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,

A CELEBRATED COMPARISON.

181

and not truckle to power. The noble lord who moved the address seemed inspired with it. I (he continued) who am at a distance from that sunctum sanctorum whither the priest goes for inspiration,-I, who travel through a desert, and am overwhelmed with mountains of obscurity, cannot so easily catch a gleam to direct me to the beauties of these negotiations. But there are parts of this address that do not seem to come from the same quarter with the rest. I cannot unravel this mystery-yes, (cried Mr. Pitt, suddenly raising his hand to his forehead),-I, too, am inspired! Now, it strikes me! I remember at Lyons to have seen the conflux of the Rhone [Fox] and the Saône [Newcastle]; the one a gentle, feeble, languid stream, and though languid, of no depth; the other, a boisterous and impetuous torrent. But they meet at last; and long may they continue united, to the comfort of each other, and to the glory, honour, security of the nation!"

Pitt spoke for an hour and a half, and carried with him 105 votes against 311. It is long, remarks Walpole, since the arts of persuasion were artful enough to persuade; rhetoric was invented before places and commissions. A few days afterwards, Pitt, with Legge and George Grenville, received their dismissal (November 20th). As the "great Commoner" was known to have but a small fortune, he was offered, and Earl Temple persuaded him to accept, a pension of £1000 a year.

During the remainder of the session Pitt spoke frequently; and his popularity and influence, both in Parliament and the country, increased so largely that it was clear he could not be much longer debarred from

182

CRITICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS.

the highest place. And, indeed, the critical condition of affairs called for a genius as vast as his, and a spirit as valiant and inflexible. The war was being waged with evil fortune to England. Minorca was captured by the Duke of Richelieu; and Admiral Byng, who had been despatched to relieve Port Mahon, falling in with the French fleet, hesitated to engage it.* Our seamen had not yet been fired by the example of a Jervis and a Nelson. The country was moved to a paroxysm of indignation by the disgrace that had befallen its arms. Men went about lamenting the degeneracy of the race, and protesting that they and their brothers were cowards, fit only to be enslaved. Caricatures and libels, in which the King and his Ministers were treated with the utmost freedom, passed from hand to hand. The walls were covered with furious placards. The great cities and the counties sent up addresses of remonstrance to the Throne. The Ministers were buffeted in a storm of rage and contempt, and Newcastle began to tremble, not only

* The French admiral was just as unwilling. Hence the following epigram :

"We have lately been told

Of two admirals bold,

Who engaged in a terrible fight:

They met after noon,

Which I think was too soon,

As they both ran away before night."

+ Such as A Rueful Story; or, Britain in Tears, being the Conduct of Admiral B-g . . . London. Printed by Boatswain Haul-up, a brokenhearted Sailor,' and The Devil's Dance, set to French Music,' in which Fox, Byng, and Newcastle were represented with cloven hoofs, dancing upon papers inscribed, Justice' Honesty,' 'Law,' 'Magna Charta, Port Mahon,' etc.

THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S MINISTRY. 183

for his place but his neck. Fox, fearing that he might be sacrificed to save the Duke, and disgusted with his incapacity, suddenly resigned. An attempt to persuade Murray to take his place, though accompanied by great inducements, utterly failed; Murray having resolved on securing the vacant Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench. In his despair, Newcastle sent Lord Hardwicke to Pitt; but Pitt would join no administration from which Newcastle was not excluded. The Duke stuttered pitifully over this hard condition; but finding no one able or willing to encounter Pitt and Fox in the House of Commons, shed a torrent of tears, and resigned (November, 1756).

At the King's request, the Duke of Devonshire then endeavoured to form a Ministry. Taking the Treasury himself, he made Pitt Secretary of State, and leader of the Commons. Legge went back to the Exchequer ; Lord Temple became First Lord of the Admiralty; George Grenville, Treasurer of the Navy; and the Great Seal was put into commission. This was obviously a temporary arrangement; and it endured, in fact, for scarcely five months. Pitt, one of the haughtiest of men, could ill brook the rudeness with which he and his brother-in-law were treated. Moreover, in the House of Commons, which had been elected under the Ducal auspices, he had but a scanty following. He succeeded, however, in carrying out his celebrated measure (which Walpole had approved, but not realized), of raising a couple of regiments among the Scotch Highlanders, and thus engaging their military ardour in support of the House of Hanover. The chief event of this