Some good work was done in other directions; the cider-tax was repealed, a commercial treaty was made with Russia, and the house of commons came into agreement with the judges on the question of general warrants by resolving that general warrants being illegal, except in the cases provided for by act of parliament, the arrest of any of its members on such a warrant would be a breach of privilege. The administration, however, was enfeebled by the unconcealed dislike of the king, the hostility of Pitt, and the general belief that it was keeping him out of office. Pitt was extremely anxious for office, but would not accept it unless a "transposition of offices" was made; unless, in fact, Rockingham was got rid of. To this Rockingham would not consent; he wanted Pitt to take office as his ally, not as his successor. There were differences in the cabinet on the matter. The king's section wished to gain Pitt for their master; Rockingham was upheld by his friends; Grafton wanted Pitt as prime minister, and Conway, though less decided, agreed with him. Pitt became querulous and unreasonable, and in April violently attacked the ministers, specially excepting Grafton and Conway.[74] All attempts at negotiation having failed, Grafton made his choice for Pitt and resigned office. It was not easy to fill his place, for the ministry was regarded as moribund, and finally the king was forced to give the seals to Rockingham's friend, the young Duke of Richmond. The chancellor, Northington, a strong supporter of the king, saw that the end was not far off, and apparently determined to make sure of a place in the next administration by sacrificing his colleagues. He quarrelled with them in the cabinet on a question relating to the administration of law in Canada, and early in July told the king that he must resign office, and that the ministry was too weak to go on. George eagerly seized the opportunity for getting rid of it and replacing it by a more comprehensive ministry with Pitt at its head. The difficulties which had stood in Pitt's way were removed; the American question seemed to be settled; he had made it known that he would not again be guided by Temple, and he was delighted to be the king's minister, avowing his determination "to defend the closet against every contending party"—against, that is, the great whig houses and their connexions.
The satisfaction consequent on Pitt's accession to power faded at the news that he had accepted a peerage as Earl of Chatham. It was unjustly considered as a bribe, and lost him much of his popularity. A more serious consequence was that it left the leadership of the house of commons to weaker hands. Though prime minister, he took for himself the unimportant office of privy seal. His course was probably determined by a consciousness of failing health. Conway became northern secretary of state, with the leadership of the commons, and Shelburne secretary for the southern department. In spite of Temple's opposition to the repeal of the stamp act, Pitt offered him the treasury, but that vain man would not enter the cabinet except as Pitt's equal, and a quarrel ensued between them. The treasury was then accepted by Grafton; and, unfortunately, by his advice, Charles Townshend was made chancellor of the exchequer. Camden was appointed chancellor, Northington president of the council, and they, with Granby as commander-in-chief, and Sir Charles Saunders, who succeeded Egmont at the admiralty, completed the cabinet. Besides Conway and Saunders, some other Rockinghams had inferior offices, but Rockingham himself and most of his party considered that Chatham had treated them badly, and repelled his advances. The ministry was unfortunate in being represented in the house of commons by the irresolute Conway and the unprincipled Townshend. Worse still, Chatham, whose arrogance increased with his disease, alienated adherents, and treated his colleagues with reserve and disdain.
Chatham at once pursued the foreign policy which he had consistently recommended by seeking a continental alliance to counterbalance the alliance of the Bourbon powers. The family compact did not lose its importance at the peace of Paris. Choiseul in France and Grimaldi, who succeeded Wall in Spain, worked together heartily in promoting a Bourbon policy, and looked forward to the reconquest of the lost possessions of France and Spain. The allies were strengthened by the good-will of Austria. Schemes of aggrandisement were formed, which included the acquisition of Corsica by France and of Portugal by Spain. There were unsettled causes of dispute between them and England touching the fortification of Dunkirk and the Manila ransom, and Spain was also aggrieved by a British settlement in the Falkland islands. Against France the natural ally of England was Russia, for she had a strong interest in opposing French influence in Denmark and Sweden; while on the side of England a Russian alliance would, in the event of war, secure her Baltic trade and enable her fleet to act elsewhere, and would be a defence for Hanover. An alliance with Russia had already been discussed, but Catherine II. had far less interest in the matter than England, and insisted that any alliance should include her Turkish war, to which England would not consent. Catherine was in alliance with Frederick of Prussia, and Chatham, hoping that the adhesion of England would be welcomed, designed a defensive alliance between Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, which might take in Denmark, Sweden, the States-General, and any other power interested in withstanding Bourbon aggrandisement. To Catherine her alliance with Prussia was much more important than anything which she could obtain from England, and Chatham's design therefore depended on Frederick's good-will. He declined the proposal of Great Britain: he had not forgiven the ill-treatment which he believed he had received from Bute; he admired Chatham, but had no assurance that he would remain in power; and he considered any possible danger to himself from the Bourbon alliance to be too remote to make it advisable for him to join in a concert to prevent it. He was already meditating the partition of Poland, and the proposed combination would have been contrary to his policy. Chatham's great design was consequently defeated.
CHATHAM'S DIFFICULTIES.
His arbitrary temper soon brought him into difficulties. He desired to reward a new adherent with the office of treasurer of the household, then held by Lord Edgcumbe, and on Edgcumbe's refusal to vacate the office, he deprived him of it. Edgcumbe was connected with the Rockingham party, and, with the exception of Conway, all the more important members of it who had joined the new ministry, the Duke of Portland, Saunders, and others, resigned office. Conway was almost persuaded to follow their example, for Chatham treated him with haughty coldness, but he yielded to the urgent advice of his friend Horace Walpole, and remained in the ministry, uneasy and vacillating. Any alliance with the Rockinghams being out of the question, Chatham was driven to make overtures to the Bedford party, which failed because they asked more than he would grant. Finally, Saunders's place at the admiralty was supplied by the famous admiral, Sir Edward Hawke, and the other vacancies were filled by tories and courtiers.
