ence; he was no parliamentary debater: his manners were unpopular: he was a courtier rather than a politician: his intimate relations with the Princess of Wales were an object of scandal; and, above all, he was a Scotchman. The jealousy of foreigners, which had shown itself in hatred of the Hanoverians, was now transferred to the Scottish nation, whose connection with the late civil war had exposed them to popular obloquy. The scheme was such as naturally occurred to a favorite; but it required more than the talents of a favorite to accomplish. While only in the king's household, his influence was regarded with jealousy: remarks were already made upon the unlucky circumstance of his being a "Scot;" and popular prejudices were aroused against him, before he was ostensibly concerned in public affairs. Immediately after the king's accession he had been made a privy councillor, and admitted into the cabinet. An arrangement was soon afterwards concerted, by which Lord Holdernesse retired from office with a pension, and Lord Bute succeeded him as Secretary of State.1 It was now the object of the court to break up the existing ministry, and to replace it with another, formed from among the king's friends. Had the ministry been united, and had the chiefs reposed confidence in one another, it would have been difficult to overthrow them. But there were already jealousies amongst them, which the court lost no opportunity of fomenting. A breach soon arose between Mr. Pitt, the most powerful and popular of the ministers, and his colleagues. He desired to strike a sudden blow against Spain, which had concluded a secret treaty of alli 1 25th March, 1761. 2 2 Lord Hardwicke said. "He (Lord Bute) principally availed himself with great art and finesse of the dissensions between the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt: he played off one against the other till he got rid of the popular minister, and when that was compassed, he strengthened himself in the cabinet, by bringing in Lord Egremont and Mr. Grenville, and never left intriguing till he had rendered it impracticable for the old duke to continue in office with credit and honor." - Rockingham Men.. i. 6. See the duke's own letters, ib., 102-109. ance with France, then at war with this country. Though war minister, he was opposed by all his colleagues except Lord Temple. He bore himself haughtily at the council, - declared that he had been called to the ministry by the voice of the people, and that he could not be responsible for measures which he was no longer allowed to guide. Being met with equal loftiness in the cabinet, he was forced to ten der his resignation.2 Pension to The king overpowered the retiring minister with kindness and condescension. He offered the barony of Chatham to his wife, and to himself an annuity of 3,000l. a year for three lives. The minister had deserved these royal favors, and he accepted them, but at the cost of his popularity. It was an artful stroke of policy, thus at once to conciliate and weaken the popular statesman, whose opposition was to be dreaded, — and it succeeded. The same Gazette which announced his resignation, also trumpeted forth the peerage and the pension, and was the signal for clamors against the public favorite. Lord Bute. - On the retirement of Mr. Pitt, Lord Bute became the Influence of most influential of the ministers. He undertook the chief management of public affairs in the cabinet, and the sole direction of the House of Lords. He consulted none of his colleagues, except Lord Egremont and Mr. George Grenville. His ascendency provoked the 1 Grenville Papers, i. 386. 2 Ann. Reg., 1761 [43]. Grenville Papers, i. 391, 405. Mr. Pitt, in a letter to Mr. Beckford, October 15th, 1761, says, "A difference of opinion with regard to measures to be taken against Spain, of the highest importance to the honor of the Crown, and to the most essential national interests, and this founded on what Spain had already done, not on what that court may further intend to do, was the cause of my resigning the seals." Chatham Corresp., ii. 159. 8 Mr. Pitt said, "I confess, Sir, I had but too much reason to expect your Majesty's displeasure. I did not come prepared for this exceeding goodness. Pardon me, Sir, it overpowers, it oppresses me," and burst into !ears. Ann. Reg.; Grenville Papers, i. 413. 4 Rockingham Mem., i. 54, 86, 101 (Letters of the Duke of Newcastle). bid., 104. jealousy and resentment of the king's veteran minister, the Duke of Newcastle: who had hitherto distributed all the patronage of the Crown, but now was never consulted. The king himself created seven peers, without even acquainting him with their creation.1 Lord Bute gave away places and pensions to his own friends, and paid no attention to the recommendations of the duke. At length, in May 1762, his grace, after frequent disagreements in the cabinet and numerous affronts, was obliged to resign.1 Lord Bute as And now, the object of the court being at length attained, Lord Bute was immediately placed at the head of affairs, as First Lord of the Treasury. Rapid had premier. been the rise of the king's favorite. In thirteen months he had been groom of the stole, a privy councillor, ranger of Richmond Park, secretary of state, and premier; and these favors were soon followed by his installation as a Knight of the Garter, at the same time as the king's own brother, Prince William. His sudden elevation resembled that of an eastern vizier, rather than the toilsome ascent of a British statesman. But the confidence of his royal master served to aggravate the jealousies by which the new minister was surrounded, to widen the breach between himself and the leaders of the Whig party, and to afford occasion for popular reproaches. It has been insinuated that he was urged forward by secret enemies, in order to insure his speedier fall; and it is certain that had he been contented with a 1 Walpole Mem., i. 156. 