1760.

A ROYAL PORTRAIT.

49

indicate, on certain occasions, that his royal highness has too correct a memory.' * Another passage shows how accurately Waldegrave had read the Prince's character. Having mentioned the extreme indolence of his nature, he adds:-When the Prince shall succeed to his grandfather, he will soon be made sensible that a prince who suffers himself to be led is not to be allowed the choice of his conductor. His pride will then give battle to his indolence, and having thus made a first effort, a moderate share of obstinacy will make him persevere.'†

Such were the leading outlines of the Prince's character when, at the age of twenty-two, George the Third he ascended the throne of Great Britain. as a king. Time may have softened some of the harsher traits, but the prominent features, as drawn by this masterhand, can be distinctly traced in after life. The indolence giving way to a stubborn tenacity of power; the reserve and dissimulation; the intolerant prejudices; the lively recollection of injuries; the more than royal forgetfulness of services-all these qualities are to be found in the great and powerful monarch, as they were discovered and noted in the youthful and secluded heir to the throne. George the Third, when he began to reign, had little or no knowledge of either books or men. With the latter he necessarily became acquainted afterwards; but, unfortunately, kings look upon the least amiable side of human nature. This king was not, indeed, doomed to experience the extreme of sordid treachery, which some of his predecessors had proved; but though none of his confidential servants were in secret correspondence with a pretender to his crown, he found, at least in the earlier years of his reign, a dull uniformity of selfishness among politicians, more

* Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs. This passage is not in the printed book, but was seen in VOL. I.

E

the MS. by the writer in the 'Edinburgh Review.'-Ed. Rev. vol. 37.

50

THE MORALITY OF PUBLIC MEN.

CH. II.

depressing to a spirit of any generous instincts than occasional or even frequent instances of rapacity or bad faith. Whether they professed to be his friends, or to be independent of his pleasure, the public men of the day for the most part preferred per

Character of public men.

sonal objects to every other consideration, and, which would be intolerable to men of nice and jealous honour, were even ready to claim and accept the favours of the Crown under any circumstances, and without any sense of obligation. Even Pitt himself, while he proudly declined the perquisites of office, did not consider it beneath him to ask for a peerage and a pension, when he could no longer retain his post as a minister of state. Nor can men of exalted rank— the great chiefs of party-be fairly quoted as exceptions to this rule. Wanting nothing for themselves, they were, nevertheless, exorbitant in their demands on behalf of their friends and followers. Thus then it was with all-whether they were nobles of the land, as the Bedfords and the Buckinghams, or professional statesmen, as the Foxes and the Grenvilles, or spies and runners of the Court, as the Jenkinsons and the Dysons,-all were alike; peerages, ribbons, pensions, places, were the cry of all, from the highest to the lowest.

Such was the scene presented to George the Third when he ascended the throne of his ancestors. Nor did the youthful Sovereign turn from it with disgust. On the contrary, he soon learned to ascertain every man's price, and to calculate his value. Whether it was a badge of chivalry or a city knighthood; the seals of a secretary of state, or the 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.

1760.

PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT.

Third.

51

The character of George the Third will unfold itself in the course of this narrative, and, as happens to human nature, will be found to undergo Mental capacity modifications and changes during a pro- of George the tracted, 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 commencement of this reign was remarkable for an attempt on the part of the Crown Power of the to recover that power and influence which Crown. since 1688 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

52 ATTEMPT TO INCREASE THE ROYAL POWER. CH. II.

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 and dependent condition into which it had fallen. The Whigs had hitherto assumed to take the House of Hanover under their exclusive protection; and 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 The Tory party. 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.

1760.

THE KING'S FRIENDS."

53.

The Tories might also be justly called 'King's Friends,' because their tenet had been ever 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 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 Rockin şham and his friends into employment, he did so with