Life of William, Earl of Shelburne/Volume 1/Chapter 5

by Edmond George Petty-Fitzmaurice

 

CHAPTER V

 

LORD SHELBURNE AND MR. PITT

 

1763

 

At the outset of his career, Shelburne was strongly prejudiced against Pitt. He had himself served in the abortive expeditions to the coast of France; he had seen the resources of his country wasted in glorious but useless struggles on German soil; returning home he had found Pitt not only the chief support of the war policy, but in intimate alliance with the Newcastle Whigs of whose incapacity he had formed a strong opinion; he had attached himself to Bute; his most intimate friend had vehemently assailed Pitt; everything in fact had hitherto conspired to separate their paths. But in 1763 the war was concluded, and the preservation of peace—strange though it might have sounded a few years before—seemed likely to depend on the accession to office of Pitt, ever since whose fall the country, torn by factions and the victim of short-lived administrations, had been a standing temptation to the renewal of the aggressive designs of the national enemy: so true is it at all times that a weak foreign policy is not the best but the worst security for the peace and prosperity of the country. Again, the alliance of Pitt and Newcastle was no longer as intimate as it had been. The former, courted in turn by every faction, and the idol of the nation, knew that he could if necessary dispense with the aid of the latter, and it was in any case improbable that whatever might be the rest of the arrangements which the Great Commoner might make, he would fail to assign the Treasury to Temple instead of giving it as formerly to Newcastle. The peace he was willing to acquiesce in, now that it was made, while retaining all his old dislike for the authors of it.^[1] But after allowing due weight to altered circumstances, there can be little doubt that both absolutely and relatively the greatness of the character of Pitt had been slowly forcing itself on the mind of Shelburne, who though neither at this time nor subsequently remaining blind to the many failings and faults which disfigured and impaired it, was now far removed from the frame of mind in which two years before he had written to Blackstone at Oxford expressing no very high opinion of the popular hero.^[2] He also knew that Pitt had expressed a favourable opinion of him, and praise coming from such a source doubtless had some effect.^[3]

The circumstances of the time now came to give a peculiar importance to this change of opinion. At the time of the formation of the Grenville Ministry an unsuccessful attempt had been made to induce Bedford to form a part of the new arrangements, but the returned Ambassador, who had not yet forgiven Bute for having—as he believed—divulged his secret instructions to the French Minister, declined to accept office so long as his betrayer was to have any share, whether open or secret, in the direction of affairs.^[4] The negotiation thus broken off in April was renewed almost immediately afterwards, and lasted intermittently all the summer,^[5] through the medium of Shelburne on the one side and Gower on the other, without however leading to any definite result; till in the month of August, the King who had by this time found the pedantry of Grenville intolerable, resolved to get rid of him, and recall not only Bedford, but Pitt and Temple as well. At the same moment the disagreements between Shelburne and Egremont were at their height, and the former was accordingly in every way disposed to be a ready instrument, when Bute, having advised the King to dismiss Grenville, once more called him into the field as a negotiator.

Considering the strong opposition which Pitt had offered to Bute, the decision now taken by the latter to approach him may seem extraordinary; but when it is recollected that at one period of their career they had been united, and that Pitt himself—even when most opposed to Bute politically—had never shown that violent personal objection to him, of which others such as Bedford openly boasted, the step may not seem so difficult of explanation: especially when we consider the position of the Ministry, and that its chief members were disliked by the King, and at variance with one another. Bute and Pitt had at least the common ground that they were both opposed to the exclusive domination of the great Whig houses, though they differed as to the principles involved. To Bute the struggle seemed mainly one for the personal rights and prerogatives of a patriotic King; to Pitt it was a struggle for the freedom of the crown from cabals and connection and for an efficient executive. Bute therefore had now determined to seek the evils he knew not of, rather than those of which he had daily experience, and he commissioned Shelburne to treat, not only as before with Bedford and Gower, but with Pitt as well. Accepting the part tendered to him, Shelburne decided to negotiate with Bedford and Pitt through Calcraft, while to Gower he wrote himself as follows:

"I just hear that it is possible you may go into Staffordshire before my return, which I beg may not be, as I want very much to see you.

