CHAPTER IX.
Differences between the King and his Ministers.—Further Negotiations with Mr. Pitt.—Attempts to form a Whig Administration.—Summary of the Negotiations.—New Ministry formed.—Mr. Dowdeswell.—Marquis of Rockingham.—Mysterious Behaviour of Mr. Pitt.—Arrival of the Prince and Princess of Brunswick.
Presuming on their superiority in Parliament, and hurt at the marks of the King’s aversion, the Ministers determined once more to subdue him totally, or reduce him to new distresses. On the 12th of June[147] the Duke of Bedford, accompanied by Grenville, Sandwich, and Halifax, waited on his Majesty with a remonstrance, which the Duke had drawn up, which took an hour in reading, and which, though it had been much softened by Grenville in their private meeting, the King had the greatest difficulty to command himself enough to hear it read to the end. It tended to give him a month to consider whether he would take a new ministry or retain the old. In the latter case he was told that he must smile on his Ministers, and frown on their adversaries, whom he was reproached in no light terms with having countenanced contrary to his promise. Invectives against the Princess were not spared; nor threats of bringing Lord Bute to the block. The King made no answer, but made a bow as a signal for them to retire. When they were gone, he said that if he had not broken out into the most profuse sweat, he should have been suffocated with indignation.[148]
No redress was left but to apply once more to Mr. Pitt; and should he again decline, to form some desperate Administration of Lord Bute’s friends, and any detached persons that would join in so unpromising a system. To prevent the former—at least, to detach Lord Temple from Mr. Pitt—the Dukes of Bedford and Marlborough offered to resign either of their places in favour of the former. Temple, though expressing his good wishes, declared he would take nothing with the Administration as it then stood, but should like to see a new one formed out of all parties. Yet the Court did not despair of Mr. Pitt’s concurrence. James Grenville told Colonel Fitzroy that Mr. Pitt wished to see his brother, the Duke of Grafton, who had particularly distinguished himself by attachment to Pitt. The Duke, however, was so cautious that he would not go unless Mr. Pitt would directly request it; but sent Fitzroy to Hayes to know if Mr. Pitt desired to see him. Fitzroy stayed three hours and a half, while Pitt, in his vague inconclusive manner, was profuse of words, which did not tend to any definite meaning. It was rather a complaint of the late application. He said, that in August, two years before, he had been promised the King’s countenance; now no such thing had been mentioned, but that bubble Lord Northumberland had been pressed upon him, and the Duke of Cumberland had even urged it to him for an hour and a half. That he had not wanted the Treasury for Lord Temple, nor would have filled the carte blanche if it had been given to him. After much desultory conversation of the like sort, Fitzroy said, “Then, Sir, the result of all is, that you are resolved not to treat any more.” “Resolved! that is a strong word,” replied Pitt; “but this is my answer; Mr. Pitt’s determinations are fixed: all negotiation is at an end.”
The Duke of Grafton soon followed his brother. Mr. Pitt told him that Mr. Grenville had been there, and had begun to talk politics, but he had stopped him, and said, “Sir, a truce to your politics, for I never will talk politics with you again as long as I live.” In this visit the Duke thought he did not perceive a total unwillingness in Mr. Pitt still to listen to accommodation. On that report, and urged by the necessity of making one more attempt,
On the 17th the Duke of Grafton was again dispatched to Hayes to tell Mr. Pitt that the King was convinced he could not do without him, and to invite him to Court. Mr. Pitt replied he was ready to come, if his Majesty would graciously condescend, in consideration of his lameness, to see him on the ground-floor. Accordingly,
On the 19th he was three hours and a quarter with the King at the Queen’s house, and as long on the 22nd again, professing his readiness to undertake the direction of affairs. Everything he asked was accorded; particularly a close alliance with Prussia if possible. He named Lord Temple for the Treasury; the Duke of Grafton for Secretary of State, with himself; Sir George Saville for Secretary at War; Keppel and Saunders for Commissioners of the Admiralty, he did not care in whose room, nor should he be violent in turning out; though, as so many had suffered, there must be a large sweep.
During this transaction Pitt would not deign to make any communication to the Duke of Cumberland, who, notwithstanding, behaved nobly, said he would do all the good he could, and would take nothing ill.
