The Political History of England - Vol. X.

an subjects a serious matter, and he blamed them for it.[68] In other respects, too, he was dissatisfied with their public conduct, and he complained bitterly of their behaviour towards h

his duty like a schoolmaster. Bute stood in his way as the king's ally and secret counsellor. His victory over him was partial and short-lived. While Bute was in the country the king corresponded with him, and he returned to London in the spring of 1764. His return made the ministers uneasy, and

EGENC

nnounced from the throne that a bill would be laid before parliament restricting the regency to the queen and other members of the royal family usually residing in England. When the bill was proposed in the lords the question was raised whether the king's mother was a member of the royal family, or only those in the order of succession. If the Princess of Wales became regent, Bute would probably regain power. In order to prevent this dire possibility, Bedford sacrificed decency and common sense by successfully opposing a motion

ministers, nor would he give way though the king actually wept with mortification. An amendment to insert the princess's name was proposed in the commons, was carried by 167 votes to 37, and was accepted by the lords. George determined to shake off Grenville's yoke. He called on his uncle, Cumberland, to find him new ministers, and the duke, though he had been treated unkindly by his nephew, loyally came to his help. Evidently by Bute's advice, the king authorised him to treat wi

ed owing to foreign competition, and thousands were consequently almost starving. A bill to check the importation of silk by the imposition of fresh duties was laid before the lords; it was opposed by Bedford, who was averse from restraints on commerce, and it was rejected. On this a large number of Spitalfields weavers went to Richmond, on May 14, to seek help from the king in person. They met him on Wimbledon common. He received them kindly, but could not, of course, give them the help they wanted. The next day many thousands gathered in Spitalfields and Moorfields at beat of drum, marched to St. James's and Westmi

ROCKINGHAM

consulting with him, there is good reason to believe that he loyally kept his word, and that Bute never again offered him any advice.[71] He had promised Mackenzie his office for life, and declared "that he should disgrace himself" if he took it from him. Nevertheless Grenville forced him to give way. His relations with his ministers were naturally strained; they complained that he did not support them, and on one occasion Bedford remonstrated with him in insolent terms. Again George requested Cumberland to treat with Pitt, who had two interviews with the king and was anxious to accept his offer, but Temple peremptorily refused to take any office,

had neither genius, knowledge, nor industry. The Duke of Grafton, the secretary of state for the northern department, was even younger, and, like Rockingham, a great racing man. His public spirit made him a politician, but he cared so much more for pleasure than for politics that he was apt to be content so long as any immediate difficulty was tided over, and he suffered in public estimation from the scandal caused by his dissolute life. The southern department was taken by Conway. Dowdeswell, the chancellor of the exchequer, was a sound financier,

COLONIAL

present attitude was to a large extent also a matter of principle. He would willingly have taken office if he could have simply been the king's minister, unconnected, without belonging to any party. The Rockinghams, as they were called, were a party connexion, and under Rockingham's leadership would remain so, and their character was emphasised by the inclusion of Newcastle, the chief representative of a system which Pitt hated, government based on the influence of the whig houses and not on the good-will of the crown and the people. Pitt plainly declared that he would not sit at council with Newcastle. Nor would h

stic fashion: "Pardon me, gentlemen," said he, bowing towards the ministers, "confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom; youth is the season of credulity". He thought that he saw "traces of an overruling influence," a dark saying which probably referred to Newcastle.[72] While he asserted the sovereignty of Great Britain over the colonies in legislation, he maintained that parliament had no right to tax them; taxation, according to him, was "no part of the governing or legislative power". He regarded the tax as an infringement of constitutional liberty, and rejoic

supreme place as a teacher of political wisdom. In character he was pure, generous, and tender-hearted. His fervid imagination extended the area of his sympathies, and sometimes prejudiced his opinions. As a speaker he was eloquent, and now and again carried his audience completely with him, but he never caught the tone of the house of commons; his longer speeches were too much of the nature of exhaustive treatises to be acceptable to its members; he had little tact, an impatient temper, and often spoke with execrable taste. The chief article in his political creed was his belief in the excellence of the constitution. He was an ardent reformer

F THE ST

or repeal, and that Rockingham might say so. Two days later the ministers heard that Lord Strange, one of the court party, was saying that the king was against repeal, and wished it to be known. This made a great stir, and the "ministerial lives were thought not worth three days' purchase". Rockingham went to the king for an explanation. George acknowledged that he had told him that he was for repeal, but said that they had been speaking only of the choice between the repeal and the enforcement of the act, that of the two he was for repeal, but that he desired that the act should be modified and not repealed. The ministers had therefore "to carry on a great public measure against the king's declared sentiments, and with a great number of his servants acting against them".

ory act was regarded as a menace, and kept alive their feelings of suspicion and irritation. Their temper was shown by the delay of many of the colonies to vote the required compensation. In Massachusetts, where the vote was passed in December, it was insolently accompanied by a vote of indemnity to all concerned in the riots. The repeal of the stamp act needs no defence; a mistake had been made which was leading to serious consequences, and in such a case it is a statesmanlike policy to retrace the false step. The declaratory act was passed to save the dignity of parliament. In spite of Burke's admiration for thi