"There is not a man in England who is more against unnecessary changes of hands than myself, for the King's sake and for his country's sake, but by what I can observe every day, the present system grows more precarious, and it will be very necessary for your Lordship's sake, and for the sake of your friends, to have some fixed ideas about men and things before that time comes. Does the Duke of Bedford wish to come into employment? Rigby spoke of Mr. Pitt. Does he or does the Duke of Bedford know anything of Mr. Pitt's inclinations? I write this very much from my [⁠]^[6] but be assured that no time should be lost in taking some resolution, or knowing these things with some precision, and though I cannot give it to your Lordship, as anything else but my own opinion, yet I flatter myself from the confidence in that on former occasions, you will believe that I would not offer it to you if it was ungrounded."^[7]

Gower replied: "There is no person, I hope and believe, wishes more to see the King relieved from his present difficulties, and to see this country settled upon a plan of solidity, than your humble servant, nor will anybody be more ready to give his assistance to the completion of it. Calcraft will give your Lordship an account of what state the matter you entrusted him with is in, and what methods have been taken to sound the parties. The only thing worth observation at Court to-day, was an audience which Lord Chief Justice Mansfield had previous to the levée, and which lasted above an hour."^[8]

It soon appeared that Bedford was willing to join with Gower in entering the Ministry. He still however made one condition. It was the banishment of Bute, not only from the royal closet, but even from London. The negotiations in consequence came to a stand-still, for Bute was not yet prepared to suffer so great an indignity at the bidding of his former colleague. This determination on the part of Bute had other consequences. Bedford, in an interview with the King, had led him to suppose on the authority of Bute himself, that it was the intention of the latter to retire from London, as well as from active interference in business. Nothing was further from Bute's intention. Considering that the message from Bute had been originally given to Shelburne, who had confided it to Calcraft, who had passed it on to Rigby, who had given it to Bedford, it is not very astonishing if some confusion was the consequence. Meanwhile an angry correspondence ensued, in which every one appealed to his neighbour. "I write to you," says Shelburne to Bute, "merely on what I have heard of the Duke of Bedford's conversation yesterday, and to tell you, what you may suppose, that I am exceedingly sorry if any part of it tended to a want of the tenderest sense of the many favours he and his friends have received from you: many of which coming through my hands and with my knowledge, I should be sorry you did not think I did full justice to your intentions, and that I and those I have any influence over are of a different opinion. I protest I am, and I hope by what I have heard, Mr. Pitt is. But I own I am anxious to confirm you in it, that you should be as kind as possible in the beginning to Lord Temple, which is a point that must come about sooner or later, and I wish it to come from you, and in the beginning. …^[9]

"I ought to tell you I have seen Lord Gower and showed him the paragraph of the letter relative to the Duke of Bedford's conversation. And I have the pleasure to tell you, notwithstanding what has passed on all sides since, he did not pretend to say those were the expressions made use of. He argued indeed as to the meaning of others, which were exactly those so often repeated and allowed of, by your Lordship."^[10]

At the same time he wrote to Calcraft as follows:

"I send you in very great confidence the enclosed language of the Duke of Bedford to the King. I therefore beseech you to see Rigby immediately, and to send me such an account of that matter, stating whatever may have passed from you tending to this or from Rigby to the Duke of Bedford, as will justify me; for God knows how very opposite it was to any instructions of mine or to any ideas I always understood of yours as well as mine, to make any mention of Lord Bute's name in the transaction, much less his retiring from the King's presence in any event. You'll not let the enclosed out of your hands, till you return it to me. I suppose Rigby will have no objection to put on paper what he said to the Duke of Bedford on this subject.