Two days after these conferences, arrived Lord Temple from Stowe, and went to Hayes. The next day he waited on the King, and refused to accept the Treasury, saying he had a delicacy which must always remain a secret. This was generally supposed to be levelled at Lord Bute. Some thought of the Duke of Cumberland, and others that it regarded his own brother, George Grenville. But surely Lord Temple was not so overrun with delicacy that he could afford to make a secret of the only delicacy he seemed ever to have felt, the turning out his own brother to take his place himself!
The next day Pitt waited on the King again, and declared he was still ready to accept, if Lord Temple would; and in the presence of the latter, told his Majesty that for himself he was satisfied, and trusted his royal declarations. And to the Duke of Grafton he said, that he lamented with tears in his eyes Lord Temple’s refusal to accept. That Duke urged Lord Temple warmly, and told him he would forfeit all character if he remained obstinate; but when power could not influence him, what could reproaches do? He persisted, and Mr. Pitt would not take his part without him. Pitt had certainly made nearer advances to Lord Bute in this negotiation than the King either asked or expected; and Lord Temple, who never failed to take any credit to himself at the expense of his friends, openly calumniated Mr. Pitt for leaning towards Lord Bute, whom, he said, he himself had not ventured to trust. Pitt, it was true, had told the King that his Majesty ought in conscience to restore Mackenzie—and in truth both sense and honour dictated that advice to any man who entered into his Majesty’s service. In the City, Lord Temple’s emissaries abused Mr. Pitt for too much Butism, as Lord Sandwich did for his eagerness to promote a new war on the Continent. But what could excuse the conduct of Lord Temple, who, having an opportunity of redressing all the breaches of the Constitution, against which he had been so clamorous, now not only waived that duty, but leagued with the very men whom their own guilt and his voice and pen had pointed out as the criminals?[149]
The Duke of Cumberland now fearing that the King’s desperate position would drive him to form an Administration, with Lord Egmont at the head of the Favourite’s faction, which the Court had thought of, pressed the Whigs to undertake the Administration, and proposed Lord Rockingham for head of the Treasury. In consequence of this desire, a meeting of the chiefs of the Opposition in town was held at Claremont June the 30th. There were present, Newcastle himself, Lord Rockingham, the Duke of Portland and his brother, the three Cavendishes, Lord Grantham, General Conway, Thomas Walpole, George Onslow, Lord Ashburnham, two of the Townshends, and Lord Villiers.[150] The question of acceptance was debated; Newcastle answered for the Duke of Grafton’s readiness. Portland was warm on the same side, but proposed to turn out Lord Bute’s people. The rest were very doubtful. Newcastle declared his willingness to accept, but as he could not answer for all his friends, he desired each would deliver his opinion separately. Charles Townshend,[151] Lord Ashburnham,[152] T. Walpole, Onslow, and Lord Villiers disapproved of coming in without Mr. Pitt. Onslow pressed them to wait, as he said he hoped there would soon be a coalition of all parties against Lord Bute. T. Walpole[153] would not even promise to support so unpromising an Administration. Conway thought it perilous, but would not decline the danger. The rest agreed with Newcastle.
I was ill in bed and could not be present at the meeting; but when Conway reported the particulars to me, I thought I never heard a more wild proposal, nor one fraught with greater improbability of success. The nomination of Lord Rockingham for Minister at any season would have sounded preposterous; in the present, sufficient alone to defeat the system. Nor had I a more advantageous opinion of the rest that were to compose it: all young and inexperienced men, unknown to the nation, and great by nothing but their rank and fortunes. Conway agreed with me, but professed that if the Duke of Cumberland laid his commands on him to accept, he would not flinch from the enterprise.
The next day Newcastle reported to his Royal Highness the indifferent success of the assembly, yet with such eagerness to come again into power, that he answered for Lord Ashburnham, and gave hopes of prevailing with the rest. The Duke, not apt to be daunted, encouraged the trial; and thus, without any new consultation, his Royal Highness acquainted the King that he was ready to form an Administration for him. To disgust those who still adhered to Mr. Pitt, the Duke said he would now disclose what he had not told before, that Mr. Pitt, when he parted with the King, had told his Majesty that, though he thought Mr. Grenville the meanest and weakest of Ministers, yet there was no man he should advise his Majesty to employ so soon. This anecdote was confirmed by Mr. Pitt’s conduct in the next year. Censured, however, as Mr. Pitt was, his conduct was both prudent and honourable. Nothing had barred his acceptance but Lord Temple’s refusal of co-operating with him. Himself told the elder T. Townshend that, had he been younger, or had had one friend to whom he could have entrusted the Treasury, he would have undertaken the Administration without Lord Temple; but this was not the sole occasion in which he found the disadvantage of having kept all connections at a distance. Lord Temple’s defection he termed an amputation.
