterwards third Earl of Bristol ; see Bristol.
Hervey, George William, second Earl of Bristol ; see Bristol.
Highgate, 301 n. 4.
High Wickham, 287 n. 2.
Hill, Wills, first Earl of Hillsborough; see Hillsborough.
Hillsborough, Wills Hill, first Earl of, secretary of state for the colonies, 192,
199 ; his character, 199 ; George III.'s opinion of, ibid.; and the American
colonies, 252 ; and the repeal of the revenue act, 254, 255 n. 1.
Hobart, John, second Karl of Buckinghamshire ; see Buckinghamshire.
Holland, Henry Fox, first Lord, his denunciation of Shelburne, 51 ; his
favourable opinion of Gower, 199 n. 1 ; see also 278.
Home, Hugh, third Earl of Marchmont ; see Marchmont.
Honiton, attack upon the Duke of Bedford at, 279.
Howard, Henry, twelfth Earl of Suffolk ; see Suffolk.
Hunt, Captain, and the Falkland Islands, 372 n. 1, 374, 384, 388-389, 389 n. 1,
394, 395, 397, 412.
Indemnity act, 74-75, 88-89, 89 n. 2.
India, conquest of, 28, 90 ; see also East India Company.
Inglewood Forest, lease of, granted to Sir James Lowther, 206-208.
Ireland, 305, 415.
Italy, Wilkes in, 219.
Jacobites, political influence of, 12.
Jamaica, 395.
James I., 209.
James II., 1, 343-
Jenkins, Robert, and the Spanish war, 353.
Jenkinson, Sir Charles, appointed to a place on the admiralty board, 87.
Jesuit of Berkeley Square, nickname of Lord Shelburne, 51.
Johnson, Dr Samuel, his estimate of George Grenville, 10 n. 1.
Jones, Mr, president of the Bill of Rights Society, 277 n. 2.
Junius, 20, 274, 293, 414-415-
Keppel, Augustus, resignation of, 84, 86, 87 ; and the land tax, 107 ; and the
negotiations of July 1767, 167 ; his visit to Woburn in the autumn of
1767, 183.
Keppel, George, third Earl of Albemarle ; see Albemarle.
Lambeth, 258
Land tax, 105-107, 106 n. 1.
Languard Fort, command of, given to Colonel Clavering, 345 n. 2.
Legge, William, second Earl of Dartmouth ; see Dartmouth.
2 F
450 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Lennox, Charles, third Duke of Richmond and Lennox ; see Richmond.
Leveson-Gower, Granville, second Earl Gower ; see Gower.
Lewes, parliamentary election at, in 1768, 214-215, 215 n. 1.
Libel, law of, imperfections in, 414-418 ; difference of opinion between
Rockingham and Chatham upon, 415-421 ; parliamentary debates upon,
421-432.
Lincoln's Inn Fields, 167, 239.
London, Chatham's return to, in March 1767, 112-115 ; and the general elec-
tion of 1768, 224 ; petition of Livery of, 276-277, 277 n. 1 ; remonstrance
of, in 1770, 342-346 ; struggle with the house of commons, 433 ; see also
149.
Louis XV. and the Falkland Islands, 399 and n. 1, 401-402, 403 n. 2.
Louis, Port, French settlement in the Falkland Islands, 373 ; surrendered to
Spain, ibid.
Lowther, Sir James, his character, 205 ; granted a lease of Inglewood
Forest, 205-208 ; and the electioneering contest with the Duke of
Portland, 216-217, 216 n. 4, 248 n. 2 ; unseated, 245, 248.
Luggershall, borough of, and general election of 1768, 212.
Lumley, Richard, fourth Earl of Scarborough ; see Scarborough.
Luttrell, Colonel, 269-271, 275-276, 277 n. 2, 299, 356.
Lycett, Mr, and the Westminster petition, 277 n. 2.
Lyttelton, George Lyttelton, first Lord, and the negotiations of July 1767,
161 n. 1; opinion of the opposition in 1767, 193 ; and the East India Com-
pany, 204 ; and the reconciliation between Chatham and the Grenvilles,
286 ; and the Falkland Islands, 398 ; see also, 258 n. 2, 341 n. 1, 434.
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, first Lord Macaulay, his estimate of
Newcastle, 240.
Magellan, Strait of, 372.
Malagrida, nickname of Shelburne, 51.
Malouine Islands, 404 ; see also Falkland Islands.
Manchester, George Montagu, fourth Duke of, 341 n. 1, 395.
Mann, Sir Horace, 404.
Manners, John, Marquis of Granby ; see Granby.