 

[Enclosure.]

"Lord Shelburne sent Rigby to him to acquaint him that Lord Bute wished him to form a plan of Government, to take the Treasury himself, and have any associates except ——; that Lord Bute would weaken any administration, and he would therefore retire from London; that upon this he had attempted to bring Mr. Pitt, who had declined, as totally united with the Duke of Newcastle and the Opposition.^[11]

Calcraft replied: "In my conversation with Lord Gower and Rigby I obeyed as implicitly as possible, your orders to commit nobody; nor did I. Who I was understood to speak from, they most probably guess; but not a single word of Lord Bute's unpopularity did I mention, or that he would retire from London. Thorough satisfaction of his not interfering was, as you may remember, expressed. Rigby's letter to the Duke of Bedford put the refusal on the union with the Duke of Newcastle to prevent his Grace's^[12] flying out, if His Majesty should choose to employ Mr. Pitt without him, though no report of any such junction was made. I am sorry to find misunderstanding where I thought it impossible, and am sure I have most faithfully reported what literally passed from time to time."^[13]

Meanwhile the negotiation with Pitt had met with as little success. If Bedford proscribed Bute, Pitt proscribed Bedford. Bute was under the impression that the Treasury would be left at the Royal disposition, but Pitt had only said that Newcastle should not have it.

"I found," writes Bute to Shelburne, "my report received with great surprise, and 'Every man is to be dismissed who had a hand in the peace' often repeated. The Queen was taken ill while I was speaking, so that I am come away quite uncertain of the resolutions to be taken, nor shall I for some days have any opportunity of knowing more. I was asked what grounds I had to believe the Treasury was not to be seized as well as other offices. This was dark in your report^[14] so that I could make little of it."^[15]

While the negotiations were thus at a stand-still, Egremont suddenly died on the 21st of August. It was now hoped that Pitt would consent to fill the vacant office. Except Grenville, every one wished it.^[16]

Bute and Pitt accordingly had a meeting on the 25th of August at the house of the latter, and their conversation was mutually so satisfactory that it was followed by an interview between Pitt and the King on the 26th.^[17] The impression left on the mind of Shelburne was that "the negotiation thus entered on carried through the whole of it such shocking marks of insincerity, that if it had taken another turn than it did, it must have laid on the shoulders of Pitt a weight of a most irksome nature on account of the peculiar circumstances attending it."^[18]

There is every reason to suppose that Pitt had formed the same opinion. "The King," says Walpole, "had not only been revolted at Mr. Pitt's terms, though without owning it, but Mr. Pitt had the sagacity to discover His Majesty's repugnance, and therefore not only carried on the farce of returning to Court the next day, but was so dexterous as to see the Duke of Newcastle, with whose interests he had by no means clogged his first demands, and assuring his Grace of his zeal for his service, went back to the King with a schedule of terms extremely enlarged. These were peremptorily rejected, and the treaty broke off on pretences which the one had not meant to ask, nor the other cared whether he granted or refused. The Treasury for Lord Temple was the real stone of offence."^[19]

It may be argued that the explanation of the failure of this famous negotiation thus given by Walpole is inconsistent with the then state of the relations of Pitt with the great Whig families. It is indeed true that the final rupture between him and Newcastle only took place in 1764,^[20] and that they still corresponded, though in terms which, after discounting the style of overstrained courtesy usual in the correspondence of that time, amount to little more than those of ordinary civility. But a reference to the correspondence of Lord Rockingham^[21] shows Pitt, in the end of 1762, using the following language of the Duke of Newcastle to Thomas Walpole, viz. "that he might not think it quite for His Majesty's Service to have the Duke of Newcastle succeed, though it was necessary Lord Bute should be removed from office," and it may be taken as tolerably certain that if he used such language in the end of 1762, he did not feel himself bound by any very real ties to the Duke and his friends in 1763.

