278 Ch. 8. 1766 Overtures made to Pitt. Partial resignation of the ministry. ROCKINGHAM OPENS a junior lord of trade for the sake of example, he was met with a refusal. The King had not been so forbearing on the question of the Peace and of the General Warrants. On those occasions, the division lists had been closely scanned; and every placeholder who hesitated to approve of either of those measures was immediately expelled. The ministry were conscious that their only chance of maintaining their position was by an alliance with that great man who alone possessed public confidence, and could bend both Courts and Parliaments to his will. Many overtures accordingly had been made to Pitt; his wishes had been consulted by the ministry, not on the most important measures of public policy, and even in the dispensation of official patronage. But all in vain. Pitt admitted that their characters were 'fair,' that he had never been 'betrayed' by any of them, that they had sometimes been guided by his 'poor opinion,' -but still he could not give them his 'confidence.' It was far from the wish of Rockingham and his colleagues to cling tenaciously to office; and so disheartened were they by the difficulties which gathered around them, and the want of support from every quarter, that they meditated resignation, even before the all-important measures for tranquillising the colonies had been presented to Parliament. And this intention would have been carried into effect, if Bedford and Grenville e See Addenda E, p. 329. NEGOTIATIONS WITH PITT. had succeeded in an attempt which they made about the same time, to form a coalition with Bute and the Tories. The Duke of Grafton, indeed, unwilling to be involved in the fate which inevitably awaited the ministry, withdrew not very handsomely, in the middle of the session, and the Duke of Richmond succeeded him as Secretary of State. At length, the Lord Chancellor Northington seized the opportunity of a difference of opinion with the other members of the cabinet, on the subject of a bill for the government of Canada, to tell them plainly that he should not again sit in council with them; and, proceeding from the cabinet to the royal closet, informed His Majesty that the government could go on no longer, and tendered his resignation of the Great Seal. Northington, who had courted the King's favour both in the present and in the former ministry, knew that this intelligence would be very graciously received, and, for purposes of his own, was willing to be employed as the mediator of a new administration. new adminis Pitt was, of course, to have the refusal of office; Pitt forms a and Northington was desired to communicate with tration. him on the subject. At the same time, the King informed the ministry of the step which he had taken. Rockingham received the intimation with silent acquiescence; but Conway, sensible of his incompetency for the office which he had reluctantly undertaken, and of Pitt's paramount qualifications, f See Addenda F, p. 329. 280 Ch. 8. 1766 Pitt's florid style. PITT CONSENTS TO TAKE OFFICE. expressed his unfeigned satisfaction at the intelligence. Pitt was at his house in Somersetshire, when he received the King's commands. His answer to Northington's letter was in that florid style which he affected on such occasions, and which in any other man would have been fulsome and ridiculous.g This was the third time within a period of five years that the administration had been formally offered to this eminent person; and now, under circumstances the least auspicious, he was induced to accept the charge. His constitution, which had been for some time past sinking under the increase of years, and the repeated ravages of that disease which had embittered his whole existence, now exhibited a new form of disorder. The gout had disappeared, and a low fever, freer from anguish, indeed, but more depressing than acute pain, had taken possession of him. The excitement of a sudden summons and a hasty journey to London aggravated his malady. The climate of Richmond, where he had to attend the King, was too mild for his feverish frame; and every day, after the audience, he retired to the cooler air of Hampstead. The progress of the arrangement of the new ministry was not such as to allay his irritation. Interference of His unhappy connection with Temple proved, on this occasion, as it had formerly, the source of difficulty and disappointment. That proud and illconditioned peer, who derived all his political im8 See Addenda G, p. 330. Temple. TEMPLE'S OBSTRUCTIVE CONDUCT. Ch. 8. 1766 281 portance from Pitt, thought himself entitled to exercise an influence over his illustrious kinsman, to which he had little or no title in respect of ability and good sense. The year before, he had defeated the opportunity of forming an efficient administration under Pitt, because he had determined that the country should be governed exclusively by the family of Grenville. The same arrogant and silly project was again pressed upon Pitt. Temple had, indeed, just discretion enough to see that his brother George, at that moment the most unpopular man in England, was not quite eligible as a minister. He engaged, therefore, that Grenville should support the ministry without office, intending no doubt to admit him into the government at a future day. Pitt, however, Pitt's treatdetermined on this occasion to deal with his brother-in-law on the same footing as any public man, charged by his sovereign with the construction of a ministry, would deal with any other public man whom he wished to include in his arrangements. He offered him office-the high office of First Commissioner of the Treasurywhich included a seat in the Cabinet, together with the nomination of his colleagues at the Board, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer; but this did not satisfy the overbearing temper of the chief of the Grenvilles. If all political power could not be concentrated in his family, he required at least that he should be associated with Pitt in an equality of power and patronage. Such a plan as that of ment of him. 282 Ch. 8. 1766 Composition of the new ministry. PITT'S NEW ADMINISTRATION. two joint first ministers was unprecedented and absurd; and Pitt, of all men, was the last to endure the trial of such an experiment in his person. He placed before Temple the names of the persons whom he had designated for the different offices in the administration, informing him, at the same time, perhaps in the peremptory style which belonged to him, that the list could not be altered. Temple, in his audience of the King, which had preceded his interview with Pitt, insisted on the removal of the whole Rockingham connection, while Pitt proposed to retain a large proportion, including some of the principal of them, such as Conway and the Duke of Grafton. Temple then offered to nominate two of his friends, the Lords Gower and Lyttelton, for high places in the government; but even this being refused, he took his leave with strong expressions of resentment, and thus was severed, at the same time, the political connection and the private friendship of these kinsmen. Relieved from a captious and impracticable colleague, Pitt was enabled, without difficulty, to complete his administration. Grafton, who had declared himself ready to serve under Pitt in the humblest capacity, and had refused to continue in office without him, was appointed First Lord of the Treasury. Camden, his able and devoted follower, received the Great Seal. Conway retained his office of Secretary of State with the lead of the House of Commons. Northington was transferred to the dignified post |