Broglie, La Paix d'Aix-la-Chapelle, pp. 143 et seq.)
Sandwich was still a member of the admiralty board, and in February 1747-8, on the Duke of Bedford's appointment as secretary of state, he became first lord, delegating the duties of the office to Anson, notwithstanding the seniority of Lord Vere Beauclerk on the patent [see Anson, George, Lord]. On his return to England he was elected, 8 April 1749, an elder brother, and a few weeks later, 22 May, master of the Trinity House. He is said by Barrow to have originated and carried through an exact visitation of the dockyards and naval establishments, which led to the detection of many gross abuses and the introduction of stringent reforms (Life of Anson, pp. 214-16). The credit of the measure is more probably Anson's, Sandwich's share in it being little more than supporting Anson with his name and influence. Similarly, the act of 1749, for regulating the discipline of the navy, was essentially Anson's, though introduced under the sanction and authority of Sandwich. In 1751 the jealousy between Bedford and the Duke of Newcastle became very acute, and with the view of driving Bedford from office Newcastle succeeded in dismissing Sandwich from the admiralty [see Russell, John, fourth Duke of Bedford]. On 12 June he received the king's orders to acquaint Sandwich 'that his majesty had no further occasion for his service,' and Bedford at once resigned the seals (Bedford Correspondence, ii. 89-90).
For the next few years Sandwich had no public employment, till in December 1755 he was appointed, with two others, joint vice-treasurer and receiver of the revenues of Ireland. He held this office till February 1763, when he was appointed ambassador extraordinary to the court of Madrid. In April, however, before he could go out, he was nominated first lord of the admiralty, and in August one of the principal secretaries of state, in which office he continued till July 1765.
It was during this time that, by the part which he took in the prosecution of John Wilkes [q. v.], he laid the foundation of the mass of opprobrium which still clings to his name. For some years previously, Sandwich, with the Earl of March, Sir Francis Dash wood, Potter, and others, had been associated with Wilkes in the 'brotherhood of Medmenham.' As far as companionship in vicious pleasures, uncleanness, and blasphemy constituted friendship, they were friends, though it may well be that a practical joke of Wilkes was sullenly resented by his more aristocratic associates (Chrysal, 1768, iii. 232). It is certain that, when Wilkes's papers were seized, Sandwich and Dashwood, then Lord Le Despencer, took an active part in collecting proofs against Wilkes (Sandwich to Lord Le Despencer, 1 Nov. 1763 ; Egerton MS. 2136, f. 85) ; March's chaplain, the infamous John Kidgell [q. v.], suborned some of the men in Wilkes's employ and fraudulently obtained a copy of the 'Essay on Woman,' and Sandwich brought it before the House of Lords, pretending that the fact that it was addressed to him constituted a breach of his privilege as a peer, and insisted on reading aloud the filthy verses. Sandwich was believed to have been of the select company to whom the poem (which is also stated, though probably erroneously, to have commenced 'Awake, my Sandwich' ) was read over after its composition. Public opinion rightly condemned the men who for mere party ends thus sacrificed the ties of friendship, and at a performance of the 'Beggar's Opera' the house rose to the words of Macheath in the last scene, 'That Jemmy Twitcher should peach me, I own surprised me,' and from that day Sandwich was known as Jemmy Twitcher. A still severer castigation was administered by Wilkes's more faithful ally, Charles Churchill [q. v.], who described him as
Too infamous to have a friend,
Too bad for bad men to commend
(The Duellist, iii. 401),
and as one who
Wrought sin with greediness, and sought for shame
With greater zeal than good men seek for fame'
(The Candidate, 11. 315-16).
Denunciation, however, does not seem to have disturbed Sandwich's temper any more than it affected his conduct.
In the Rockingham administration he had no part, but in January 1768 he accepted office as postmaster-general under the Duke of Grafton. In December 1770 he was nominated one of the secretaries of state under Lord North, and on 12 Jan. 1771 became again first lord of the admiralty under the same minister. He now held this office for eleven years, during which time his conduct was as great a scandal to publicjas it had all along been to private morality. Throughout his long administration he rendered the business of the admiralty subservient to the interests of his party, and employed the vast patronage of the office as an engine for bribery and political jobbery. Other and more shady motives were also attributed to him. Early in 1773 it was currently reported that a vacancy at the navy board had been offered