But it has also been said^[22]—and this is far more important—that the conduct ascribed by Walpole to Pitt implies a "dexterity" and "finesse" which formed no part of the character of the Great Commoner. If however instead of "dexterity" and "finesse," the words "love of play" and "masquerade" were used—and they would fit the circumstances—well-known features of the character of Pitt would be immediately recognized. Nor indeed were dexterity and finesse altogether absent from his composition, as the picture left by Shelburne abundantly proves.^[23] On the strength of a letter from Rigby to the Duke of Bedford, it can indeed be argued that Pitt, during the earlier stages of these negotiations previous to the death of Egremont, refused to come into office without the Duke of Newcastle and his friends,^[24] and that whatever he felt was necessary in the middle of August he would equally feel to be necessary at the end of that same month. But it can be answered—putting aside the fact that the refusal of Pitt on that occasion was, according to another and more trustworthy account, based on his aversion to Bedford—that whatever was then said about the alliance of Pitt and Newcastle by Rigby is shown by the letter from Calcraft to Shelburne of August 26th to have been put forward by the Bedford party for their own ulterior purposes, regardless of its accuracy, and without any real belief on their own part. A letter from Hardwicke^[25] is usually quoted as the proof that the alliance between Newcastle and Pitt at this period was genuine, but there is no reason to suppose that Pitt had let Hardwicke into his real confidence. Pitt subsequently affirmed that, "if he were examined upon oath, he could not pretend to say upon what this negotiation broke off, whether upon any particular point or upon the general complexion of the whole, but that if the King should assign any particular reason for it, he should not deny it."^[26] On a subsequent occasion, in the House of Commons, he contradicted absolutely everything that had been circulated as to the unreasonableness of his demands in August 1763.^[27] Such were the only explanations Pitt ever condescended to give of his share in these remarkable transactions. They were, to say the least, oracular.

On the final break up of the negotiations between Pitt and the King, Shelburne at once resigned the Presidency of the Board of Trade, assigning as his reason his distaste for the office he then occupied. "He quitted the royal closet with such marks of goodness and favour," writes Calcraft to Pitt, "as he must ever remember, but he thought himself obliged to take this step. Believe me, Sir, I can never forget the confidence you have placed in me, or be insensible to your approbation of my conduct, and it is with the utmost satisfaction I can add Lord Shelburne feels with very great concern what happened to you in the end of the late transaction."^[28]

"Lord Shelburne," says Walpole, "has resigned: many reasons are given, but the only one that people choose to take is that thinking Pitt must be Minister soon, and finding himself tolerably obnoxious to him he is seeking to make his peace at any rate."^[29]

The following letters passed on the occasion of his resignation between Shelburne and Bute:

 

Lord Bute to Lord Shelburne.

September 4th, 1763.

My dear Lord,—I hear you have resigned. Had my views tended in the least to continue in business, I should have felt severely this step, as I have long flattered myself we should have trod the publick paths of politicks and honor together; but having so absolutely abandoned all thoughts of interfering more in business, having seen every honest wish and endeavour, every action of my life, turned in the most false and cruel lights, I take my part without hesitation, so that all I lament in your retiring from the King's Service, is the minute you do it in; but that is over, and I am firmly persuaded you will try by your conduct, to obviate any ill-natured interpretations that the enemies of Government may make of it; as for myself, I hear I am not spared by those who, in Mr. Pitt's proposals, would have suffered.^[30] 'Tis hard indeed to make me responsible for the unreasonable demands of a party. I scorn to deny that I was of opinion that Mr. Pitt's coming into Ministry with a few of the other party would, with the King's friends who had supported his measures, have made a strong and permanent Government, would have put an end to all the violence of party, and given the best of Sovereigns a quiet and easy reign. I thought this feasible from the temper of mind I was informed Mr. Pitt was in at present. Your Lordship knows what good grounds I went on; I thought it feasible without committing the King's honor or sacrificing his friends, as a few arrangements might with the vacant offices have made things easy. I have been mistaken, but for all that I neither repent my opinions given, nor cease to lament it had no better success.

