1766 the King, and by that set of politicians called The King's Friends, who now began their insidious hostility against the Ministers and measures which were obnoxious to the Court. Nevertheless, Rockingham and his adherents persisted in their course, and they were supported by the proceedings of a Parliamentary inquiry which was now instituted into the reasons which could be alleged against the Stamp Duty. The disastrous effects of the late commercial policy upon the trade of Great Britain were forcibly represented by petitions from the merchants, showing the losses they had already sustained by the Americans having been deprived of the means of making good their engagements, on account of the suppression of their trade with Spanish America. The grievances of the colonists were set forth, at the bar of the House of Commons, with consummate skill and ability by Dr. Franklin, whom they sent over for that purpose.* The debates extended over a space of three weeks; both Pitt and Burke repeatedly put forth all their eloquence in defence of the repeal; and when the division came, the Government had such a large and decisive majority, that all the opponents of the Bill, save Grenville, let it pass without further contention.t Various 20. The Dismissal of Lord Rockingham.-The repeal of the Stamp Act was the chief measure of Lord Rockingham's Government; but it was followed by other measures intended to conciliate the colonists. Their commerce was freed from many of the vexatious restrictions to which it had been subjected remedial by the late Government; and their trade in bullion and measures of cattle with the Spanish colonies, which had been sup- ingham pressed as contraband, was restored by an Act constitu- Ministry. ting Dominica and Jamaica free ports. the Rock In a similar spirit of conciliation the Government thought to strengthen themselves at home by other popular measures. The Cider Tax was modified for the benefit of the producers; the Spitalfields weavers were gratified by an Act restraining the importation of foreign silks, and two resolutions were passed by the Lower House, declaring general warrants illegal, and the seizure of papers in cases of libel arbitrary. It should be added further, to the lasting honour of this Administration, that it was the first which, during a long course of years, refrained from bribing members of Parliament. But unhappily, though it was one of the best that ever existed in this * Macaulay's Essay on the Earl of Chatham; Stanhope's England, V., 124-146. + Massey's George the Third, I., 206-208; Ibid, 199-214. CHAP. VI. country, it acquired neither strength nor stability.* The most powerful section of the Whigs (the Bedfords) was opposed to it; it was disparaged by Pitt, and thwarted at every turn by the King's Friends. Conscious that his only chance of maintaining his position was, by an alliance with the statesman who alone possessed public confidence, Rockingham made several overtures to Pitt; but the Great Commoner declined to give him any support, while he approved of his principles and acknowledged the integrity of his colleagues. Pitt a third time sum At length the Ministers began to disagree among themselves. The Duke of Grafton, foresceing their fate, anticipated it by a resignation, in the middle of the session (May, 1766); and when the session was over, Lord Northington also resigned, and secretly advised the King to send for Pitt. His Majesty, who had already resolved to dismiss Lord Rockingham, listened to the Chancellor's advice, and for the third time summoned Pitt. to form an administration. Although the great statesman was now fast sinking under the continued ravages of the gout, and was shortly afterwards wholly incapacitated for business by the attacks of a strange and mysterious disorder, he accepted the offers of his Sovereign; and after many difficulties arising from his connection with Temple, succeeded in the construction of a Government. Rockingham, who had not been informed of these negotiations, was then ordered to resign. moned to form a Ministry. 3. DURING THE INFLUENCE OF THE EARL OF 21. Pitt unconsciously aids the King's Designs.-The King's object in entrusting Pitt with the Government was, to put an end to faction and bid defiance to all the powerful connections united, Whigs and Tories, Rockinghams, Bedfords and Grenvilles. Having always considered himself to be independent of all parties, Pitt was by no means unwilling to assist the King in this design: but he failed to perceive that the Court and its friends would thereby become supreme. When after his long and mysterious illness, he discovered his mistake, the remaining years of his life were spent in the vain endeavour to rectify it; but his exertions, while redeeming his own fame, effected little for his country.‡ * Macaulay's Lord Chatham, Stanhope's England, V., 177-183. 1766 The Ministry which Pitt brought together was entirely acceptable to the King, since all His Majesty's friends were comfortably provided for. Most of the chief posts, however, were filled either by Pitt's personal adherents, or by members of the late Ministry who had been induced to remain in place after the dismissal of Lord Rockingham. They stood as follows:— Popular indignation at The elevation of Pitt to the peerage surprised his colleagues' whose chief inducement to take office had been the prospect of his support in the House of Commons. But their disappointment was small, compared with the feelings of the public. A general burst of indignation followed the announcement of the new peer's promotion in the Gazette. The citizens of London had prepared a grand banquet and splendid illuminations in honour of their idol's return to power. They now countermanded both, and it was the universal opinion that the great patriot had sold Pitt's elevahimself to the Earl of Bute.