Mansfield, William Murray, first Earl of, and the suspending power, 74 ;
and the New York suspending act, 138 ; and John Wilkes, 226-227,
226 n. 2 ; and Charles Yorke, 304-306 ; and the law of libel, 415-418,
420, 421, 423-429, 426 n. 1 ; see also 183, 354.
Marchmont, Hugh Home, third Earl of, moves a resolution in the House
of Lords on 2nd February 1770, 336-337.
Marlborough, Chatham at, 112.
Marlborough, John Churchill, first Duke of, 5-6.
Martin, Mr, Serjeant Glynn's attorney, 277 n. 2.
Massachusetts, assembly of, 128, 131, 133, 135 and n. 2, 138, 144, 232-234,
249, 252.
Masserano, Prince, Spanish ambassador in England, and the dispute over
the Falkland Islands, 375, 377, 3^3, 384 and n. 1, 386-391, 389 n. 1,
402-403, 403 n. 2.
INDEX 451
Mawbey, Sir Joseph, 257.
Meredith, Sir William, resignation of, 84, 87 ; his anxiety for co-operation
with the Grenvilles and Bedford, 122 ; and the East India Company,
123-124; and the nullum tempus bill, 210; and the revenue act,
348 ; and the law of libel, 422, 431 ; see also 22, 139, 326.
Middlesex, election of Wilkes for, 224-226 ; parliamentary debates upon the
election, 260-271, 290-291, 305, 329, 330-338, 353-355, 37°, 4*3-4i4>
414 n. 1 ; see also 340, 343, 350, 406.
Miller, a printer, 418.
Miller, Sir John, and the parliamentary election at Lewes in 1768, 216.
Miller, Thomas, and the parliamentary election at Lewes in 1768, 215 n, 1.
Minorca, 395.
Monson, John Monson, second Lord, resignation of, 77, 80-84.
Montagu, George, fourth Duke of Manchester ; see Manchester.
Montagu, John, fourth Earl of Sandwich ; see Sandwich.
Morden, barony of, 311.
Morning Advertiser, 414-415.
Morris, a butcher at Lewes, 215.
Mounier, 366.
Mount Stuart, John Stuart, Lord, 87.
Murray, William, first Earl of Mansfield ; see Mansfield.
Mutiny act, extended by Grenville to America, 108 ; resistance to, 108, 128,
130-132, 139.
Napoleon I., 366.
Navigation acts, 108, 128.
Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, first Duke of, his character and political
ability, 13-15, 16-18, 184//. r ; in coalition ministry with Pitt, 5-6; his
skill as a party manager, 6, 22 ; his electioneering influence and
methods, 14 and n. 1 ; his manipulation of ecclesiastical patronage,
14 and n. 2; insecurity of his predominance in 1760, 15-16; the
founder of the Rockingham whig party, 16-19, 241 ; deprived of his
lord-lieutenancies, 18 ; his anxiety for co-operation with Pitt, 29-30, 33,
241 ; his uncharitable explanation of Pitt's reluctance to go into
opposition, 30; and the negotiations in June 1765, 34; his opinion of
the first Rockingham ministry, 38 ; accepts the office of lord privy
seal in 1765, 38; opposed to the declaratory act, 38; and Conway in
the first Rockingham ministry, 41 ; anxious to avoid opposition to
Chatham's ministry, 67, 68 ; opposed to the secession from Chatham's
ministry in November 1766, 80-81, 81 n. 1 ; and Lord Bessborough,
83-84 ; and the East India Company, 94 ; and the Bedford party in
December 1766, 96-98; his anxiety for a union with the followers of
Grenville and Bedford in the spring of 1767, 104, 121-122; and the
land tax, 106 ; and the Duke of Bedford's motion on 10th April
1767, 134; his visit to the Duke of Bedford on 14th April 1767, 134-
135 ; his estimate of strength of opposition in the upper house in the
spring of 1767, 136-137 ; and the negotiations of July 1767, 161 ;/. 1,
167-169, 173-174 ; his anxiety for union of parties in opposition in the
2 F*
452 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
autumn of 1767, 176-184, 178 n. 2, 179 n. 1 ; his deceit towards Lord
Rockingham, 183 n. 4 ; his opinion of Charles Townshend, 185 ; his
interview with the Duke of Bedford in November 1767, 188-190, 192-
193 ; his partial retirement at the close of 1767, 202 ; and the general
election of 1768, 214-217, 215 n. 1 ; and John Wilkes, 225-226, 229
and n. 1 ; his desire to avoid opposition in the first session of the new
parliament, 229-230, 229 n. 1 ; and the colonial resistance to the revenue
act, 233, 239-241 ; and Lord Rochford, 236 n. 1 ; his death, 239-241 ;
see also 23, 24, 26, 35, 40, 42, 61, 62, 136, 187, 291, 339, 436.
