1781.

HIS SUBORDINATES

69

attacked through the side of Hanover, he as well and as wisely declared that the protection of Hanover should be as dear to this country as that of Hampshire.

In

Still, it was to little purpose that skilful plans were devised, unless fitting agents could Character of be found to carry them into execution. Pitt's agents. The genius of a great minister is never more signalised than in discovering such agents. Pitt may almost be said to have created his captains. defiance of all military usage and etiquette, he selected a young regimental officer for the conduct of the great enterprise, which was the leading feature of his plans; and the fame of Pitt must for ever be associated with that of Wolfe. Such cautious veterans as Loudon and Holbourne, who never committed themselves, were not the men for him. Even Hawke and Amherst were different officers under Pitt and under Newcastle. The whole public service was animated by his zeal and energy.

If, then, it is admitted-and it can hardly be questioned that England at this time Provision for had no alternative but war or submission, the war. it surely follows that such a war must be undertaken on a scale of magnitude proportioned to the great contending powers, and the cause for which they fought. On the one side it was a war of aggression, which, if suffered to proceed unchecked, might have reduced the empire to a province; on the other, not only our colonial possessions, but the civil and religious liberties of the nation, were placed in jeopardy. To carry on a war according to such exigencies, must necessarily involve a vast expenditure. But, though he spent enormous sums, it was the singular fortune of this minister to have it recorded of him that the very treasure applied to the purposes of war at the same time promoted those pursuits which are supposed to be fostered only by peace.

70

COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY.

CH. II.

The merchants of London have commemorated the rule of their revered statesman as one which united commerce with, and made it flourish by war.' And in days when the principles of free exchange had hardly been broached save in the writings of some French theorists, and when the navigation laws were in full force, foreign conquests were valuable as affording markets for home manufactures, and consequently employment for shipping.

Results of the

war.

It must be agreed, therefore, that this great administration was beneficial as it was glorious. Not only was the national honour vindicated, and the best security for peace taken, in the assurance that England was still, as ever, willing and able to resent an insult, but the physical power of the enemy was, for a time at least, crippled. His fleets were driven from the British waters-dispersed or destroyed. We had conquered all his important possessions in the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, besides his great dependencies on the St. Lawrence. India was also wholly lost to him, though this was a happy coincidence in which Pitt had no concern. It only remained that the united house of Bourbon 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 attended with less important consequences than must have resulted from prompt hostilities. But mediocrity and intrigue had regained their ascendancy in the British councils, and Pitt was

*The favourite, united with the minister of numbers, bore down the minister of measures,

*

and, by that means, in effect removed him from the King and Council, and deprived him of the

1761.

NEWCASTLE'S INTRIGUES.

71

prevented bringing his great work to an appropriate conclusion.

The Duke of Newcastle, who had maintained a

fall of Pitt.

prudent neutrality during the earlier Exultation of deliberations of the Cabinet upon Pitt's Newcastle on the 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, Misgivings of though he probably entertained the same Lord Bute.

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 be re-assured by the congratulations of Newcastle, or even by the magnanimous offer of Bubb Dodington to brave public obloquy by filling the vacant office of Secretary of State.† There was indeed every reason to apprehend that in his fall Pitt would drag 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

proposal of declaring war against Spain, had given notice of resignation.'-SIR E. COLEBROOKE'S MS., quoted by Sir Denis le Marchant, in his edition of WALPOLE'S History.

† Lord Melcombe to Bute.

72

Influence of

Pitt.

CHATHAM BECOMES UNPOPULAR.

CH. II.

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 Court favour on great public servant, who had but the day before used such noble language 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. I confess, Sire,' 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 exceeding goodness. Pardon me, Sire, it overpowers, it oppresses me.'

Lady Hester

The success of this experiment encouraged the Court to persevere. An intimation was created Baroness made of His Majesty's gracious desire to Chatham. 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 Pitt was immediately created Baroness Chatham, with a pension of three thousand pounds 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

1761.

CLAMOUR AGAINST CHATHAM.

73

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 such an acknowledgment of his services as his Sovereign might think fit to offer. 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. The vulgar clamour against the Chatham peerage and pension soon subsided, and when Pitt Lord Mayor's went into the city on Lord Mayor's day, 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 vulgarity of Beckford and the spite of Temple.