63

INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY OF GEORGE III.

commission of an ensign in the line; his Majesty condescended to weigh the merit of the candidate, or the merit of those by whom he was recommended. Frugal and provident in the dispensation of offices and rewards, he bestowed the patronage at his disposal with a view to future service, and still reserved, when he could, a control over the object of his bounty.

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capacity of

I need not dwell on these particulars. The cha- Mental racter of George the Third will unfold itself in the George III. course of this long narrative, and, as happens to human nature, will be found to undergo modifications and changes during a protracted, a troubled, and a varied life. But whatever opinion may be formed of his public conduct at different periods, his demeanour in every domestic relation, though not unexceptionable, was, upon the whole, respectable and creditable to his position. The defects in his education were never supplied. His understanding, naturally sound and not below mediocrity, was enlarged neither by study, nor travel, nor conversation; of letters and the arts he was wholly ignorant. But on matters, the discussion of which does not require much cultivation of mind, administrative and political details, he generally went to the point; and according to the measure of his capacity and information, acquitted himself with shrewdness and good sense.

the crown.

The commencement of this reign was remark- Power of able for an attempt on the part of the Crown to recover that power and influence which since 1688

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PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT.

had been appropriated by the Parliament. Nor was the adventure so hopeless or so devoid of plausibility as it would appear to a generation fully reconciled to that system of parliamentary government in which the constitution has long since practically determined. The mode in which parliamentary government first developed itself in this country was not such as to entitle it to the respect and confidence of the nation. The ancient prerogative, which, though often oppressive, was still regarded with reverence and affection by the people as a rightful rule, and as a simple and intelligible principle of government, was now superseded by a new form of policy, which enabled factions, and even individuals, to exercise supreme power by means of a packed and venal House of Commons. The result of this mode of administration had been imbecility in the national councils, and the abuse of the public service throughout every department. But of the four sovereigns who had filled the throne since the Revolution, three were foreigners and strangers, and every one of them had reigned by a title de facto rather than de jure. It was in vain for princes so situated to appeal to the loyalty of the people against the dictation of a cabal. But the case was now altered. The new King was avowedly an Englishman both by birth and education, and in his person the lawful demise of the Crown was at length practically admitted. The present, therefore, seemed to be a favourable opportunity to raise the Crown from the powerless

ATTEMPT TO INCREASE THE ROYAL POWER.

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party.

65

and dependent condition into which it had fallen. The Whigs had hitherto assumed to take the House of Hanover under their exclusive protection; and The Tory almost every public man who had held high office since the accession of that family was a member of the great Whig connection.

But it was neither expedient nor becoming that the King of England should always depend upon one party, however great their services might have been. The necessity for doing so had undoubtedly ceased. There was no longer any reason why the Tories should not be admitted to power and employment. Many years had passed since they had withdrawn altogether from correspondence with the exiled Princes; and it is obvious that no policy could more strongly recommend itself to the young king than that of encouraging and welcoming the returning allegiance of so considerable a body of his subjects. That George the Third, fortified by the support of this great party, thus happily reconciled to the Crown, should assert the regal authority in a tone which his immediate predecessors were not in a condition to assume, seems to be perfectly intelligible, without resorting to any far-fetched theory for an explanation. The Tories might also be justly called 'King's Friends,' because their ruling tenet had been that of loyalty and implicit obedience.

But the term 'King's Friends' has been ascribed to a class of courtiers, the members and agents of a secret interior cabinet, which was the real council of the Sovereign; where the real policy of the

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THE KING'S FRIENDS.'

Government was dictated, and from whence all rewards and honours were dispensed. According to this scheme, the ostensible administration consisting of the great officers of state, was a mere pageant; its policy thwarted, its credit undermined, and its existence terminated, at any time, in the face of Parliament and the country by an unseen, mysterious power. There was some foundation, in fact, for this ingenious theory. The King certainly showed no favour to ministers neither chosen by himself nor recommended to him by the confidence of Parliament, but brought into office by the force of party connection. He made no secret of his repugnance to such ministers. Occasionally, perhaps, to suit a temporary purpose, he might wear a face of dissimulation towards them; but his fixed and avowed purpose, from the commencement of his reign, was to break up party connection, and to emancipate his government from the domination of great lords. With this view, he hurried on the peace, and openly defied the whole Whig connection. After the peace was concluded, though willing to take back Pitt as his minister, he preferred the humiliation of entreating Grenville, whom he had dismissed, to remain in his service, rather than submit to the yoke of the party which Pitt insisted on bringing with him. Some years later, again, he gave his whole confidence to Chatham, on the sole ground that he consented to take the administration without a party following. When compelled, in 1765, to admit the Marquis of

THE KING'S POLICY.

Rockingham and his friends into employment, he did so with undisguised reluctance, and dismissed them within the year. And he ever acknowledged, as the most signal service that had been rendered to him during his reign, the devotion of Lord North, in standing by him when the cabinet was deserted by the Duke of Grafton, and assailed by the whole Whig alliance.

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There is no doubt he intrigued against the Policy of the ministers he abhorred, and that he employed irresponsible agents to communicate with his loyal friends in Parliament, as well as others who were disposed to his service from less honourable motives. But the deep-laid, complicated scheme of a double cabinet, as described by Burke, would have been unintelligible to the limited and practical understanding of George the Third. If he resorted to mystery and secret influence, it was not for the purpose of setting up a cabinet within a cabinet: but simply to disperse the haughty cabals which had enthralled his predecessors, and to recover what he thought fairly belonged to a king,-the right, namely, of choosing his own servants, and being their master, instead of a puppet in their hands. The double cabinet was a romance which sprang from the imagination of the great Whig orator, and he pays far too great a compliment to the capacity of the King's Friends,' when he attributes to them a design of such admirable order and consistency as that which he describes in the 'Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents.'

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