The harvest of 1765 was bad, and that of the present year promised to be no better. The price of wheat rose rapidly, and in July reached 44s. a quarter. The poor were distressed, worse times seemed to be ahead, and the dealers were believed to be keeping back supplies in the expectation of higher prices. Riots of a more or less serious character broke out in some fifty places; bakers' shops were pillaged, mills and barns were fired, and dealers and tradesmen were forced to sell provisions at prices fixed by the people. It was not until September 10, when wheat had again risen, that the ministers, in accordance with the economic ideas of the time, issued a proclamation against forestalling and engrossing. It had no effect; the price reached 49s., and on the 26th the council laid an embargo on exportation. By law the ministers had no right to take such a step until wheat was at 53s. 4d. As, however, prices were rising, all parties agreed that the embargo was in itself a justifiable measure. It was, however, objected that the ministers should have summoned parliament to meet at an earlier date, and have acted with its authority. When parliament met on November 11, the opposition insisted that the ministers needed a bill of indemnity for having set aside the law by a proclamation of council. Chatham defended their action on the constitutional ground of necessity. His colleagues and supporters were not all equally wise. Northington declared that the proclamation was legally, as well as morally, justifiable; and the chancellor, Camden, the assertor of popular liberties, that "it was at most a forty days' tyranny". His foolish speech was severely handled by Mansfield. In the commons Alderman Beckford, a hot-headed admirer of Chatham, said that "if the public was in danger the king had a dispensing power," and was forced by Grenville to retract his words. The debates on this matter injured the reputation of the ministry though they did not endanger its stability.
REVOLT IN BENGAL.
When parliament rose in December Chatham went to Bath for the sake of his health. In February, 1767, he had a severe attack of gout, and in March the disease began to affect his mental powers. For the next two years he was unable to take any part in politics. His effacement left the ministry without a head. Before his retirement a difference arose in the cabinet on the affairs of the East India Company. From a simple trading company it had been raised by the victories of Clive and his generals to the position of a territorial power. Its affairs were managed by a court of directors elected annually, and consequently under the control of the court of proprietors in which every holder of £500 stock had a vote. It proved itself unequal to its new position. Clive returned to England in 1760, the possessor of a princely fortune, and in 1762 was created Baron Clive of Plassey in the Irish peerage. He was opposed in the court of directors by a party headed by Sullivan. In India he was succeeded by Vansittart, and there troubles soon arose, chiefly from the greed of the company's servants. Mír Jafar, the Nawáb of Bengal, a self-indulgent and unpopular ruler, was deposed by the council in 1761, and his son-in-law, Mír Kásim, was made nawáb in his place. It was a profitable business, for Mír Kásim spent £200,000 in presents to the council and ceded to the company the revenues of three districts, amounting to some £500,000 a year. Yet the exchange of nawábs proved an unwise step, for Mír Kásim was able and active. He moved his court from Murshidábád to Monghyr, at a greater distance from Calcutta, organised an army, and showed that he was ready to resist oppression.
The revenues of the Indian princes were largely derived from tolls on the transit of merchandise. The company, which had the right of free exportation and importation, passed its goods free inland under the certificate of the head of a factory. The system was abused. The company paid its servants insufficient salaries, and they made up for it by engaging in private inland trade, using the company's passes to cover their goods. Armed with its power, they forced the natives to deal with their native agents, to buy dear and sell cheap; they monopolised the trade in the necessaries of life, and grew rich upon the miseries of the helpless people. Private trade and extorted presents enabled many a man who as a mere youth had obtained a writer's place to return to England after a few years with a handsome income. Mír Kásim saw his people starving, his officers ill-treated, and his treasury robbed, and prepared for revolt. Conscious of the impending danger, Vansittart made an agreement with him as to tolls. The council at Calcutta indignantly repudiated the agreement, and Mír Kásim was furious. Open hostilities began in June, 1763. One of the council, who was sent on an embassy to Kásim, was killed by his troops. Patná was seized by the English; it was retaken, and some 200 English were made prisoners. A little army under Major Adams, routed the nawáb's forces, and on October 11 Monghyr was taken. Mír Kásim caused all his prisoners, save five, to be massacred, and fled for refuge to Shujá-ud-Daulá the nawáb wazír of Oudh. Patná was taken by storm and Bengal was completely subdued.
Mír Jafar was again made nawáb, and paid large sums both to the company and its servants as compensation for their losses. The war, however, was not over, for the nawáb wazír espoused the cause of Mír Kásim, and, in conjunction with the Mughal emperor, Sháh Alam, threatened Bengal. Major Hector Munro took command of the British army, and found it in a mutinous condition; desertions to the enemy were frequent. He captured a large body of deserters, caused twenty-four of the ringleaders to be blown from guns, and by his dauntless conduct restored discipline among the troops. With about 7,000 men, of whom only some 1,000 were Europeans, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied forces, 50,000 strong, at Baxár on October 23, 1764. The enemy lost 6,000 men and 167 guns. Oudh lay at the disposal of the English, and Sháh Alam sought refuge with the conquerors. Early in 1765 Mír Jafar died, and the council at Calcutta, without consulting the emperor, appointed his son to succeed him, receiving in presents from him £139,357, besides money unaccounted for. These revolutions and wars cost the company much money, and, while its servants were enriching themselves, it incurred heavy debts. Clive was called upon to put an end to the maladministration of Bengal. He refused to return to India while Sullivan was chairman of the court of directors. After a sharp contest, in which large sums were spent, the proprietors put his party in power. He was invested with full authority as commander-in-chief and governor of Bengal to act in conjunction with a select committee.