The die is now cast and I most ardently pray for the King's getting out of all his difficulties, and indeed, from my knowledge of his disposition and resolution, I make no doubt of his success. I shall in a very short time remove from the bustle and noise of this town, but wherever I am, nothing will make me happier than hearing you continue in those generous sentiments you opened to me when I had last the pleasure of seeing you.

I am, my dear Lord,

Most faithfully yours,

Bute.

 

Shelburne to Bute.

September 19th.

My dear Lord,—I find by the newspapers they load me as well as they do your Lordship. It gives me very little uneasiness; meâ virtute me involvo.

But I should be very sorry your Friends did such severe injustice to the uniform conduct I have to this day preserved towards your Lordship as to join in it, which however I am told some of them do, and that the King and all his Council hear my name mentioned with the least regard. This is the reason given for trying every means to leave me friendless and setting me almost at open defiance. The whole of this is to me inexplicable. I hate to dwell upon it, and I only mention it to your Lordship, who I am persuaded will do me justice in regard to yourself at least. As to the King, surely there must have been sad misrepresentations: my past conduct, whatever my future may be, not having merited it of a generous Prince, whom I have often heard your Lordship say, felt so much from a different conduct than what my heart tells me, and you must be sensible I have ever observed towards him. I feel for his Person, for his Office, and for the State, and no accident I hope, will prevent my preserving the most temperate conduct with these views; none can certainly give me more concern than your not being thoroughly persuaded of the respect and esteem with which I am, and have been,

My dear Lord,

Most faithfully yours,

Shelburne.

 

Bute to Shelburne.

September 20th.

My dear Lord,—With regard to your Lordship's letter, I never doubted that you would come to taste a little of those compliments I have been receiving more or less these seven years, and though I at present check all conversation that leads to politicks, people have told me that I am abused from every quarter. I am the more surpris'd from hearing the violence of some who not long ago were tame indeed, but these are topicks I shall not long be troubled with. With regard to the great Personage you mention, I cannot believe the reports made you to be true. I know he was disgusted at the time you chose to resign; but I also know he was pleased with your manner of doing it and with the declaration you made him, and said upon it, that he would suffer no man to hurt you in His opinion, while you continued firm to your own generous resolutions. This was the day after you resign'd, since which I protest on the word of a gentleman I know no more of politicks, of the King, or the Ministers' ideas or measures than I do of the Mogul's Court. I have heard one or two I call my friends, wish you had not resigned when you did. Your Lordship knows I expressed myself freely to you on that subject, but I am ignorant of any other attack. Suffer me once more to repeat what I then said: your resignation at the minute you made it was immediately treated as an abandonment of the King; you foresaw this, and took the part of declaring to Himself and others you meant his support; it was nobly and nicely done. Continue in this way of thinking, and you will draw the tooth of malice and act a part worthy of you; but, my dear Lord, if you suffer little conversations (for the most part strangely disfigured in the repetition) to make you deviate from your former plan, those who hate you, or who want to detach you, will infallibly come back to their first assertion and give it plausibility, by appealing to your own conduct. Let them not triumph by such little arts. I began with saying, I could not believe the reports you have heard of ——'s conversation, were well founded. I must go farther, they cannot be founded in truth. I have known the —— too long, have had too many proofs of the most inviolable love to veracity, to credit any man in these Kingdoms contrary to the actual declaration made to myself, no, not though he affirmed he was present and heard it.^[31] Adieu, my dear Lord, this letter is too long, but shall be the last on political matters for those I heartily take my leave of; it is certainly meant to do you all the service in my power, and convince you how sincerely I remain, with the greatest regard,

Your most obedient humble Servant,

Bute.

