This is not the sole uneasiness at Kensington; they know the proximity of the French army to the Duke, and think that by this time there may have been an action: the suspense is not pleasant: the event may have great consequences even on these broils at home. For the King of Prussia, he is left to the coffee-houses. Adieu! I can scarce steal a day for Strawberry; if one leaves London to itself for four-and-twenty hours, one finds it topsy-turvy.
(793) William Stanhope, Earl of Harrington, who, though a younger brother, had been raised to an earldom, to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Secretary of State, had been the first man to resign his place in 1746, when the King, his master and benefactor, had a mind to remove the Pelhams, and make Lord Granville prime minister. He was afterwards sacrificed by the Pelhams to please the King. Lord Holderness was born to an earldom, but having little fortune or parts, had been promoted by the Duke of Newcastle to great posts.
380 Letter 224 To Sir Horace Mann. Strawberry Hill, June 20, 1757.
I renounce all prophesying; I will never suppose that I can foresee politically; I can foresee nothing, what ever I may foretell. Here is a ministry formed of all the people who for these ten weeks have been giving each other exclusion! I will now not venture, even to pronounce that they cannot agree together. On Saturday last, the 18th, Lord Hardwicke carried to Kensington the result of the last negotiations between Newcastle and Pitt, and the latter followed and actually kissed hands again for the seals.(794) Here is the arrangement as far as I know it, the most extraordinary part of which is, that they suffer Mr. Fox to be paymaster—oh! no, it is more extraordinary that he will submit to be so. His grace returns to the treasury, and replaces there his singular good friend Mr. Legge. Lord Holderness "comes to life again as secretary of state; Lord Anson reassumes the admiralty, not with the present board, nor with his own, but with Mr. Pitt's, and this by Mr. Pitt's own desire. The Duke of Dorset retires with a pension of 4000 pounds a-year, to make room for Lord Gower, that he may make room for Lord Temple. Lord George Sackville forces out Lord Barrington from secretary at war, who was going to resign with the rest, for fear Mr. Fox should, and that this plan should not take place. Lord Hardwicke, young disinterested creature! waits till something drops. Thus far all was smooth; but even this perfection of harmony and wisdom meets with rubs. Lord Halifax had often and lately been promised to be erected into a secretary of state for the West Indies. Mr. Pitt says, "No, I will not part with so much power." Lord Halifax resigned on Saturday, and Lord Dublin succeeds him. The two Townshends are gone into the country in a rage; Lord Anson is made the pretence; Mr. Fox is the real sore to George, Lord G. Sackville to Charles. Sir George Lee, who resigned his treasurership to the Princess against Mr. Pitt, and as the world says, wanting to bring Lord Bute into Doctors' Commons,(795) is succeeded by Lord Bute's brother M'Kinsy; but to be sure, all this, in which there is no intrigue, no change, no policy, no hatred, no jealousy, no disappointment, no resentment, no mortification, no ambition, Will produce the utmost concord! It is a system formed to last; and to be sure it will! In the mean time, I shall bid adieu to politics; my curiosity is satisfied for some months, and I shall betake myself to employments I love better, and to this place, which I love best of all. Here is the first fruit of my retirement; behind a bas-relief in wax of the present Pope I have writ the following inscription:
Prospero Lambertini Bishop of Rome by the name of Benedict IV. who, though an absolute Prince, reigned as harmlessly as a Doge of Venice. He restored the lustre of the Tiara by those arts alone, by which alone he obtained it, his Virtues. Beloved by Papists, esteemed by Protestants: A Priest without insolence or interest; A Prince without favourites; A Pope without nepotism: An Author without vanity; In short, a Man whom neither Wit nor Power could spoil. The Son of a favourite Minister, but One, who never courted a Prince, nor worshipped a Churchman, offers, in a free Protestant Country, this deserved Incense to the Best of the Roman Pontiffs.
If the good old soul is still alive, and you could do it unaffectedly and easily, you may convey it to him; it must be a satisfaction to a good heart to know that in so distant a country, so detached from his, his merit is acknowledged, without a possibility of interest entering into the consideration. His death-bed does not want comfort or cheerfulness, but it may be capable of an expansion of heart that May still sweeten it! Adieu!
(794) "On the day they were all to kiss hands," says Lord Waldegrave, "I went to Kensington, to entertain myself with the innocent, or, perhaps, ill-natured amusement of examining the different countenances. The behaviour of Pitt and his party was decent and sensible; they had neither the insolence of men who had gained a victory, nor were they awkward and disconcerted, like those who come to a place where they know they are not welcome: but as to the Duke of Newcastle, and his friends the resigners, there was a mixture of fear and of shame on their countenances: they were real objects of compassion." Memoires, 138.-E.
(795) Meaning the offence he took at Lord Bute's favourite. Sir George Lee was a civilian.
382 Letter 225 To Sir Horace Mann. Strawberry Hill, July 3, 1757.
I have been under great uneasiness about you; Coloredo, the Austrian minister, is recalled precipitately, with orders not to take leave. our papers joined Pucci(796) with him in this recall, but I do not find with any foundation. However, I cannot be easy while your situation is precarious. One should conceive that the advantages of the English trade to Tuscany would induce the Emperor to preserve a neutrality; but what are good reasons against his wife's vengeance and obstinacy, and haughtiness? Tell me immediately what you think or hear on this head; what steps you would take; whither you would retire if this should happen; whether you would not come home to watch over your own interest and return, or whether you would be more in the way by remaining in Italy. I know not what to advise; I don't even know how this letter is to get to you, and how our correspondence will continue; at least it must be very irregular, now all communication is cut off through the Empress's dominions. I am in great solicitude!