2 The personal demeanor of the king towards him evinced the feeling with which he had long been regarded. The duke complained of it in this manner: "The king did not drop one word of concern at my leaving him nor even made me a polite compliment, after near fifty years' service and devotion to the interests of his royal family. I will say nothing more of myself, but that I believe never any man was so dismissed." Letter to Lord Rockingham, May 19th. Rockingham Mem., i. 111. Yet Lord Bute, in a letter to Mr. Grenville, May 25th, 1762, says, "The king's conduct to the Duke of Newcastle to-day was great and generous.' Gren ville Papers, i. 448. 8 His countess also received an English barony. 4 Walpole Mem., i. 44. less prominent place, the consummation of his peculiar policy could have been more securely, and perhaps more successfully, accomplished. Arbitrary king and the The king and his minister were resolved to carry matters with a high hand, and their arbitrary attempts conduct of the to coerce and intimidate opponents disclosed their new ministry. imperious views of the prerogative. Preliminaries of a treaty of peace with France having been agreed upon, against which a strong popular feeling was aroused, the king's vengeance was directed against all who ventured to disapprove them. The Duke of Devonshire having declined to attend the council summoned to decide upon the peace, was insulted by the king, and forced to resign his office of Lord Chamberlain. A few days afterwards the king, with his own hand, struck his grace's name from the list of privy councillors. For so great a severity the only precedents in the late reign were those of Lord Bath and Lord George Sackville; "the first," says Walpole, "in open and virulent opposition; the second on his ignominious sentence after the battle of Minden." No sooner had Lord Rockingham heard of the treatment of the Duke of Devonshire, than he sought an audience of the king; and having stated that those "who had hitherto deservedly had the greatest weight in the country were now driven out of any share in the government, and marked out rather as objects of his Majesty's displeasure than of his favor," resigned his place in the household.* "8 A more general proscription of the Whig nobles soon followed. The Dukes of Newcastle and Grafton, and the Mar quess of Rockingham having presumed, as peers of Parlia 1 "The king, it was given out, would be king, would not be dictated to by his ministers, as his grandfather had been. The prerogative was to shine out: great lords must be humbled." Walp. Mem., i. 200. 2 Walp. Mem., i. 201; Rockingham Mem., i. 135 (Letter of Duke of New. castle to Lord Rockingham). 8 Walp. Mem., i. 203. 4 Letter to Duke of Cumberland; Rockingham Mem., i. 142. ment, to express their disapprobation of the peace, were dismissed from the lord-lieutenancies of their counties.1 The Duke of Devonshire, in order to share the fate of his friends and avoid the affront of dismissal, resigned the lieutenancy of his county.3 Nor was the vengeance of the court confined to the heads of the Whig party. All placemen, who had voted against the preliminaries of peace, were dismissed. Their humble friends and clients were also proscribed. Clerks were removed from public offices, and inferior officers from the customs, and excise, and other small appointments, for no other offence than that of having been appointed by their obnoxious patrons. While bribes were being lavished to purchase adhesion to the court policy, this severity was intended to discourage opposition. The preliminaries of peace were approved by Parliament; and the Princess of Wales, exulting in the success Its effect upof the court, exclaimed, "Now my son is king of on parties. England." But her exultation was premature. As yet there had been little more than a contention for power, between rival parties in the aristocracy; but these stretches of prerogative served to unite the Whigs into an organized opposition. Since the accession of the House of Hanover, this party had supported the Crown as ministers. It now became their office to assert the liberties of the people, and to resist the encroachments of prerogative. Thus the king's attempt to restore the personal influence of the Sovereign, which the Revolution had impaired, so far from strengthening the throne, advanced the popular cause, and gave it powerful leaders, whose interests had hitherto been enlisted on the side of the Crown. Claims of prerogative became the Rockingham Mem., i. 155. 2 Walp. Mem., i. 235; Rockingham Mem., i. 156. 8 Walp. Mem., i. 233; Grenville Papers, i. 453; Rockingham, Mem, i 152, 158. |