 

Thus wrote Bute, and yet before the close of the year circumstances were to arise destined to put an end to the connection which united him to Shelburne. By November, the Court had finally resolved to plunge into the unconstitutional and illegal persecution of an individual, which ended by shaking the throne itself, and immortalising a comparatively worthless man. Parliament stooped to become the instrument of the Court. The House of Commons was full of converted Jacobites and soldiers, while the House of Lords, undoubtedly the more liberal assembly of the two during the first half of the century, was rapidly losing that character.^[32] In the affair of Wilkes, there was only one safe and honourable course between the fanaticism of the Court and the Parliament on one side and of Temple on the other; that of championing the liberties of which Wilkes was become the representative, and at the same time keeping clear of all connection with Wilkes as an individual. This was the course adopted after some hesitation by Pitt, who abruptly separating himself from Temple, sent for Shelburne with whom on the 18th November he had an interview of three hours. The result of this interview was soon apparent when on November 24th the resolution that "the privilege of Parliament does not extend to seditious libels" came on for discussion in the House of Commons. It was then observed that the three people supposed to be influenced by Shelburne, viz. Fitzmaurice, Barré, and Calcraft, voted in the minority against the Government, as well as Conway. "The King, greatly pleased with the success of the day, showed great resentment at Mr. Conway's conduct, and was inclined immediately to have dismissed him; but Mr. Grenville advised His Majesty to wait till the recess at Christmas, and then to extend it to Colonel Barré and the others."^[33] When the same resolution was discussed on the 29th in the House of Lords, Shelburne spoke with success against it,^[34] making a compliment at the same time to Bute, who was absent, and flattering the Crown, in order to separate himself from Lord Temple, whose protest he did not sign.^[35] But George III. was a king to whom all opposition was alike. It was enough that it was opposition. Stet pro ratione voluntas was his motto, and absolute submission was what he required. Those who were not prepared to grant it were his enemies; his Ministers were to be his servants in fact as well as in name, and Parliament was to become a mere lit de justice for ordering the registration of royal decrees. But to make matters worse, Lord Shelburne was one of the "three honest and proper men," whom the King had hoped to make the instruments of his arbitrary notions,^[36] and here he was, on the very question which was regarded as a test of devotion, flying in the King's face, and encouraging others to do the same. Therefore when, on the 5th December, Mr. Grenville "reminded His Majesty that Lord Shelburne was still in his service as his aide-de-camp, and asked if he thought it right to continue him, the King paused a moment, and said, No, I will remove him; he has acted like a worthless man, and has broke his word with me." It would have probably puzzled George III. to state what pledges had been given him by Shelburne to support the Court in the case of Wilkes, to whose arbitrary arrest he had been throughout opposed. Lord Holland, who was not in a position to speak with authority, had recently told the King that Shelburne would continue to support the Government so long as he thought it possible for the Ministers to direct the affairs of the country. A similar assurance had been given by Shelburne himself when resigning.^[37] Nothing beyond this had passed, but what were such small considerations as these to the head of the House of Hanover, with whom nothing weighed except his own personal prejudice and an obstinate will.

Barré and Shelburne were both dismissed on Wednesday the 8th.

"My dear Lord," writes Barré the following day, "I received last night a total dismission from the King's service. A compliment of the same kind was sent to your Lordship, which I forward to you by the express.

"Campbell is to succeed me in Stirling Castle, though he assured me yesterday that he would not ask for it; this was a game settled at Luton,^[38] and throws great obscurity upon the intentions in that quarter. Ned Harvey is to be offered the Adjutant-Generalship; Calcraft and I think he will take it, but was there ever so noble an opportunity for him to shew himself a man?

"I think you should be in town, and even in the closet to-morrow. I shall go to Court.

"I am clear, my dear Lord, you should be at Court to-morrow if possible. In the way, for many reasons at this critical juncture, to try to counteract the present proceedings, you certainly should be. I have had a long discourse with Ned Harvey, who knows nothing except from me (and my intelligence is sure) about his Adjutant-Generalship; I wish I could say he was determined, for he has the greatest opportunity to show both his friendship, his sense, and his integrity.