THAM MI

s his ally, not as his successor. There were differences in the cabinet on the matter. The king's section wished to gain Pitt for their master; Rockingham was upheld by his friends; Grafton wanted Pitt as prime minister, and Conway, though less decided, agreed with him. Pitt became querulous and unreasonable, and in April violently attacked the ministers, specially excepting Grafton and Conway.[74] All attempts at negotiation having failed, Grafton made his choice for Pitt and resigned office. It was not easy to fill his place, for the ministry was regarded as moribund, and finally the king was forced to give the seals to Rockingham's friend, the young Duke of Richmond. The chancellor, Northington, a strong supporter of the king, saw that the end was not far off, and apparently d

ons, and Shelburne secretary for the southern department. In spite of Temple's opposition to the repeal of the stamp act, Pitt offered him the treasury, but that vain man would not enter the cabinet except as Pitt's equal, and a quarrel ensued between them. The treasury was then accepted by Grafton; and, unfortunately, by his advice, Charles Townshend was made chancellor of the exchequer. Camden was appointed chancellor, Northington president of the council, and they, with Granby as commander-in-chief, and Sir Charles Saunde

in the Falkland islands. Against France the natural ally of England was Russia, for she had a strong interest in opposing French influence in Denmark and Sweden; while on the side of England a Russian alliance would, in the event of war, secure her Baltic trade and enable her fleet to act elsewhere, and would be a defence for Hanover. An alliance with Russia had already been discussed, but Catherine II. had far less interest in the matter than England, and insisted that any alliance should include her Turkish war, to which England would not consent. Catherine was in alliance with Frederick of Prussia, and Chatham, hoping that the adhesion of England would be welcomed, designed a defensive alliance between Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, which might take in Denmark, Sweden, th

'S DIFF

important members of it who had joined the new ministry, the Duke of Portland, Saunders, and others, resigned office. Conway was almost persuaded to follow their example, for Chatham treated him with haughty coldness, but he yielded to the urgent advice of his friend Horace Walpole, and remained in the ministry, uneasy and vacillatin

proclamation against forestalling and engrossing. It had no effect; the price reached 49s., and on the 26th the council laid an embargo on exportation. By law the ministers had no right to take such a step until wheat was at 53s. 4d. As, however, prices were rising, all parties agreed that the embargo was in itself a justifiable measure. It was, however, objected that the ministers should have summoned parliament to meet at an earlier date, and have acted with its authority. When parliament met on November 11, the opposition insisted that the ministers needed a bill of indemnity for having set aside the law by a proclamation of council. Chatham defended

T IN

ged by a court of directors elected annually, and consequently under the control of the court of proprietors in which every holder of ￡500 stock had a vote. It proved itself unequal to its new position. Clive returned to England in 1760, the possessor of a princely fortune, and in 1762 was created Baron Clive of Plassey in the Irish peerage. He was opposed in the court of directors by a party headed by Sullivan. In India he was succeeded by Vansittart, and there troubles soon arose, chiefly from the greed of the company's servants. Mír Jafar, the Nawáb o

heap; they monopolised the trade in the necessaries of life, and grew rich upon the miseries of the helpless people. Private trade and extorted presents enabled many a man who as a mere youth had obtained a writer's place to return to England after a few years with a handsome income. Mír Kásim saw his people starving, his officers ill-treated, and his treasury robbed, and prepared for revolt. Conscious of the impending danger, Vansittart made an agreement with him as to tolls. The council at Calcutta indignantly repudiated the

auntless conduct restored discipline among the troops. With about 7,000 men, of whom only some 1,000 were Europeans, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied forces, 50,000 strong, at Baxár on October 23, 1764. The enemy lost 6,000 men and 167 guns. Oudh lay at the disposal of the English, and Sháh Alam sought refuge with the conquerors. Early in 1765 Mír Jafar died, and the council at Calcutta, without consulting the emperor, appointed his son to succeed him, receiving in presents from him ￡139,357, besides money u

d in return Sháh Alam granted to the company the right of levying and administering the revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, together with jurisdiction in the Northern Circars. The nawáb of Bengal received an annual pension of ￡600,000, and surrendered all his power to the company, except the right of criminal jurisdiction. Clive reorganised the army, and stopped the double batta, or allowance, granted by Mír Jafar after the battle of Plassey. He

THE EAST IN

nd privileges granted by the nation. Nevertheless the proprietors carried their point, and a dividend of 10 per cent. was declared. Chatham held that the time had come for parliament to inquire by what right the company administered its territorial revenues. He considered that it had no right to its new position of a virtually sovereign power, that the sovereignty of the crown should be asserted, and that in return for the privileges which it enjoyed it should contribute a portion of its revenues to the national treasury. The company should apply to parliament to make good its defective title, and parliament should then settle what portion

Shelburne agreed with Chatham that the question of the company's rights should be decided by parliament. Townshend declared that it would be "absurd" to force the company to share its power with the crown, and both he and Conway desired that the question of right should be waived and that its relations with the government should be settled by amicable arrangement. In May, 1767, the proprietors insisted on a dividend at the rate of 12? per cent. A motion was carried to bring the affairs of the company before parliament. Townshend, as Chatham said, "marred the business"; he managed to open the door for negotiation, and to

DAR

n, and, as the English were deficient in that arm, he was able to do much mischief in the Karnatic. In April, 1769, having previously drawn the English army away from Madras by skilful man?uvres, he suddenly appeared in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. The English were forced to make a treaty with him on his own terms. The

TNO

tle's Narra

egister, viii

ence, iii., 281; Walpol

egister, xxi.

o Flood, Jan. 8, 1766,

in a MS. collection of Conway's letters, to

ford, April 29, 176

15, 1766, MS. Pitt Papers, 19