Newcastle House, 167, 169, 239.
Newmarket, 21, 229.
Newton, Rev. John, 274 n. 1.
New York, province of, petition against the navigation acts, 108, 131 ;
refuses to enforce mutiny act, 128, 130; Chatham's opinion of, 130,-131 ;
suspending act, 138-141, 144; see also 132.
Norfolk, county of, 278.
North, Francis, first Earl of Guilford ; see Guilford.
North, Frederick North, Lord, junior lord of the treasury in 1759, 321 ;
joint paymaster-general in 1766, 321 ; refuses the chancellorship of the
exchequer in the spring of 1767, 115 ; becomes chancellor of the ex-
chequer in September 1767, 185 and n. 2, 321 ; leader of the House of
Commons, 197 n. 1, 228 and n. 3, 321 ; and the revenue act, 248, 254-
2 55, 347-349 5 and John Wilkes, 260; appointed first lord of the
treasury, 317, 320, 321, 333 ; his character and political opinions, 185-
186, 321-324 ; and the parliamentary session of 1770, 331, 334-338,
342-346, 349-35° 5 reasons for his success, 338-341 ; and Grenville's
elections act, 349-35 1 , 35 J »• 1 and 2 ; prospects of, at beginning of parlia-
mentary session, 1770-177 1, 368-369, 391-393 ; and Weymouth's resigna-
tion, 400 ; see also 293 n. 2, 326, 327, 359, 370, 389 n. 1, 408, 411, 433,
435-
Northampton, cost of parliamentary election at, in 1768, 212.
North Briton, 218.
Northington, Robert Henley, first Earl of, lord chancellor, 38, 298 ; political
opinions of, 38 ; retires from the first Rockingham ministry, 41-43 ;
advises the king to send for Pitt, 44 ; abandons the chancellorship to
become lord president of the council, 44 n. 3, 52-53 ; his drunken
habits, 53 n. 1, 184 and n. 2 ; visits the king on May 28th, 1767, 146 ;
anxiety to resign, 149-150; his gloomy views upon the ministry in
1767, 184 and n. 2 ; retirement of, 192 ; see also 55, 148, 150.
Northumberland, 331.
Norton, Sir Fletcher, and East India Company, 205 n. 2.
Norwich, assizes at, in 1769, 278.
Nullum tempus act, 205-211, 244-245, 248 and n. 2 ; and Charles Yorke, 298
Oliver, Alderman, 424, 433.
Olney, 274 n. 1.
Onslow, George, 81 n. 1, 193, 269.
Oxford, city of, and general election of 1768, 213.
INDEX 453
Palmerston, Henry Temple, second Viscount, 210.
Paris, peace of, 7-8, 18, 23, 26, 30, 38, 328.
Parliament, bribery and corruption in, 11 ;/. 1 ; influence of crown upon, 2,
7-13, 15-16, 18 ; influence of public opinion upon, 25-27 ; demand for
reform of, 329, 360, 362.
Patriot king, Bolingbroke's, 4-5, 212.
Paulett, Harry, sixth Duke of Bolton ; see Bolton.
Peace of Paris ; see Paris.
Pelham, Sir Thomas, 215.
Pelham-Holles, Thomas, first Duke of Newcastle ; see Newcastle.
Pennsylvania, petition of, to parliament, 249.
Perceval, John, second Earl of Egmont ; see Egmont.
Percy, Hugh Percy, Lord, 331.
Petitioners, 276 and n. 1.
Phipps, Captain Constantine, and the law of libel, 422-423, 431.
Pitt, William, first Earl of Chatham ; see Chatham.
Plumptre, Dr, 312.
Poland, partition of, 71.
Ponsonby, William, second Earl of Bessborough ; see Bessborough.
Ponton, Daniel, 258.
Portland, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, third Duke of, a member of
the Rockingham party, 22 ; resignation of, 80-84 > his opinion of Pitt's
alliance with Lord Bute's followers, 88 ; and the overtures to the Bedford
party in December 1766, 97 ; and the Duke of Bedford's motion in the
House of Lords on 10th April 1767, 134 ; and the negotiations of July
1767, 161 n. 1 ; and the desire for the union of parties in opposition in
the autumn of 1767, 180 n. 2 ; and the electioneering struggle with Sir
James Lowther, 205-211, 216-217, 216 ;/. 4, 248 n. 2 ; see also 61, 156 n.
h 173, 177, 179. 182, 216, 357.
Pratt, Charles, first Earl Camden ; see Camden.
Prussia ; see Frederick the Great.
Pulteney, William, first Earl of Bath ; see Bath.
" Reflections on the French Revolution," Edmund Burke's, 360.