The King did not hesitate a moment to receive the new arrangement proposed by his uncle, nor clogged it with either terms or objections. Whatever was asked was instantly granted; and if no such courtly overtures were made, as Mr. Pitt had dropped to ingratiate himself with the favourite star, the Duke had, however, the address to ward off any unwelcome conditions from being imposed upon the King. Indeed, no conditions at all were proposed. The Whigs, content with the power of doing right, as their subsequent actions proved had been their intention, forbore to stipulate for redress of grievances; and though the King might expect more complaisance on certain points than he afterwards experienced, he was too glad to be revenged on his old Ministers, and too content with finding no unwelcome sacrifices demanded, to boggle at a treaty which was restricted solely to the disposition of places. Many of the new placemen were not less rejoiced to find themselves exalted above their most sanguine expectations; though that precipitate rise ought to have admonished them of the weakness and instability of their party. But the rage of the fallen Ministers exceeded, out of all proportion, the joy both of their masters and successors. And as defeated insolence soon turns to despondency, they were abject enough to deny that they had driven the King a second time to take his part. It was too late now to repent, and the new Ministers kissed hands on July the 8th.[154]
The Marquis of Rockingham was appointed First Lord of the Treasury; the Duke of Grafton and General Conway, Secretaries of State; the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Privy Seal; and the old Earl of Winchelsea, likewise coupled with this juvenile troop, was made President of the Council; and Mr. Dowdeswell,[155] Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Duke of Portland succeeded Earl Gower as Lord Chamberlain. Thomas Townshend[156] the younger, Lord John Cavendish, and George Onslow were appointed Commissioners of the Treasury. Lord George Cavendish and Sir George Saville, though firm friends to the new system, handsomely declined accepting places. The Earl of Egmont, the only friend of Lord Bute that was advanced, was made First Lord of the Admiralty, with the Admirals Keppel and Saunders, Sir William Meredith, and the Spanish Charles Townshend. Thomas Pitt, in compliment to his uncle, was offered to remain at that board, but chose to follow Mr. Grenville. The Earl of Ashburnham was made Keeper of the Great Wardrobe; Lord Barrington, Secretary at War, instead of Treasurer of the Navy; the Earl of Besborough and Lord Grantham, joint Postmasters. Lord Powis[157] was turned out of Treasurer of the Household, to make room for Lord Edgcumbe;[158] and the Earl of Scarborough[159] succeeded Lord Thomond, who resigned with his brother Grenville, as Cofferer. Thomas Pelham[160] replaced Lord Charles Spencer as Comptroller; Lord Villiers was made Vice-Chamberlain in the room of William Finch,[161] who retired with a pension; and Lord Gage,[162] Paymaster of the Pensions, in the room of Mr. Neville. Inferior promotions it is not necessary to recapitulate: let it suffice to say, that the new Ministers dismissed but two of Lord Bute’s friends, Lord Despencer and one who will be mentioned hereafter.[163] On the other hand, the Duke of Cumberland had wished to detach the Duke of Bedford from Grenville, (an object only desirable for the breach it would have made in their party,) and sent General Fitzwilliam with carte blanche to Rigby. The latter rejected it with scorn, and with ample abuse on his Royal Highness as a politician.
I have specified the new plan as it took place, but must take notice now of some steps leading to it. Grenville, on his reconciliation with his brother, had notified it to the King in a long declamation. The King answered, He did not trouble himself with the friendships of others, and wished nobody would with his. When the change was determined, the Chancellor received the King’s orders to write to Grenville and the two Secretaries of State to bring their seals the next day. The Duke of Marlborough, Earl Gower, and Rigby resigned.
