[Pg 197] "Now Fox, North, and Burke, each is a brother,
So honest, they swear, there is not such another;
No longer they tell us we're going to ruin,
The people they serve in whatever they're doing.
Derry down, down, down, derry down.
* * * * *
"But Chatham, thank heaven! has left us a son;
When he takes the helm, we are sure not undone;
The glory his father revived of the land,
And Britannia has taken Pitt by the hand.
Derry down, down, down, derry down!"
The King, as a matter of course, thwarted the new ministers from the outset, and made no secret that he wished that Lord North, whom now he hated as much as Fox, was "eighty or ninety or dead." He quarrelled with the Administration over the amount of an allowance to the Prince of Wales, and saw an opportunity to dismiss it on the question of Fox's India Bill, by which measure powers were sought to transfer the control of the great dominion that Warren Hastings had built up from the East India Company to a Board of seven commissioners, who should hold office for five years and be removable only on an Address to the Crown from either House of Parliament. This was bitterly opposed by the merchant class, who saw in it a precedent for the revocation of other charters; but the clause that aroused the greatest bitterness was that in which it was laid down that the appointment of the seven commissioners should be vested in Parliament, and afterwards in the Crown. This was, of course, equivalent to vesting the appointments and the enormous patronage attaching thereto in the Ministry, and "it was an attempt," said Lord Thurlow, "to take the diadem from the King's head and put it on that of Mr. Fox." The Bill was fought with every weapon, but it passed the Commons by 208 to 102, and in the Lords there was no division on the first reading. The King, however, was determined the measure should make no further progress, and he gave Lord Temple a paper written in his own royal hand: "That he should deem those who should vote for it not only not his friends, but his enemies; and that if he (Earl Temple) could put this in stronger words, he had full authority to do so."[224] The result of this was that ministers found themselves in a minority of twelve on a question of adjournment, and the Bill itself was thrown out on December 17, by 95 to 76.
The same day the King contemptuously dismissed the Ministry, declining to receive in person their seals of office. It is interesting, as showing how history is made, to compare three contemporary accounts of how the principal members of the Administration were notified that their services were dispensed with. Lady Sarah Napier wrote: "On Thursday night, the Duke of Portland, Lord North, and Charles [Fox] were deliberating in Council together what was to be done, when at twelve o'clock comes a messenger to Lord North and Charles to deliver up the seals immediately. The Duke of Portland guessed he had a billet doux of the same nature and went home to seek it."[225] The Locker Manuscripts gave another account. "Lord North received his dismissal with characteristic humour. He was in bed when the despatch arrived, and being informed that Sir E. Nepian, the Under-Secretary, desired to see him, he replied that in that case Sir Evan must see Lady North too; and he positively refused to rise. Sir Evan was accordingly admitted to the bedroom, and, on informing Lord North that he came by his Majesty's commands to demand the seals of his office, Lord North gave him the keys of the closet where they were kept, and turned round to sleep."[226] Wraxall gives yet a third story of the incident. "Lord North, having deposited the Seal of his office in the hands of his son Colonel North, one of his Under-Secretaries, who could nowhere be found for a considerable time, the King waited patiently at St. James's till it should be found. Mr. Pollock, first clerk in Lord North's office, who had already retired to rest, being called out of his bed in consequence of the requisition of his Majesty, went in search of Colonel North. After a long delay, he was found, and produced the Seal, which being brought to the King about one o'clock in the morning, he delivered it into Lord Temple's hands, and then returned to the Queen's House."[227]
The King at once sent for Pitt, who, now in his twenty-fifth year, accepted the position of Prime Minister, and so there was:
"A sight to make surrounding nations stare,
A kingdom trusted to a schoolboy's care."[228]
Though the new government was in a minority of about one hundred, Pitt, at the King's express desire, kept his place "in hopes that a sense of true patriotism would finally triumph over the factious spirit of party." After a time, however, it became obvious to George—it had all along been clear to every one else—that the wished-for consummation would not arrive, and when the hostile majority instead of decreasing, increased, Pitt, weary of the struggle, told the King, "Sir, I am mortified to see that my perseverance has been of no avail, and that I must resign at last." "If so," replied the King, "I must resign too."[229] This catastrophe was averted by the prorogation of the existing Parliament on March 24, and its dissolution on the following day.[230] The elections resulted in an overwhelming majority for Pitt, who held office without a break until March 14, 1801.