Revenue act and Charles Townshend, 140-145; resistance to, in America,
232-234; partial repeal of, 254-255, 255 ;/. 1, 347-349; see also 250-
252.
Revolution of 1688, 1.
Richmond, Charles Lennox, third Duke of, becomes secretary of state in
1766, 40-41 ; dismissed by Pitt, 45 ; and New York suspending act, 138 ;
and the negotiations of July 1767, 167, 174 ; and the general election in
1768, 215 n. 1, 216; and John Wilkes, 225, 229 ; and colonial policy,
253 ; his desire to abandon opposition in 1770, 352 ; and the Falkland
Islands, 394, 409, 410 ; and the law of libel, 427 n. 1, 428-430, 428 n. 1 ;
see also 40 ;/. 1, 325, 341 and n. 1, 357, 358 n. 4, 397 n. 1.
Ridleys of Northumberland, 331.
454 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Rigby, Richard, his character, 59 ; and the embargo upon the exportation of
corn, 75 ; offered the post of cofferer, 86 ; and the indemnity bill, 89 n.
2 ; and the East India Company, 104 and n. 1 ; and the negotiations of
July 1767, 162-163, 167-169 ; and the Rockingham whigs in the autumn
of 1767, 177, 183 and n. 4 ; becomes vice-treasurer of Ireland, 192, 196 ;
and John Wilkes, 263 ; and the petitions of 1769, 278 ; and the elections
act, 350.
Rights, Bill of, 16.
Rights, Bill of, Society of, 274-275, 277 n. 2, 360, 362, 423.
Robinson, Thomas, first Lord Grantham ; see Grantham.
Rochford, William Henry Zulestein, fourth Earl of, succeeds Shelburne as
secretary of state, 236 and n. 1 ; his colonial policy, ibid. ; and the repeal
of the revenue act, 254 ; becomes secretary of state for the southern
department, 398 n. 2, 400 ; and the Falkland Islands, 400-404, 408 n. 1,
410.
Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, second Marquis of, his character
and political ability, 20-22, S37, 98, 201 and n. 1 ; weakness of his
ministry, 35-40, 37 n. 3, 41 ; and Conway in his first ministry, 41 ; forces
the Duke of Richmond upon the king, 41 ; fall of his first ministry, 36-
44, 199 ; relations with Pitt (1765-1766), 38-40; and Lord Northington,
40-43 ; his opinion of the transference of Conway to the southern
department, 50-51 ; and his resignation of the treasury, 61 n. 2 ; his
views on Sir Charles Saunders accepting office, 67 and n. 1 , anxious
to avoid opposition, 67 ; and dismissal of Lord Edgecumbe, 78-79, 79 n.
1 ; in favour of secession from Chatham's ministry, 81 ; and Lord Bess-
borough, 83-84 ; and the indemnity bill, 89 n. 2 ; and the East India
Company, 94, 104-105 ; in favour of opposition, 95 ; opposed to over-
tures to Bedford in December 1766, 97 ; and colonial policy, 107, 108,
135 n. 2, 137-141, 143-144 ; inclined towards union with Grenville and
Bedford in the spring of 1767, 122, 133 ; supports the ministry in House
of Lords on 10th April 1767, 134 ; dislike of Grenville, 119-121, 122 n. 3,
173-176, 180-182 ; meeting with Lord Gower on 3rd May 1767, 135 ; co-
operation with Grenville and Bedford in 1767, 152-153; and the
negotiations of July 1767, 154-177, 155 n. 2, 158 n. 1 and 2, 159 n. 2, 171
n. 1, 172 11. 1 ; his partiality for Conway, 168-169, 173-174, 177-178, 178
n. 2, 180 and n. 2, 182, 183 ; relations with Bedford and Grenville in
the autumn of 1767, 180 n. 2 ; anxious to attack ministry in autumn
session of 1767, 186 ; his declaration against Grenville, 187, 189, 238 ;
rupture with the Bedford party, 187-191 ; political weakness of, at be-
ginning of 1768, 200-201 ; determines to continue opposition, 201 ; and
the nullum tempus bill, 208-211, 209 n. 2; and the general election ot
1768, 211-218; and John Wilkes, 219, 230 n. 1, 258; and the prepara-
tions for the autumn session of 1768, 244-246 ; and the popular agitation
about Wilkes, 280, 287, 340-341 ; opposed to overtures to Chatham and
Grenville in 1769, 288-290 ; co-operation with Chatham and Grenville in
parliamentary session of 1770, 295, 325-326, 327 and n. 1 ; and Charles
Yorke, 42-44? 3°° «■ 3> 3°3' 3°5> 3°7, 3°9> 3 J o; antagonism of George
III. to, 320 ; speaks against the ministry in the House of Lords, 1770;
INDEX 455
327-330, 336, 342 ; his disappointment at failure of attack upon the
ministry, 335 • and the remonstrance of the City of London in 1776, 344,
345 n. 1 ; Chatham's adherence to in 1770, 340-342, 346-347, 363, 392 and
;/. 1 ; and the address for the dissolution of parliament, 355-359, 358 n.
