GOWER, a man of great abilities, and whom he knew to be equal to any Mr. PITT had named, and of much greater alliance; and in whom he meant and hoped to unite and conciliate a great and powerful party, in order to widen and strengthen the bottom of his administration, and to vacate even the idea of oppofition.; thereby to restore unanimity in parliament, and confine every good man's attention to the real objects of his country's welfare. And his lordship added, that he had never imparted his defire ta lord GoWER, nor did he know whether that noble lord' would accept of it, but mentioned it now, only as a comprehenfive measure, to attain the great end he wished, of restoring unanimity by a reconciliation of parties, that the bufinefs of the nation might go on without interruption, and become the only business of parliament. But Mr. PITT rejected this proposal, evidently healing as it appeared, by saying, that he had determined Mr. CONWAY muft ftay in his prefent office, and that he had lord SHELBURNE to propofe for the other office, then held by the duke of RICHMOND; fo that there remained no room for lord GOWER. This, lord TEMPLE faid, was coming to his first pro◄. pofition of being fole and abfolute dictator, to which no confider. ation fhould ever induce him to fubmit. And therefore he infifted on ending the conference; which he did with faying, that. if he had been firft called upon by the king, he fhould have confulted Mr. PITT's honour, with regard to the arrangement of ministers, and have given him an equal share in the nomination ;; and that he thought himfelf ill-treated by Mr. PITT, in his not obferving the like conduct."

It is almost unnceffary to behaviour at this conference. guife, and divefted of that dazzling luftre which his genius, fpread round him on all public occafions.. Availing himself of

make any remarks on Mr. PITT's. Here he appears without any dis

the

the carte blanche which had been given him by the king, he fpurned at every idea of equality, of union, and of healing propofals. Honour, friendship, and even the welfare of his country had very little weight, when they came in competition with his vanity. But the short-lived triumph of his pride was followed by long and stinging mortifications. He weakly fancied that his name alone would establish a miniftry, and that the first men in the kingdom would be ready at a call to enlift under his banner, and to take whatever post he might think proper to affign them. A few experiments convinced him of his mistake. He made various offers to different perfons of great weight and confideration, with a view of detaching them from their friends. He tampered with the duke of PORTLAND, who ftill held the office of lord chamberlain; with Mr. DowDESWELL, the late. chancellor of the exchequer, and even with lord GowER, to whom he propofed the office of fecretary of state, though he had fet his face against the very fame appointment, when fuggested by lord TEMPLE. All his offers were rejected. He then went to the marquis of ROCKINGHAM's; but the marquis refused tofee him. Rendered desperate by these rebuffs, he formed that checkered and fpeckled adminiftration, of which it is impoffible to give a jufter or more ftriking picture than in the following words. of Mr. BURKE*:

"He put together a piece of joinery, fo crofsly indented and. whimfically dove-tailed; a cabinet fo variously inlaid; such a. piece of diverfified Mofaic; fuch a teffelated pavement without cement; here a bit of black ftone, and there a bit of white; patriots and courtiers; king's friends and republicans; whigs and tories; treacherous friends and open enemies; that it was indeed

See the Speech on American taxation, before quoted.

a very curious show; but utterly unfafe to touch, and unsure to ftand on. The colleagues, whom he had afforted at the fame boards, ftared at each other, and were obliged to afk, Sir, your name?---Sir, you have the advantage of me---Mr. Such-a-one--I beg a thousand pardons.---I venture to fay, it did fo happen, that perfons had a fingle office divided between them, who had never spoke to each other in their lives, until they found themfelves, they knew not how, pigging together, heads and points, in the fame truckle-bed*."

The new arrangement took place on the 30th of July. Mr. PITT being then created viscount PYNSENT and earl of CHATHAM, received the privy feal, lately held by the duke of NewCASTLE: the duke of GRAFTON was placed at the head of the treasury, in the room of the marquis of RoCKINGHAM; and CHARLES TOWNSHEND fucceeded Mr. DOWDESWELL as chancellor of the exchequer: general CONWAY was continued in the office of secretary of state; but had for his colleague the earl of SHELBURNE, instead of the duke of RICHMOND: lord CAMDEN was made lord chancellor in the room of lord NORTHINGTON, who exchanged the wool-fack for the prefident's chair. Many other changes were made at the same time, and soon after in all the different departments of administration; and none, perhaps, excited more surprise than the restoration of the privy feal of Scotland to Mr. STUART MACKENZIE, the earl of BUTE'S brother.

No fooner was this heterogeneous mixture, this forced combination of the most repulfive and discordant principles effected, than the contriver of it found himself without authority or in

• Supposed to allude to the right hon. lord NORTH and GEORGE COOKE, Efq. who were made joint paymafters, on the change of administration.

Auence.

fluence. The fcepter of abfolute controul, which he was fo fond of wielding, fell from his infirm grafp; and he was, in reality, confined to that fide-place, as lord TEMPLE called it, whence he hoped to have directed the operations of those who stood in the foremost ranks of power and responsibility.

The first object of Mr. BURKE's care, on the dismissal of his friends, was to lay before the public a defence of their measures in fo concife a form as to be foon read, in fuch plain language as to be easily understood, and under fuch an imposing air as to steal into the minds and hearts of men before they could suspect the tendency or defign of it. The rule laid down by all the great masters in every age and every country, that the perfection of art confifts in hiding its own efforts was never, perhaps, better exemplified than in Mr. BURKE'S "Short Account of a late short. Administration," which appeared in the beginning of August 1766. The facts are stated in regular order and with the utmost fimplicity: no pomp of words is used to set them off: the writer feems to rely on the evidence of truth alone: his remarks are very fparingly introduced, and expreffed in as few words as poffible, not weakened by amplification, but, like ja velins darted in a straight line, deriving greater force from their brevity in short, there are no rhetorical flourishes-no studied turns-no fhining thoughts---we fancy we are listening to the testimony of a prudent and faithful witnefs, who relates what has happened, with a great fhew of candor, free from all fubtlety, prevarication, or embellishment.

"The late administration," fays he, "came into employment,. under the mediation of the duke of CUMBERLAND, on the tenth day of July 1765; and was removed, upon a plan settled by the earl of CHATHAM, on the thirtieth day of July 1766, having lafted just one year and twenty days..

"In that space of time

« The distractions of the British empire were compofed, by the repeal of the American ftamp-act;

But the constitutional fuperiority of Great Britain was preferved, by the act for fecuring the dependence of the colonies.

Private houses were relieved from the jurifdiction of the excife, by the repeal of the cider-tax.

"The perfonal liberty of the fubject was confirmed, by the refolution against general warrants.

"The lawful fecrets of business and friendship were rendered inviolable, by the refolution for condemning the feizure of papers.

"The trade of America was fet free from injudicious and ruinous impofitions---its revenue was improved, and fettled upon a rational foundation---its commerce extended with foreign countries; while all the advantages were fecured to Great Britain, by the act for repealing certain duties, and encouraging, regulating, and fecuring the trade of this kingdom and the British dominions in America.

"Materials were provided and infüred to our manufactures--the fale of thefe manufactures was increased---the African trade preferved and extended---the principles of the act of navigation pursued, and the plan improved---and the trade for bullion rendered free, secure, and permanent, by the act for opening certain ports in Dominica and Jamaica.

"That adminiftration was the firft which propofed and encouraged public meetings and free confultations of merchants from all parts of the kingdom; by which means the trueft lights have been received; great benefits have been already derived to manufactures and commerce; and the most extensive prospects are opened for farther improvement.

"Under

t