So far the people were charmed with the promotion of individuals, upon whose virtues and abilities they had the most perfect reliance; but these new ingredients would never thoroughly mix with the old leaven. The administration became an emblem of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, the leg was of iron, and the foot was of clay. The old junta found their new associates very unfit for their purposes. They could neither persuade, cajole, nor intimidate them into measures which they thought repugnant to the true interest of their country. The new ministers combated in council every such plan, however patronised; they openly opposed in parliament every design which they deemed unworthy of the crown, or prejudicial to the people, even though distinguished by the predilection of the sovereign. Far from bargaining for their places, and surrendering their principles by capitulation, they maintained in office their independency and candour with the most vigilant circumspection, and seemed determined to show, that he is the best minister to the sovereign who acts with the greatest probity towards the subject. Those who immediately surrounded the throne were supposed to have concealed the true characters of these faithful servants from the knowledge of their royal master; to have represented them as obstinate, imperious, ignorant, and even lukewarm in their loyalty; and to have declared, that with such colleagues it would be impossible to move the machine of government according to his majesty’s inclination. These suggestions, artfully inculcated, produced the desired effect: on the ninth day of April, Mr. Pitt, by his majesty’s command, resigned the seals of secretary of state for the southern department. In the room of Mr. Legge, the king was pleased to grant the office of chancellor of the exchequer to the right honourable lord Mansfield, chief-justice of the court of king’s bench, the same personage whom we have mentioned before under the name of Mr. Murray, solicitor-general, now promoted and ennobled for his extraordinary merit and important services. The fate of Mr. Pitt was extended to some of his principal friends: the board of admiralty was changed, and some other removals were made with the same intention.
What was intended as a disgrace to Mr. Pitt and Mr. Legge turned out one of the most shining circumstances of their characters. The whole nation seemed to rise up, as one man, in the vindication of their fame; every mouth was opened in their praise; and a great number of respectable cities and corporations presented them with the freedom of their respective societies, enclosed in gold boxes of curious workmanship, as testimonies of their peculiar veneration. What the people highly esteem, they in a manner idolize. Not contented with making offerings so flattering and grateful to conscious virtue, they conceived the most violent prejudices against those gentlemen who succeeded in the administration; fully convinced, that the same persons who had sunk the nation in the present distressful circumstances, who had brought on her dishonour, and reduced her to the verge of destruction, were by no means the fit instruments of her delivery and redemption. The whole kingdom caught fire at the late changes; nor could the power, the cunning, and the artifice of a faction, long support itself against the united voice of Great Britain, which soon pierced the ears of the sovereign. It was not possible to persuade the people that salutary measures could be suggested or pursued, except by the few, whose zeal for the honour of their country, and steady adherence to an upright disinterested conduct, had secured their confidence, and claimed their veneration. A great number of addresses, dutifully and loyally expressed, solicited the king, ever ready to meet half-way the wishes of his faithful people, to restore Mr. Pitt and Mr. Legge to their former employments. Upon this they rested the security and honour of the nation, as well as the public expectation of the speedy and successful issue of a war, hitherto attended with disgraces and misfortunes. Accordingly, his majesty was graciously pleased to redeliver the seals to Mr. Pitt, appointing him secretary of state for the southern department, on the twenty-ninth day of June; and, five days after, the office of chancellor of the exchequer was restored to Mr. Legge; promotions that afforded universal satisfaction.
COALITION OF PARTIES.
It would not, perhaps, be possible to exclude, from a share in the administration, all who were not perfectly agreeable to the people: however unpopular the late ministry might appear, still they possessed sufficient influence in the privy-council, and credit in the house of commons, to thwart every measure in which they did not themselves partake. This consideration, and very recent experience, probably dictated the necessity I of a coalition, salutary in itself, and prudent, because it was the only means of assuaging the rage of faction, and healing those divisions, more pernicious to the public than the most mistaken and blundering councils. Sir Robert Henley was made lord-keeper of the great seal, and sworn of his majesty’s privy-council, on the thirteenth day of June; the custody of the privy-seal was committed to earl Temple; his grace the duke of Newcastle, Mr. Legge, Mr. Nugent, lord viscount Dun-cannon, and Mr. Grenville, were appointed commissioners for executing the office of treasurer to his majesty’s exchequer. Lord Anson, admirals Boscawen and Forbes, Dr. Hay, Mr. West, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. Elliot, to preside at the board of admiralty; Mr. Fox was gratified with the office of receiver and paymaster-general of all his majesty’s guards, garrisons, and land-forces; and the earl of Thomond was made treasurer of the king’s household, and sworn of his majesty’s privy-council. Other promotions likewise took place, with a design to gratify the adherents of either party; and so equally was the royal favour distributed, that the utmost harmony for a long time subsisted. Ingredients, seemingly heterogeneous, consolidated into one uniform mass, so as to produce effects far exceeding the most sanguine expectations; and this prudent arrangement proved displeasing only to those whom violent party attachment had inspired with a narrow and exclusive spirit.
DESCENT ON THE COAST OF FRANCE MEDITATED.
The accumulated losses and disappointments of the preceding year, made it absolutely necessary to retrieve the credit of the British arms and councils by some vigorous and spirited enterprise, which should, at the same time, produce some change in the circumstances of his Prussian majesty, already depressed by the repulse at Kolin, and in danger of being attacked by the whole power of France, now ready to fall upon him, like a torrent, which had so lately swept before it the army of observation, now on the brink of disgrace. A well-planned and vigorous descent on the coast of France, it was thought, would probably give a decisive blow to the marine of that kingdom, and at the same time effect a powerful diversion in favour of the Prussian monarch and the duke of Cumberland, driven from all his posts in the electorate of Hanover, by drawing a part of the French forces to the defence and protection of their own coasts. Both were objects of great concern, upon which the sovereign and ministry were sedulously bent. His royal highness the duke, in a particular manner, urged the necessity of some enterprise of this nature, as the only expedient to obviate the shameful convention now in agitation. The ministry foresaw, that, by destroying the enemy’s shipping, all succours would be cut off from America, whither they were daily transporting troops; the British commerce secured, without those convoys so inconvenient to the board of admiralty, and to the merchants; and those ideal fears of an invasion, that had in some measure affected the public credit, wholly dispelled.