3 and 4 ; and the Yorkshire remonstrance, 363-364 ; and the Falkland
Islands, 392-398 ; and the law of libel, 419-421, 427-430, 428 n. 1 ; his
breach with Lord Chatham, 433-436 ; see also 19, 40, 62, 136, 229, 276,
279. 3 J 6, 3 X 9, 32i, 341 n. 1, 352, 362, 364 n. 2, 407, 434 and n. 3.
Rockingham whigs, origin of, 16-18; and the Peace of Paris, 18,38; in
opposition to the crown, 18-19, 22-24, 26-27 > an d public, opinion, 26-27 ;
and William Pitt, 29-30; and the party system, 31 ; and the negotia-
tions of May 1765, 34 ; in office, 35-44 ; their original attitude towards
Chatham's administration, 59-63, 67, 68 ; their differences with the
followers of Bedford and Grenville, 60, 65 ; and Grafton and Conway,
67-69, 68 n. 2 ; and the embargo upon the export of corn, 73-75 ; and
the secession from Chatham's ministry, 75-86 ; prepared to go into
opposition, 86, 89, 95 ; and the indemnity bill, 89 ; and the East India
Company, 94, 97, 103-105, 123-125, 203-205 ; and the overtures to the
Bedford party in December 1766, 95-98 ; and the land tax, 105-107 ;
and the negotiations with Bedford and Grenville in March 1767,
119-121 ; improvement of their relations with Bedford and Grenville,
121-122, 124-125, 133-141, 147 ; and the Duke of Bedford's motion in
the House of Lords on 10th April 1767, 133-134 ; and Conway, 134;
their inclusion in the ministry suggested by Grafton in May 1767, 148-
149; and George III., 149; and the negotiations of July 1767, 154-
176; their dislike of Grenville and his followers, 160; attacked by
Grenville in the House of Commons, 187-188 ; their rupture with the
Bedford party, 187-191 ; apathy of, at beginning of 1768, 200; deter-
mination to continue in opposition, 202-203 ; and the nullum tempus
bill, 205-211 ; and the general election of 1768, 218 ; and John Wilkes,
38,229, 230, 246; anxious to refrain from opposition in first session of the
new parliament, 229-230 ; tendency to favour coercion of the colonies,
238-239 ; and the Duke of Grafton, 242 ; their programme for the
autumn session of 1768, 244-246 ; and George Grenville, 245-246, 264
and n. 2 ; and the declaratory act, 250 ; and the revenue act, 251 ; and
the Middlesex election, 258 ; and overtures to Grenville in 1769, 272-
273, 280 ; and the popular agitation on behalf of Wilkes, 276, 279 ; their
fears at Chatham's return to political life, 281-282, 286-287 ; and the
Grenville party in 1769, 287-291 ; and the offer of the chancellorship to
Charles Yorke, 300 ; tendency to drift apart from Chatham in 1770, 341
and n. 1, 344, 346-347, 359-3°°, 363-364, 397 «• 1 ; and the repeal of the
revenue act, 347-349 ; and the address for the dissolution of parliament
in 1770, 355-359, 358 n. 3 and 4 ; and the Falkland Islands, 392-398, 408-
413 ; and the law of libel, 419-432 ; breach with Chatham, 432-436 ; see
also 363 n. 1, 366
Rotterdam, 256.
Runnymede, 294.
Russell, John, fourth Duke of Bedford ; see Bedford.
456 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Russia and an alliance with England, 55, 71.
Rye and the General Election of 1768, 214.
Sackville, Lord George, and the colonies, 108 ; and the death of George
Grenville, 366-367 ; and the Falkland Islands, 397.
St Jame? Chronicle, 259.
St John, Henry, first Viscount Bolingbroke ; see Bolingbroke.
St Paul, Horace, secretary to the English embassy at Paris, 408 ;/. 1.
Sandwich, John Montagu, fourth Earl of, his character and political ability,
59, 197-198; and negotiations of July 1767, 167; takes office in
the ministry, 192 and n. 2, 196; nickname of Jemmy Twitcher, 198;
and John Wilkes, 60, 198, 244; and East India Company, 204; his
opinion of the condition of the navy in 1770, 396 n. 4; becomes
secretary of state for the northern department, 400 ; becomes first
lord of the admiralty, 405-406, 406 n. 1, see also 336.