In the first draught of the new settlement it was proposed that Mr. Conway should be Chancellor of the Exchequer; and for some time Lord Rockingham refused to accept without that assistance. Conway’s inclination was to be Secretary at War; his resolution not to quit the military line. I, who knew his unacquaintance with the business of the Treasury, the disgusting coldness of his manner, which would revolt those he ought to court, and who foresaw (though not to the degree I found afterwards) how little he was made to ingratiate himself with strangers, and consequently to conduct the House of Commons, earnestly dissuaded him from undertaking that post. My opinion concurring with his own sentiments, though at first he had been staggered, he set himself to refuse that employment with a vehemence much beyond his natural temper. For Secretary of State he was excellently fitted, and no man ever applied himself to the business of his office with such unrelaxed industry. Unluckily, the department he refused was bestowed on Dowdeswell, who was so suited to the drudgery of the office, as far as it depends on arithmetic, that he was fit for nothing else. Heavy, slow, methodical without clearness, a butt for ridicule, unversed in every graceful art, and a stranger to men and courts, he was only esteemed by the few to whom he was personally known.[164]
The Marquis of Rockingham was almost the reverse. More childish in his deportment than in his age, he was totally void of all information. Ambitious, with excessive indolence; fond of talking of business, but dilatory in the execution; his single talent lay in attracting dependants: yet, though proud and self-sufficient, he had almost as many governors as dependants. To this unpromising disposition, he had so weak a frame of person and nerves, that no exigence could surmount his timidity of speaking in public; and having been only known to that public by his passion for horse-races, men could not be cured of their surprise at seeing him First Minister, as he never could give them an opportunity of knowing whether he had any other talents. A silent First Minister was a phenomenon unknown since Parliaments had borne so great a share in the revolutions of government. His personal character was blameless—unfortunately, the times required something more than negative qualities![165]
The most sensible step taken by the new Ministers at their outset, was endeavouring to gain the countenance of Mr. Pitt—at least, affecting to wear the marks of enjoying it. One of the Vice-Treasurerships of Ireland, vacant by Rigby’s resignation, was offered to James Grenville, who expressed, and I believe sincerely, his concern at not being able to accept it. The Cofferer’s place was also tendered to Lord Lyttelton, who had much occasion for it, and who no less sincerely lamented that his having been included in the family reconciliation of the Grenvilles forbad his joining in a system founded on the disgrace of Mr. Grenville. But a step more material, and more likely to impose on the world, met with better success. This was an offer of the peerage to Lord Chief Justice Pratt. Lord Rockingham, whose aunt[166] was married to Lord Mansfield, and who hoped for the assistance of the latter, was averse to this measure, on the evident probability that Pratt would be a troublesome rival of Mansfield in the House of Lords. In truth, that probability made Pratt’s peerage infinitely more important to the nation than the court paid to Mr. Pitt by it could be; and had the new arrangement produced no other benefit to the country, that single step had made the change desirable. Nothing could be more dangerous than the influence of so arbitrary a man as Lord Mansfield over the House of Lords, where a lawyer of such eminent abilities was sure to preponderate; for the Chancellor[167] was too profligate in every light to carry any authority. Pratt, with great thankfulness, took the title of Lord Camden.
Still, more weight was wanted. Charles Townshend and Charles Yorke were applied to. Each fluctuated according to their various degrees of timidity and irresolution. The first seemed transported with the change—then refused to engage—and then would not lose his place. Thus he neither pleased the fallen Ministers, nor satisfied his successors. His brother,[168] whom he feared, went to the King, declaimed against the change, yet at last promised to support it. Charles seemed to support it only because he had not promised. Yorke’s scruples had deeper root. His ambition pointed immediately at the Chancellor’s Seals; and finding no hopes of them, he dreaded offending the other party, who might recover their power and that of making a Chancellor. These perplexities he did not express; but at first pleaded reluctance to come in when his friend Dr. Hay was turned out. He next had qualms about Norton, who was not his friend, and who now, to the universal joy of the nation, was turned out by the new Ministers, with the no slight dissatisfaction of Lord Bute. Charles Yorke then consented to take the place of Attorney-General in Norton’s room, and as quickly repented of and recalled his consent. However, as he too was one who had great sway with Lord Rockingham, and as his family inclined to the new system, Yorke remained of their connection, and some time after was again made Attorney-General.[169] His youngest brother[170] was preferred to the Admiralty, and the Earl of Breadalbane, whose eldest daughter[171] Lord Hardwicke had married, was appointed Privy Seal of Scotland, Lord Frederick Campbell being turned out; a half oblation to the King;—the real reparation not being made by the restoration of Mackenzie. Lord Lorn, who had given up his brother-in-law Conway, was as little delicate on the disgrace of his own brother Lord Frederick. No sooner had the change taken place, than not resenting the latter, and trusting that the former was not resented, Lord Lorn wrote to Mr. Conway from Scotland to say, that as he was so connected with the Duke of Bedford, he could ask nothing from the new Administration; but if the King should offer him a regiment, he could not refuse it from his Majesty, though he could not violate his connection with the Bedfords. Mr. Conway could not mistake the drift of this casuistry. The regiment was offered, and accepted.
