88

Ch. 2.

1761

Exultation of Newcastle on the fall of

Pitt.

Misgivings

of Lord Bute.

NEWCASTLE'S INTRIGUES.

should be prostrated, and there can be little doubt
that this would have been accomplished, had not
the minister been checked in his career.
His plans

for an attack on the Spanish dominions in the West
Indies and in the China seas were all matured, and
would probably have been as successful then, as
they afterwards were, when their success was at-
tended with less important consequences than must
have resulted from prompt hostilities. But medi-
ocrity and intrigue had regained their ascendancy
in the British councils, and Pitt was prevented
bringing his great work to an appropriate con-
clusion.

m

The Duke of Newcastle who had maintained a prudent neutrality during the earlier deliberations of the cabinet upon Pitt's proposition, and had only ventured to pronounce against it when he found that it was sure to be rejected, gave utterance to much exultation at the fall of his great colleague." A minister who avowed his responsibility to the people, and whose policy was directed only to the public good, must have appeared to the last degree mischievous and dangerous to a politician whose only notion of government was the coarsest management of the House of Commons. But Lord Bute, though he probably entertained the same opinion of Pitt, had many misgivings as to the success of the bold step which he had taken in dismissing the popular minister; nor could he

m See Addenda D, p. 113.

n See Addenda E, p. 113.

PITT SUCCUMBS TO COURT FAVOUR.

Ch.

2.

1761

89

be re-assured by the congratulations of Newcastle, or even by the magnanimous offer of Bubb Dodington to brave public obliquy by filling the vacant office of Secretary of State. There was indeed every reason to apprehend that in his fall Pitt would drag down the government with him. The ominous murmur of public indignation was already audible. The only chance of averting the danger was to discredit the popular idol by making him an object of Court favour. That imperious spirit who could dictate his will to Europe, had, as his enemies well knew, a weak and vulnerable part. He could not withstand the blandishments of royalty. Accordingly, a scheme was laid for his ruin. When he entered the closet to lay the seals of office at the feet of his Sovereign he was received with the most gracious affability and kindness. Civil expressions of regret at his retirement were accompanied by the offer of rewards and honours. It is pitiful to reflect that this great public servant, Influence of who had but the day before used such noble lan- on Pitt. guage in quitting the association of a low-minded cabal, should be so unmanned on finding that he had not, by doing his duty to his country, lost the favour of his youthful Sovereign, as to weep. His tears were aptly accompanied by his words. confess, Sir,' he is reported to have said, 'I had but too much reason to expect your Majesty's displeasure. I did not come prepared for this

Lord Melcombe to Bute.

'I

court favour

90

Ch. 2. 1761 Lady Hester

created Baroness Chatham.

CHATHAM BECOMES UNPOPULAR.

exceeding goodness. Pardon me, Sire, it overpowers, it oppresses me.'

The success of this experiment encouraged the Court to persevere. An intimation was made of His Majesty's gracious desire to bestow large emoluments and honours on his late minister. These offers were received with abundant gratitude, and it was humbly signified by the great commoner that a peerage and a pension conferred upon his wife would be acceptable. Lady Hester was after this immediately created Baroness Chatham, with a pension of £3000 a year for three lives.

Thus did the Court faction succeed, for the moment at least, in disparaging their illustrious rival, and in averting the danger which threatened their own existence. The populace, of course, exclaimed that Pitt was a traitor and a hireling; preparations which had been made for offering him public honours were countermanded, and for a few days nothing was heard but the clamour of invective and scurrility.

It is needless, at the present day, to vindicate the fame of Chatham from any imputation in respect of these honours and rewards. Every taint of sordid corruption was repelled by the bright integrity of his character. Had money been his object, he might long since have enriched himself by what were then considered the fair emoluments of office, but which his unsophisticated honour did not hesitate to reject. But he did not hold himself precluded from accepting a moderate acknowledg

CLAMOUR AGAINST CHATHAM.

ment of his services. It is indeed a mean doctrine, and one essentially dangerous to monarchical Government, that a man who has done good service to his country, cannot, without injury to his fame, accept the favours which it is in the power of the Crown to bestow. Though titles and pensions cannot purchase signal service, that is surely no reason why such merit should contemn inadequate rewards. Honours, which are of no intrinsic worth, but have their value only in public opinion, must be depreciated and ultimately rendered worthless, if genius and virtue will not condescend to wear them.

day.

Ch. 2.

1761

91

The vulgar clamour against the Chatham peerage Lord Mayor's and pension soon subsided, and when Pitt went into the city on Lord Mayor's day, a month after his retirement from office, he was received with every mark of attachment and veneration. His appearance on that occasion, in the royal procession, in an humble equipage, was a part of that stage play and study of effect which formed so strange a blemish in his character. The parade of poverty is as unworthy as the parade of wealth; and it was quite beneath Pitt's great position to descend into the streets of London and bid for the shouts of the populace against the young king and his consort. It is a satisfaction to add, that he was afterwards ashamed of the part he had taken in that day's proceedings, into which he had been led, against his better taste, to gratify the zeal of Beckford and the spite of Temple.

92

Ch 2.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met early in November, but the government had no cause to trouble itself as to the Parliament judgment that assembly might pronounce on recent

1761

meets.

A new leader

of the house

of Commons.

events. It was the same abject and complaisant Parliament which, in the pay and under the guidance of Newcastle, had listened with apathy to the eloquence of Pitt in opposition;-had afterwards passed his measures without question, when he was in office, and was ready again to disregard his eloquence, now that he was out of power. The lead of the House of Commons was entrusted to George Grenville, a brother of Lord Temple-a man, who by unwearied assiduity and slow degrees, had obtained a considerable position in the House of Commons. His portrait has been handed down to us by the masterly strokes of his great contemporary, and has been again delineated by the no less skilful hand of a living historian.P Grenville had been destined for the chair of the House of Commons; his knowledge of Parliamentary businesshis devoted attachment to the House, and the decorum of his manners, would have well qualified him for that dignified position, but his evil fortune and that of the nation placed him in a very different post; and the firmness of temper, which under the restraint of law and precedent, might have been well adapted to moderate the debates of a popular assembly, was afterwards signalised by a fatal

P Burke's speech on American taxation.-Macaulay's Review of the Life of Chatham; Edinburgh Review.