Saunders, Sir Charles, a member of the Rockingham party, 67, 394 ;
becomes first lord of the admiralty, 67, 394 ; resignation of, 84, 86, 87 ;
and the Falkland Islands, 394.
Savile, Sir George, and the New York act, 140 ; and the nullum tempus
bill, 209-210, 216 ; and the revenue act, 233; and the remonstrance of
the Yorkshire freeholders, 364; and the Middlesex election, 414 ; and
the law of libel, 425, 430 ; see also, 22, 139, 326.
Sawbridge, John, 345.
Scarborough, Richard Lumley, fourth Earl of, resignation of, 80-84.
Scotch, widespread dislike of, 6 ; Wilkes' hatred of, 224 ; charged with
disloyalty, 415.
Sedgwick, Edward, his approval of the revenue act, 144 ; see also 335
and n. 5.
Selwyn, George, and the general election of 1768, 212.
Senhouse, Mr, and the Cumberland election, 248 n. 2.
Settlement, Act of, 16.
Seven Years' War, 7, 28, 72, 90, 371, 376.
Shelburne, William Fitzmaurice, second Earl of, his character and political
opinions, 51-52 ; a member of Grenville's ministry, 8 ; declines a place
in the first Rockingham ministry, 51 ; appointed secretary of state for
the southern department, 51 ; and the colonies, 55, 109, 130, 132, 234;
ceases to attend cabinet councils in March 1767, 11 8- 119, 234 ; disliked by
his ministerial colleagues, 145 and ti. 1, 234 ; objects to the creation of
a third secretaryship of state, 192 n. 1 ; his discontent with the ministry,
196, 197 n. 1, 234 ; and Corsica, 234 ; threatened expulsion of, 234-235 ;
resignation of, 235 ; opposed to the Buckinghamshire petition, 287 n. 2 ;
and the dismissal of Lord Camden, 300 n. 2 ; anxious to oppose the
administration in 1770, 326; and the Rockingham whigs in 1770, 346-
347 ; and the Falkland Islands, 395; and the law of libel, 424, 430;
see also 101, 341 n. 1, 435.
Shelley, Sir John, appointed treasurer of the household, 75-76.
Shropshire, 256.
Smollet, Tobias George, his picture of the Duke of Newcastle, 240.
INDEX 457
Soledad, Port, 373, 374.
Sons of Liberty, of Boston, and Wilkes, 256.
South Sea Bubble, 92.
Spain, war with, 25, 353 ; allied with France by the family compact of 1761,
70, 376 ; and the claim to the exclusive possession of the Falkland
Islands, 371-373 ; attack upon English settlement in Falkland Islands,
370, 374-375 ; negotiations with England concerning Falkland Islands,
375 n. 2, 375-391, 389 n. 1 , 398-404, 403 7i. 2, 408-412,408 n. 1 ; relations
with France, 376, 378-382, 386-388, 390-391, 398-399, 402 and «. 3, 403 n.
2, 410-41 1, 410 n. 1.
Stamp act, repeal of, 36, 96, 107-108, in, 129, 133, 250 ; and Lord Granby,
55 ; and Charles Townshend, 55 ; and Lord Chatham, 46, no, 131 ;
see also 47, 60, 96, 128, 143, 144, 167-168, 175, 232-233, 365.
Stanhope, Philip Dormer, fourth Earl of Chesterfield ; see Chesterfield.
Stanley, James Smith, Lord Strange ; see Strange.
Stowe, Rigby at, 162 ; Lord Chatham's visit to, 285 ; see also 163.
Strange, James Smith Stanley, Lord, and Wilkes, 266.
Stuart, John, Lord Mount Stuart ; see Mount Stuart.
Stuart, John, third Earl of Bute ; see Bute.
Suffolk, Henry Howard, twelfth Earl of, 341 n. 1 ; succeeds George Grenville
as leader of the Grenville party, 405 ; becomes lord privy seal, 405-
406.
" Supporters of the Bill of Rights," 274-275, 277 n 2, 360, 362, 423.
Suspending power, 73-75.
Tamar, the frigate, 374.
Temple, Henry, second Viscount Palmerston ; see Palmerston.