Mr. Pitt’s behaviour was various and full of mystery. When Norton was turned out, Pitt sent him word that it was not done by his advice, and that were he Minister, he should be glad of the assistance of such abilities. As nobody supposed that Mr. Pitt directed the new Administration, however good his intentions to them might be; as he and Norton had ever acted in an opposite line, and on opposite principles; and as Norton had by no means been gentle in his attacks, the message seemed uncalled for and mean-spirited: nor was it to be accounted for, unless in scorn of Yorke, or as an innuendo to Lord Bute, that his friends would have received better quarter, had the treaty with Pitt succeeded or should succeed another time. The Duke of Grafton and Admiral Saunders had been advised and pressed by Pitt to promote the formation of the new Ministry. The latter asked if he might mention that advice? Pitt replied, “Tell it everywhere.” Pitt then went to Stowe for a few days, returned to town, visited Grenville, and was with him for some time. The Duke of Grafton hearing that in consequence of that visit Grenville had affirmed that Mr. Pitt had to him expressed disapprobation of the new system, the Duke wrote to Mr. Pitt, who declared he had seen Mr. Grenville but once since the new Administration had taken place, and then not in private, and had not to him, or to any one else, disapproved of the present arrangement.[172]
There still remained some persons to be satisfied, and more were necessary to be acquired. Lord Shelburne was offered his old place at the head of the Board of Trade. He declined it in a pompous letter, in which he said he regarded measures, not men; he would wait to see what their measures (he should have said what their success) would be. The post was conferred on the Earl of Dartmouth. Stanley was dissatisfied with not being allowed to keep the Admiralty with the government of the Isle of Wight. Lord Howe, on the contrary, though promoted by Grenville, accepted the Treasurership of the Navy. Lord Digby,[173] to compensate to Lord Holland for the loss of his place, was created an English peer; but the latter had rendered himself so obnoxious to the new Ministers by his character, by his connection with the Favourite, and by the persecution he had carried on against the Whigs, that they who consulted their own characters, and indulged their resentments beyond what prudence dictated, totally neglected him. Nor could the Duke of Cumberland or House of Cavendish forgive him. Lord Strange chose to preserve his employment, and pleaded having bargained with the late Ministers that his place should not affect his conduct in Parliament. There was another man who was early in the most humble application to the Duke of Cumberland to be received into the new establishment; this was Lord George Sackville. He did not ask, he said, for anything in the military line. The Duke was disposed to give him hopes only; but, by more judicious addresses to Lord Rockingham, Lord George was not long before he obtained one of the lucrative Vice-Treasurerships of Ireland.