"I find some expressions in your speech are said to have brought on these attacks on your friends.

"Mr. Pitt seems more and more puzzled, but very clear, that if things go much further, the Court will get beyond redemption.

"Adieu, I hope we shall see you to-morrow, and am,

"Most truly yours,

"I. B."

 

From Bowood Shelburne replied:

"Your conduct is likely to be as firm and manly in civil as it has been in military life, and will I hope do you equal honour. I do assure you I look upon it far above any compliment from me, for to me it has been kind beyond expression, and such as I am bound never to forget. I am sorry however to congratulate you on the honour you must acquire with every honest man at the expense of what I am hurt to name, and still more to think of the King and the publick. For depend upon it, this factious proceeding adopted by the Court, must be productive of dreadful evil to this country, already tottering by faction which seems stepping into the place of justice, and has already you see almost turned the judge off the bench.^[39]

"Introducing it at this moment into another profession in a manner so unprecedented as this, appears a most extraordinary measure and betrays the most abandoned principle.

"Though it's late at night, I would not scruple travelling, if I did not think it better for me to delay going to Court till Monday, especially if there is any question about going into the closet, till I can see and hear more of this measure, which I suppose cannot be meant to end with you and me, though I shall think nothing extraordinary, for the whole of this implies a communication certainly between Luton and administration: I am very curious to know the terms. I shall be at Whitton certainly on Sunday at five, where I shall be very glad to meet you and Calcraft, and bring all the information you can from every quarter. I shall have a thousand questions to ask you. Calcraft knew Ned Harvey better than I do, but if it is so, what is one to think of that creature called man? But you know how much account I make of temper in all human affairs, so I must take care not to transgress myself."^[40]

When Shelburne presented himself at Court, the King in his own words to Mr. Grenville, "took no notice of him but spoke to the two people on each side of him, which he thought was the treatment he deserved, for having broke his word and honour with him, having pledged both upon his not going into opposition, and then taking the first opportunity to oppose a measure which personally regarded the King."^[41] At the same time all further communication with him on the part of Bute ceased, and Mr. Grenville going to Court upon the Princess of Wales's birthday, "heard her exclaim against Lord Shelburne's conduct, and say that the night before Lady Jane Stuart had asked her if she had heard of the part Lord Shelburne had taken in the House of Lords, wondering what he could mean by it, and saying she knew of no friend he had, and seemed to disclaim all intercourse between him and her father, which all Lord Bute's friends in general do."^[42]

To Shelburne the deprivation of his appointment as aide-de-camp was not a serious loss, being abundantly compensated by the fairly earned popularity which this mark of the royal displeasure conferred upon its victim. It was not so in the case of Barré. He was Adjutant-General of the Forces and Governor of Stirling Castle. The income he himself stated publicly in subsequent years arising from these appointments was about £4000 a year, the loss of which, to a man who four years before had described himself as a friendless subaltern of eleven years' standing, was no inconsiderable matter.^[43] But though deprived of office and placed on the retired list, Barré was nothing daunted, and with the full approval of Shelburne, continued to oppose the Grenville administration in their persecution of Wilkes. During the debate on the 14th of February 1764, on the legality of general warrants, Grenville was bold enough to deny the charge of having used "menaces to officers," whereupon, says Walpole, "Colonel Barré rose, and this was attended with a striking circumstance. Sir Edward Dering, one of our noisy fools, cried out, Mr. Barré. The latter seized the thought with admirable quickness, and said to the Speaker who in pointing to him had called him Colonel, 'I beg your pardon, sir, you have pointed to me by a title I have no right to,' and then made a very artful and pathetic speech on his own services and dismission; with nothing bad but an awkward attempt towards an excuse to Mr. Pitt for his former behaviour."^[44] Whether the excuse was awkward or not, the reconciliation it announced was genuine, and the political attachment of Barré to Pitt was only ended by the death of the latter.