Temple, Richard Grenville-Temple, first Earl, refuses to take office in 1765,
34-35 ; declines the treasury in 1766, 45-49, 46 n. 1, 61 ; and the
colonies, 46, 49 ; and Pitt's peerage, 58 n. 1 ; and the embargo upon the
export of corn, 73-75 ; his claim to the treasury in December 1766, 96 ;
his claim to supremacy in any ministry, 154; and the negotiations of
July 1767, 161 and n. 1, 162, 163, 167 ; his opinion upon the accession of
the Bedford party to the ministry, 197 n. 1 ; and the East India Company,
204 ; his anxiety for a reconciliation between the Rockingham and
Grenville whigs, 246 ; and the dinner at the Thatched House Tavern,
273 ; his reconciliation with Chatham in 1768- 1769, 282-286 ; his visits
to Hayes, 283 n. 1 and 2 ; and the Buckinghamshire petition, 287
and n. 2 ; in favour of co-operation with the Rockingham whigs in 1769,
288-290 ; predicts the dismissal of Camden, 295-296 ; in favour of co-
operation with Rockingham in 1770, 325-326, 327 and n. 1 ; his anger
against the Rockingham whigs in 1770,341 and n. 1 ; and Grenville's
elections bill, 351 n. 1 and 2 ; his political inactivity after the death of
George Grenville, 393, 397, 4°7 ; see also 60, 136, 153, 156, 161, 179
n. 1, 358, 405, 434 and n. 2.
Thatched House Tavern, 273, 276.
" Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents," 360-363.
Thurlow, Edward, becomes attorney-general, 405.
458 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
Thynne, Thomas, third Viscount Weymouth ; see Weymouth.
Tonnereau, George Leigh, 213 n. 4.
Townshend, Charles, in opposition to the court, 23 ; made chancellor of the
exchequer in 1766, 53 ; his character and political ability, 54 ; excluded
from, but afterwards admitted into, the inner cabinet, 54 and n. 3 ; and
the American colonies, 55, 110-112, 140-145, 232-233, 250 ; and the East
India Company, 94, 99-100, 100 n. 1, 101-103, 124 n. 3, 124-125, 127 ; in-
dependent position in the ministry, 99, in, 112, 116-119, 145-146; and
the land tax, 105-107 ; attempt to remove him from office, 115 ; his
insincerity, 118 n. 1 ; anxiety to resign, 150; his death, 184-185 ; the
Duke of Newcastle's and Lord Buckinghamshire's opinion of, 185 and
n. 1 ; see also 199 n. 1, 332.
Townshend, Charles, of Honingham, 81 n. 1.
Townshend, James, 345.
Townshend, Thomas, 81 n. 1.
Tumour, Edward, first Earl Winterton ; see Winterton.
Twitcher, Jemmy, nickname of Lord Sandwich, 198.
Virginia, 249.
Waldegrave, James Waldegrave, second Earl, 2.
Wales, Frederick Prince of, 1 1 n. 1
Wales, Princess of, 2.
Walpole, Horace, persuades Conway to remain in office in 1766, 85 ; his
estimate of Chatham's success, 93 ; and the negotiations of July 1767,
165 n. 1, 167 n. 1, 172 ; his opinion of the first parliament of George
III.'s reign, 211-212 ; unfavourable estimate of Lord Rochford, 236 n. 1 ;
unfavourable opinion of Rockingham and Grenville, 279; his views on the
opposition in 1769, ibid.; and parliamentary reform, 329 n. 1 ; and Lord
North, 333, 335 ; and the parliamentary session of 1770, 337 n. 2, 338,
345 ; and the defection of the Grenvilles, 404-405 ; his opinion of Lord
Halifax, 406 ; see also 207, 327 n. 1, 359, 364 n. 2, 403 n. 2, 426 n. 1.
Walpole, Robert, secretary to the English embassy at Paris, 378, 379-381,
387-388, 389 n. 1.
Walpole, Sir Robert, opposition to, 25, 392, 408, 413 ; fall of, in 1742, 26 ;
betrayed by Newcastle, 240 ; see also 29, 204, 353, 371, 376, 378.
Warrants, general, use of, objected to, 23 ; illegality of, 36, 219, 221 ; see
also 30, 175.
Watson, Dr, and Charles Yorke, 311, 312, 314.
Watson- Wentworth, Charles, second Marquis of Rockingham ; see Rocking-
ham.
Wedderburn, Alexander, and Lord Camden, 242 n. 1 ; and Wilkes, 271, 327 ;
in opposition, 326-327 ; and the remonstrance of the city of London in
1770, 345 J and tne repeal of the revenue act, 348 ; and the Falkland
Islands, 397 ; accepts the office of solicitor-general, 404-407, 404 n. 2.
Welbore Ellis, 422.
Wesley, John, William Pitt compared with, 27.
West, James, 202.
INDEX 459
Westminster, petition of electors of, 277-278, 277 n. 2.
Westminster Hall, meeting in, 277 n. 2 ; see also 424.
Westmoreland, electioneering influence of Lowther and Portland in, 205-
206, 216-217.
Weston-Underwood, Charles Fleetwood, 335.