* The people, however, forgot the bodily infirmities which prevented Chatham ever again taking an active part in the proceedings of the House of Commons; it was the need of rest he felt, which led him to refuse taking a laborious office in the Government, and it is quite clear that no statesman ever better earned or needed the dignified repose of the House of Lords. tion to the peerage. Chatham's intellectual powers were in full vigour, however, at this time, and his views of the political condition of Europe astonished even his Cabinet. His hostility against the House of Bourbon was as intense as ever, and he proposed to Frederick the Great the formation of a league of the Northern and Protestant Powers, to counteract its ambition. But the Prussian monarch, absorbed with the scheme for partitioning Poland, declined to enter into Chatham's plans. The great Minister also contemplated important changes in the Government of Ireland, and the management of the * Massey's George the Third, I., 230; Stanhope's England. V., 160-162. CHAP. VI. East India Company's affairs; but in consequence of the affliction which fell upon him, none of these designs grew into maturity. 22. Proceedings in Parliament, 1766-67.-The Administration entered upon its duties at a period of domestic trouble. A bad harvest was followed by a rise in the price of corn and riots in consequence. An order in Council was accordingly issued forbidding the exportation of corn, (24th September, 1766); but the price had not reached the point at which exportation was forbidden by law, nor was the Parliament called together, as it might have been, to sanction the embargo. When the Houses assembled therefore Embargo on the exportation of corn. (11th November), Chatham's first appearance in the House of Lords was to defend this proceeding. Under ordinary circumstances there would have been hardly any opposition; but Northington and Camden, the two law lords of the Ministry, went out of their way to maintain the legality of the order, while their chief discreetly pleaded for it on the ground of public necessity. The Opposition therefore contended that the order was an attempt to set up prerogative and dispensing power, and it was considered right to mark the exceptional character of the proceeding, by an Act of Indemnity, to exonerate all who had been concerned therein.* The first business of importance brought before Parliament, after the disposal of the above question, was the affairs of the East India Company. Before any definite measure could be proposed, it was necessary that authentic information should be obtained, and for this purpose Chatham engaged his friend Alderman Beckford, member for the City of London, to move for an inquiry into the Company's affairs, and the production of papers. The introduction of such an important question by a private member with the sanction. of the Minister, was a very strange proceeding; but that Chatham should so far insult the members of his Cabinet as to keep them in entire ignorance of his plans, and not Chatham's haughty treatment of his col leagues. entrust one of them with this question is altogether incredible. His manner indeed on all occasions was despotic and overbearing to his colleagues; but just at this juncture à rupture occurred between him and the Rockingham party; and as Conway resented the treatment which his friends experienced, while Townshend was personally distasteful to Chatham, the two Cabinet Ministers in the House of Commons were slighted in consequence. The motion, brought forward in this irregular manner was passed, how * Massey's George the Third, I., 236-239. 1766-67 ever; but not without much opposition, and a finely sarcastic speech from Burke, which only rendered Chatham more haughty and resolute. falls into 23. Commencement of Chatham's Mysterious Illness.-In this frame of mind he went down to the House of Lords while the Act of Indemnity was still under discussion, and took occasion to tell the peers that he defied their aristocratic combinations and family connections. A short altercation followed, and he was told very plainly that the old nobility of England would not submit to be browbeaten. He attempted to vindicate himself, but was conscious of failure; and he did not attend the House again during the term of his Administration. During the recess he returned to Bath, where he became seriously ill; and when the Houses reassembled in the middle of January, he was still absent. His colleagues were now in despair; they began to quarrel among them- His Cabinet selves, and the Parliament became unruly; yet Chatham confusion. refused to see any of them, or to give them the simplest directions. The Government thus being in a state of anarchy, all the parties out of office, the Bedfords, Grenvilles, and Rockinghams, combined against Townshend's proposal to increase the Land Tax, and defeated it by a majority of 206 against 188 (27th February, 1767), a reverse such as no Government had experienced since the Revolution. Three days after this event, Chatham arrived in London; but he might as well have kept away, since he would see nobody, and would give no opinion on any public matter. A grievous distemper in fact now began to afflict him, both in mind and body; and he became totally unable to attend to any business during the remainder of his nominal Administration.* 24. New Taxes imposed on America.-The first Minister who broke loose from all restraint was Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, a man of splendid eloquence, but vain and presumptuous. A few days after the meeting of Parliament, Grenville, still bent upon his policy of taxing America, moved that the colonies should be made to support a military establishment. Townshend in opposing the motion commended the Stamp Act, and to the astonishment and dismay of his colleagues, rashly undertook to raise a revenue from America which should be nearly adequate to the object proposed. The pledge thus given he now undertook to fulfil, by recommending the imposition of certain taxes on glass, paper, paints, and tea. The Cabinet yielded a sullen and reluctant * Massey's George the Third, I., 235-245; Stanhope's England, V., 166-179; Macaulay's Lord Chatham. |