Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third (Vol. 1-4). Horace WalpoleЧитать онлайн книгу.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_2d3c8f39-e8aa-5c60-803b-1a56c5255990">116 The following note is transcribed from the manuscript memoirs of Sir George Colebrooke, Bart., M.P., Chairman of the East India Company; an eminent merchant, who sat many years in Parliament, and possessed the confidence of some of the leading statesmen of his day.
“During the time I attended Newcastle House and the Treasury Chambers on the Contract business, I had frequent opportunities of knowing how despotically Mr. Pitt governed his ministerial colleagues, and how much he was dreaded by the Duke. Some years afterwards I recollect his Grace making this the subject of lively conversation at table, at Claremont; but it was no subject of merriment at the time the transaction passed. More than once I was summoned to the Treasury to give an account of the state of the provisions, and of the money, for the army, Mr. West giving, for reason, that Mr. Pitt threatened the Duke, that if at any time a want of either should be found, he would impeach him in the ensuing session. At the Treasury I frequently met Mr. Wallis, Commissioner of the Navy, who mentioned the following memorable instance. A train of artillery was wanted at Portsmouth for an expedition. Mr. Pitt told Wallis that it must be down by a certain day he named. Wallis made some excuse for the delay, either that the transports were not ready or the winds were contrary; upon which Mr. Pitt insisted that they should go by land, a method of conveyance which was afterwards pursued.
“General Harvey, who had been sent by Prince Ferdinand to prepare matters in England for the campaign, and to carry over the English draughts, waited on Mr. Pitt to take his leave. Mr. Pitt asked him whether he had obtained everything he wanted, and the General answered, not; and he therefore came to take leave, that no blame might fall on him from the Prince. Mr. Pitt desired the General to enumerate what he wanted, and immediately rang his bell for Mr. Wood, who in the names of the different Boards signified to their officers his Majesty’s commands for the dispatch of what was required for Germany, and in four days General Harvey had in readiness what he had been as many months soliciting.
“West, the Secretary, always looked frightened; and well he might, for Mr. Pitt would have been as good as his word, which was to impeach the Commissioners of the Treasury, if they neglected anything needful for the war. At times he depended so little on them, that, notwithstanding a contract to supply the army, he caused provisions to be sent by victualling transports.
“Proceeding in the way I have mentioned, of writing in the names of the different public officers, there were numberless hiatus in their books of correspondence, and instances of orders carried into execution without their sanction. The name of Lord Barrington was principally used as Secretary at War, who did not know more than a stranger of troops being ordered on service, till the embarkation had actually taken place.
“The Duke of Newcastle, speaking himself of the cavalier manner with which Mr. Pitt treated the Cabinet, mentioned the instance of some foreign expedition which Mr. Pitt had proposed, but which, in the opinion of the ministers, and of Lord Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty, deprived Great Britain of too great a part of its internal defence. Lord Mansfield had not yet given his opinion; but Mr. Pitt, apprehensive that it would be against him, summed up the opinions of Council, a majority of which he declared to be for the expedition; adding, “The Chief Justice of England has no opinion to give in this matter thereby stopping his mouth. The Duke told Lord Coventry, that Mr. Murray, when Attorney-General, and in the House of Commons, had acknowledged to him that he was intimidated by Pitt. The more the latter found Murray to be intimidated, the more he naturally pressed him.
“I never saw the Duke in higher spirits than after Mr. Pitt, thwarted by the Cabinet in his proposal of declaring war against Spain, had given notice of resignation. The Duke had done more wisely, if he had followed Lord Hardwicke’s advice, and had resigned on the death of his late master. The Duke could not endure to part with his power, much less to devolve it on one who meant to keep it. When he last resigned the Treasury to the Duke of Devonshire, it was with a view to have it back again at a convenient season.”—E.
117 The following extraordinary notice was published in the Gazette of the 9th October: “The Right Honourable William Pitt having resigned the Seals into the King’s hands, His Majesty was this day pleased to appoint the Earl of Egremont to be one of His Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State; and, in consideration of the great and important services of the said Mr. Pitt, His Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct that a warrant be prepared for granting to the Lady Hesther Pitt, his wife, a Barony of Great Britain, by the name, style, and title of Baroness of Chatham, to herself, and of Baron of Chatham to her heirs male, and also to confer upon the said William Pitt, Esq., an annuity of three thousand pounds sterling, during his own life and that of Lady Hesther Pitt, and their son John Pitt, Esq.”—E.
118 It certainly is not the practice now (1844) to insert pensions in the Gazette. Whether it ever was so it would be difficult to ascertain, as there is no index prior to the year 1787. The impression of two very old officers, who have frequent occasions to consult the Gazette, is, that no such general practice ever prevailed.—E.
119 It was by such expressions as this that Mr. Pitt created the disappointment in the public mind, that followed the announcement of his pension. To use the words of Lord Brougham: “He did not sustain the exalted pitch of magnanimous independence, and utter disregard of sublunary interests, which we should expect him to have reached and kept as a matter of course, from a mere cursory glance at the mould in which his lofty character was cast.” Statesmen of the Time of George III., 1st series, p. 45. A pension of £4000 a year to Lord Holderness passed without a murmur, while one of £3000 a year to Mr. Pitt raised a general burst of indignation, only because the country regarded the latter as lowering their idol to the level of the jobbing statesmen of the day. The cry against Mr. Pitt was, indeed, almost universal. See letter to Mr. Conway, vol. iv. of Walpole’s Collected Correspondence, p. 184; and particularly the note containing the opposite opinions of Mr. Gray and Mr. Burke. Mr. Pitt’s noble refusal of the vast emoluments of the Pay-office, which so enriched those who preceded and succeeded him as Paymaster, entitles his conduct in all pecuniary matters to a liberal construction from posterity. What is really to be regretted, is the humiliating tone of his correspondence with Lord Bute, in accepting the pension (Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 152,) and his language at his interview with the King on that occasion.—Annual Register for 1761. But we will not dwell on the defects of a man who certainly was far above his age, not only in talent, but in real independence.—E.
120 Thomas Prowse, member for Somersetshire, which he had represented in five successive Parliaments, having been every time unanimously elected. He was an opulent, well-informed, and influential country gentleman. He died, after a long illness, in 1767, aged 59, and was buried in Axbridge Church; where the long panegyric on his tomb states—“That though frequently solicited, he never could be prevailed upon to accept any employment in the state.” Collinson’s History of Somerset, vol. iii. p. 563.—E.
121 Edward Bacon, of Earlham Hall, Norfolk, barrister-at-law, and M. P. for Norwich. He was son of Walter Bacon, of Earlham Hall, and M. P. for Norwich. Mr. Edward Bacon had been member for Lynn in 1742. He represented Norwich from 1752 to 1784, when he retired from Parliament. He died in March 1786, and was buried in the chancel of Earlham Church. His portrait is still preserved at Earlham Hall.—E.
122 A more favourable character of Sir John Cust is given in the preface of Moore’s General Index to the Journals of the House of Commons, vol. iv.; a very useful work, to the compilation of which he contributed. He added to great industry, a considerable knowledge of Parliamentary history and constitutional law; and his amiable disposition and obliging temper were no insignificant recommendations to the Speakership. He was a Lincolnshire country gentleman, of ancient family, and had inherited a great estate from his mother, the heiress of the Tyrconnels.—E.