Weymouth, Thomas Thynne, third Viscount, his character and ability, 59,
198 ; offered the place of postmaster, 86 ; and the negotiations of July
1767, 157, 164 n. 2, 167 ; becomes secretary of state, 192, 196 ; and the
East India Company, 204 ; and the revenue act, 254 ; attacked by
Wilkes, 258-263 ; and the dispute with Spain over the Falkland Islands,
376-380, 382-391, 389 n. 1 ; resignation of, 398 n. 2, 399-400 ; see also
243, 317, 336.
Whately, Thomas, and the accession of the Bedford party to the ministry,
197 n. 1 ; and Burke in 1769, 287 ; appointed a commissioner of the
board of trade, 405 ; see also 228 n. 3.
White's club, 23.
Wigan and the general election of 1768, 217.
Wilkes, John, defended by the Rockingham whigs in 1763- 1764, 38 ;
betrayed by Lord Sandwich, 198 ; character and political opinions of,
219 ; his arrest and expulsion from the house of commons, 1763-1764,
219 ; in exile, ibid. ; visits England in 1766, ibid. ; refused a pardon,
220-222 ; his return to Paris, 221 ; his attack upon Chatham and the
ministry, 222-223 \ arrives in England, February 1768, 223 ; stands for
election, 1768, 223-225 ; riots connected with his election, 224-225, 231,
258-259; sentence passed upon him, 226-230, 226 n. 2; parliamentary
attack upon, 227-231, 242, 244-245, 247, 255-271, 257 n. 1 ; and his
admirers, 256 ; and Lord Weymouth, 258-263 ; popular agitation on
behalf of, 273-280, 274 n. 1 ; and Lord Granby, 295 ; and Charles
Yorke, 298-299 ; and Wedderburn, 327 ; loss of popular interest in, 338,
34o, 353, 37o, 407, 414 »• 1 ; see also, 23, 26, 33, 175, 292, 295, 328, 331,
345, 356, 365, 4I3-4I4-
Wilmot, Lord Chief Justice, and Charles Yorke, 306.
Wilson, Dr, Prebendary of Westminster, 277 n. 2.
Wiltshire, petition of, in 1769, 278.
Winchelsea, Daniel Finch, eighth Earl of, 156 n. 1.
Winterton, Edward Tumour, first Earl, 202.
Woburn, Albemarle at, 160-161, 183 ; Rockingham at, 162, 174 ; Keppel at,
183 ; see also 97, 156, 163.
Woodfall, Henry, libel suit against, 415-416, 418, 426.
Worcestershire, petition of, in 1769, 278 and n. 2.
Wotton, Rigby at, in 1767, 162 ; Chatham's visit to, in 1769, 285 ; see
also 163.
Yorke, Agneta, and the last days of Charles Yorke, 302-314 ; her hostility
towards Lord Rockingham, 300 n. 3, 314 n. 3; and towards Lord
Hardwicke, 304 n. 2, 314 n. 3.
Yorke, Charles, attorney-general in Rockingham's first ministry, 43 ; his
legal reputation, 43 ; and the Whig opposition, 1 762-1 765, 43, 297-299 ;
460 LORD CHATHAM AND THE WHIG OPPOSITION
and John Wilkes, 43, 298-299 ; promised the lord chancellorship in
1765, 43 ; considered for the lord chancellorship in 1766, 43-44, 43 n.
1 ; his anxiety to become chancellor, 52, 156-157, 157 n. 1, 296-298 ;
resigns the office of attorney-general, 61 and n. 7 ; and the East India
Company, 94, 104, 298 ; and the land tax, 106-107 ; and the colonies,
138, 140; and the negotiations of July 1767, 164 n. 1 ; and the nullum
tempus act, 210, 298 ; and Lord Chatham, 281 ; discontent with the
Rockingham whigs, 298-300, 300 n. 1 ; and Lord Rockingham, 300
n. 3 ; his health at the beginning of 1770, 301 and n. 4 ; and the offer
of the lord chancellorship in 1770, 301-313 ; his death, 312-315 ; see
also 163, 246, 283 n. 2, 319, 320.
Yorke, Jemima, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell and Marchioness de Grey ; see
Grey.
Yorke, John, prophesies predominance of the Bedfords in the ministry, 197
n. 1 ; his opinions of the prospects of the opposition at the beginning
of 1770, 291 ; and the offer of the chancellorship to Charles Yorke, 300
n. 1, 301-304, 309, 310, 312.
Yorke, Philip, first Earl of Hardwicke ; see Hardwicke.
Yorke, Philip, second Earl of Hardwicke ; see Hardwicke.
Yorkshire, Rockingham's electioneering influence in, 216, 364 ; remonstrance
of freeholders of, 363-364.
Zulestein, William Henry, fourth Earl of Rochford ; see Rochford.
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