 

1. Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham, i. 150.
2. Blackstone to Shelburne, October 19th, 1761: "You know I have the happiness to concur with your Lordship in entertaining no very high opinion of the multitude's idol."
3. Rigby to Shelburne, April 1763.
4. Bedford to Bute, April 1763.
5. Walpole, Memoirs, i. 287; Gower to Shelburne, June 20th, 1763.
6. A word is here illegible.
7. Shelburne to Gower, August 8th, 1763.
8. Gower to Shelburne, August 10th.
9. Shelburne to Bute, August 14th, 1763.
10. Shelburne to Bute, August 1763.
11. Shelburne to Calcraft, August 26th, 1763.
12. The Duke of Newcastle.
13. Calcraft to Shelburne, August 1763.
14. This report is not extant. It is however clear, that Pitt from the beginning of the negotiation intended Temple to be First Lord of the Treasury. Shelburne to Bute, August 14th, 1763.
15. Bute to Shelburne, August 16th.
16. Walpole says (Correspondence, iv. 108) that Shelburne wanted to be Secretary of State himself. If Pitt had filled the vacancy, Shelburne might have succeeded Halifax.
17. Hardwicke to Royston, September 4th, 1763.
18. Shelburne to Bute, August 30th, 1763. "It was the interest of Bute to see Pitt at the head of affairs; for Pitt alone had opposed him as a Minister without animosity as a man. They who had sided with him when in power, now so dreaded to share his unpopularity, that they had made a parade of proscribing him, and wished not only to deprive him of influence, but to exile him from the Court and from Westminster. He therefore desired and long continued to desire to see Pitt in office."—Bancroft, v. 142.
19. Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III., i. 289. See also the observations of Lord Chesterfield in his character of Lord Bute. Letters, ed. Bradshaw, iii. 1435-1437.
20. Pitt to Newcastle, October 1764.
21. Rockingham Papers, i. 151.
22. Sir Denis Le Merchant, note, i. 289, of Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George III. In the Correspondence, iv. 108-109, Walpole says Shelburne was one of the persons proscribed by Pitt. Of this there is no evidence.
23. See Chapter I., pp. 57-60.
24. Bedford Correspondence, iii. 236.
25. Hardwicke to Royston, September 4th, 1763.
26. Hardwicke to Royston, September 4th, 1763.
27. Gerard Hamilton to Calcraft, February 12th, 1766.
28. Calcraft to Pitt, September 20th, 1763.
29. Walpole to Mann, September 13th, 1763; Correspondence, iv. 113.
30. Bedford and Grenville the former of whom had now become President of the Council.
31. The person referred to is the King.
32. See the observations on this subject in Buckle's History of Civilisation, i. 7.
33. Grenville Correspondence, ii. 229.
34. Walpole to the Earl of Hertford, December 2nd, 1763; Correspondence, iv. 140.
35. Grenville Correspondence, ii. 230.
36. See supra, p. 142.
37. See supra, pp. 209-210; Grenville Correspondence, ii. 203, 220, 236.
38. The residence of Bute.
39. The allusion is to the outcry raised by the courtiers against the decision of Chief Justice Pratt on the point of privilege raised by the arrest of Wilkes.
40. Shelburne to Barré, December 1765.
41. Grenville Correspondence, ii. 238.
42. Grenville Correspondence, ii. 243. Under date October 14th, Grenville accuses Shelburne of having falsely stated to some one a few days before that Bute and he were still corresponding. The last extant letter of Bute to Shelburne is dated September 20th and is quite cordial in tone, so that, assuming Shelburne to have answered the letter, the statement was substantially correct. Grenville does not give the name of his informant.
43. See Vol. II. p. 156.
44. To the Earl of Hertford, February 15th, 1764. Correspondence, iv. 186.