176 COMPACT BETWEEN FOX AND NEWCASTLE. career. of the day was immediately dissolved. The Duke of Newcastle, by virtue of his parliamentary influence, succeeded to the Treasury; but who was to lead the House of Commons? The Duke, unlike his brother, mistrusted every man of genius, and was so greedy of office and patronage that he was unwilling to share them even with the staunchest supporter. What he wanted was a man who would do the work and ask for none of the power; who would consent to be, and to act as, a mere agent or subordinate. Newcastle knew that Pitt was not such a man; and besides, the King was only too anxious to get rid of him. It was useless to apply to Murray; he would not accept the terms, and, moreover, he was anxious to abandon a political In this dilemma Newcastle turned to Fox, who was not likely to be very scrupulous. The high contracting parties, after some discussion, agreed to the following conditions:-Fox was to be Secretary of State, with the lead of the House of Commons; but the disposal of the secret service money, that is, the bribery of members of Parliament, was to be left to Newcastle, though Fox was to be brought acquainted with the mode of expenditure. This agreement was concluded on the 12th of March. Next morning the Duke overturned it. "My brother," he said, "when he was at the Treasury, never told anybody what he did with the secret-service money. No more will I." But then Pelham was not only First Lord of the Treasury, but leader of the Commons; and it was unnecessary for him to take any person into his confidence. "How," said Fox, "how can I talk to gentlemen when I do not A NEW OPPOSITION. 177 know which of them have received gratification, and which have not? And who," he added, "is to have the disposal of places?" "I myself," returned the Duke. "How, then, am I to manage the House of Commons?" "Oh! let the members of the House of Commons come to me." It was impossible for Fox to accept conditions so humiliating; and the leadership of the House was placed in the hands of one of the dullest of men, Sir Thomas Robinson. "Sir Thomas Robinson lead us!" exclaimed Pitt, "the Duke might as well send his jack-boot to lead us." The result was exactly what Newcastle had aimed at. "He is alone and all powerful," writes Horace Walpole; "and I suppose smiles at those who thought that we must be governed by a succession of geniuses. Which of the Popes was it, who being chosen for his insufficience, said, I could not have believed that it was so easy to govern!'" Pitt and Fox were naturally driven to make common cause with one another against the predominance of the incapables. The former hurled his invectives against the First Minister; the latter expended his scorn and bitterness on Sir Thomas Robinson. Yet, strange to say, the assailers and the assailed all belonged to the same administration! The Duke, however, durst not dismiss his two powerful but rebellious lieutenants; and could only stutter and shrug his shoulders, when Pitt electrified the House by asking, if they were prepared to degenerate into a little assembly, serving no other purpose than to register the arbitrary 12 VOL. I. 178 PITT'S MARRIAGE. edicts of one too powerful subject? * It was evident that something must be done; and Newcastle turned to Fox. He was offered a seat in the Cabinet, on condition that he abandoned his hostile attitude. After some slight hesitation he accepted the offer, and his acceptance dissolved the connection between himself and Pitt, who to the last regarded his treachery with disgust (January, 1755). Pitt had strengthened his position by his marriage, on the 6th of November, with Lady Hester Grenville, the sister of Earl Temple. She was a woman wellfitted by her superiority of mind and manners to be the wife of such a man. In the course of the session of '55 Newcastle made an attempt to gain Pitt's support; but Pitt would hear of no arrangement which did not bring him into the Cabinet. And he could well afford to wait. The threatening posture of affairs convinced him that, before long, his services would be sought on his own terms. The relations between France and England had become so strained that England began to arm, and the old hatreds revived with increased force. The King's anxiety for the safety of Hanover was excessive. Russia was subsidised to menace Prussia, and several German princes were hired to find soldiers. These, however, were measures which not even the anti-Gallicanism of the nation could render popular; and in the House of Commons a strong re * Fox himself writes that "displeased, as well as pleased, allowed it to be the finest speech that was ever made; and it was observed that by his two first periods he brought the House to a silence and attention that you might have heard a pin drop."-Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs (Appendix). NEGOTIATIONS WITH PITT. 179 sentment arose against them, which was not lessened by the knowledge that the young Prince of Wales also disapproved of them. In a panic of terror Newcastle opened negotiations with Pitt through the Lord Chancellor; and when these came to nothing, requested a personal interview. On the subsidising system, however, Pitt stood firm. He protested against it in the warmest language. The Duke insisted that the King's honour was pledged in the case of Hesse Cassel and of Russia. Pitt replied, that for the King's honour he had a deep regard, but that the system of subsidies was so fatal that he could not think even of submitting to that with Hesse, unless Ministers solemnly engaged that nothing of the same kind should again be attempted; and unless it was understood and declared on both sides that it was given and received as a mark of affection from a ruined nation, to save the honour of the King, who had entered into a rash engagement. As for two subsidies, it was the same as twenty; and no persuasion should induce him to support them. The baffled Duke resorted to Fox, who was made Secretary of State, and leader of the House of Commons with full authority; while Sir Thomas Robinson retired into obscurity, carrying with him a handsome pension. On the 13th of November, Parliament met, and for the first time for several years presented the spectacle of a strong and united Opposition; an Opposition guided by the greatest orator of the age, and supported by the young and popular heir-apparent; and, as Horace Walpole puts it, "what was never seen before, an Opposition in Administration." The debate on the Address 180 SPEECH ON THE ADDRESS. was a memorable struggle. The House was very fullnearly 420 members being present,-and sat from three in the afternoon until five the next morning. The speeches were worthy of the occasion, and included that remarkable address which procured for him who delivered it the sobriquet of "Single-speech Hamilton." As for Pitt, he surpassed himself. He spoke with all the fire and passion that had marked his oratory before he entered office. "The present war," he said, "was undertaken for the long-injured, long-neglected, long-forgotten people of America. Hanover had been excepted as an ally by the Act of Limitation; not so much for fear of prejudices as on account of its locality. But we are told that we must assist the Hanoverians out of justice and gratitude. Out of justice! We can produce a charter against it. Out of gratitude, indeed, we ought, if Hanover has done anything in our quarrel to draw down upon her the resentments of France. These expressions [in the Address] were unparliamentary, unconstitutional. With all his duty to his Majesty, he must say that the King owes a supreme service to his people. Would our ancestors have used adulation like this? The very paragraph ought to be taken notice of, and punished. Besides, is there anything in the speech respecting Hanover that calls for this resolution? Grotius declares that it is not necessary even socium defendere si nulla spes boni exitus." Then, turning with an air of the greatest contempt towards Sir George Lyttleton, he said, "a gentleman near me has talked, too, of writers on the law of nations. Nature is the best writer; she will teach us to be men, |