There was much more difficulty about the Duke of Richmond. He had entirely broken with the late Ministers, and attached himself to the Duke of Cumberland. The arrangement, however, had been made without any suitable provision for his Grace. At last he was offered the place of Cofferer. He said modestly that he knew he had not the same pretensions to the first posts as the other young noblemen of his own rank, since he had not suffered like them, had not engaged with them in opposition, and consequently had not the same merit with the party. He owned, however, that he wished for an active place in business. I persuaded him not to accept Cofferer, and assured him I would not rest till I saw him placed in a situation suitable to his rank and talents. I kept my word; and as the Duke of Cumberland had dropped a hint of making Lord Hertford Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and of sending the Duke Ambassador to Paris, I pursued that idea, though the Duke wished rather to be employed at home; till, on Lord Hertford’s nomination to Ireland, I pushed Mr. Conway so warmly that he obtained the embassy for the Duke of Richmond. Mr. Conway had had more difficulty in succeeding for Lord Hertford, whose conduct, in not taking part with his brother and his wife’s nephew, the Duke of Grafton, had given universal disgust to the party. Richmond was indeed the only steady acquisition the Ministers made. Yet the intemperance of the disgraced Cabal threw another important convert into their hands. Grenville told Lord Granby that the new Ministers had wished to turn out his father, the Duke of Rutland, in order to save the Duke of Marlborough. Lord Granby was advised to ask the King if this was true. The King denied it; and in that conversation made such impression on that light man, that, with the addition of the first vacant regiment for his uncle, Lord Robert Manners, Lord Granby was entirely gained over from his late allies. This blow was sensibly felt by Grenville, who was not endowed with the spirit of patience. His behaviour on his fall was abject and full of lamentation; and, as disgraced Ministers are seldom pitied, so the occasion generally calls forth even those spots that flattery had concealed from the prying eyes of opposition. The vaunted economy of this Minister had not been restrained to the public service. It now came out that he had obtained the reversion of one of the lighthouses[174] for himself under another name; and that, having bestowed an inferior office in the Treasury on his cook, he had bid the man expect no wages for five years. Lord Halifax had been guilty of worse corruption: he and his mistress had sold every employment in his gift.
But if the integrity of the new Ministers shone by the comparison with their predecessors, in want of prudence they seemed to have taken the example of those very predecessors for the rule of their own conduct. Nothing could induce them to take the smallest step that might secure favour in the closet, by even civility to the Favourite. Perhaps the disguise used by the King deceived them into an idea of that attention not being necessary. He told them early that he understood their bargain, and that Lord Bute should not meddle; and that if Elliot and Oswald would not work (support them by speaking in Parliament) he gave them power to turn out both. The conduct of the Ministers, as individuals, was honourable—but in not restoring Mackenzie, unjust both to the King and the sufferer, and too great a sacrifice to popularity. I pressed the restitution of Mackenzie to Mr. Conway, and urged that, as public men and friends to their country, it behoved them to bend a little in order to secure their power in exclusion to men of worse designs. But to talk to Conway against public opinion was preaching to the winds. Even Lord Northumberland, from his relation to the Favourite, was neglected in the new system, though he had been deprived of the government of Ireland by the late Cabal on the same foundation.
The Princess of Wales was the first offended on finding she could promise herself as little influence over the new Ministers as of late she had experienced from the last. A conversation was much talked of, in which it was said warm words were overheard between her and her son, who was distinctly heard (according to the report) to tell her, that he had ventured his crown to obey her. The disgusts of Lord Bute’s friends, and of the late Ministers, whose rupture had its origin in the animosities between the Princess and the Duchess of Bedford, gave occasion to an excellent bon mot of George Selwyn, who said of the two factions, that, like thieves going to execution, they laid their ruin to lewd women.
Notwithstanding their sacrifices to popularity, and with self-created omens that promised them little stability, the first public notice taken of the new Ministers gave them no reason to think that there was a general approbation of their advancement. In the Address of the City of London on the birth of a Prince, the King was told that when his measures should be established, that great body would be ready to support them. The Ex-ministers took this as a compliment to themselves; but it more probably had reference to Mr. Pitt, the idol of the citizens.
Abroad the change was no sooner known, than Prince Ferdinand wrote to Mr. Conway to propose coming over with the Hereditary Prince, or afterwards, and begged Mr. Conway to tell him in confidence whether the King would like it. The King said he should like it much, but that Prince Ferdinand had better wait till his nephew was gone back again to Germany, because the latter, having married a Princess of England, must be distinguished by ceremonial. Whoever remembered how little distinction had been paid to the Prince, even on his marriage, could not believe this to be the true reason of the King’s waiving the visit. It was more natural to think his Majesty was not eager to be witness of Prince Ferdinand’s popularity, when his own was at so low an ebb; nor could he wish that his new Ministers should enjoy the triumph and advantages of a visit that seemed paid to them rather than to himself. Whatever hindered it, Prince Ferdinand never came. The Prince and Princess of Brunswick did arrive by particular invitation. Some thought Lord Bute hoped to engage Mr. Pitt by the intervention of the Hereditary Prince; but the court paid of late, both by the Prince and his wife, to the Princess Dowager, had entirely won her affections, and removed her antipathy to the House of Brunswick.