194 FRANCE AND SPAIN. Whigs were divided among themselves by the factious spirit originating in a long enjoyment of power. He perceived, too, that they were weakened by the anger and contempt with which the country was beginning to regard the selfishness and corruption of its representatives. Upwards of thirty years before, Gay had ridiculed the leading statesmen of the time in the 'Beggars' Opera," and in 'Polly,' under the guise of highwaymen and pickpockets. "It is difficult to determine," he said, "whether the fine gentlemen imitate the gentlemen of the road, or the gentlemen of the road the fine gentlemen." The "fine gentlemen" were now represented by Newcastle and his myrmidons, and the public scorn was deeper and greater than ever. We think, with Mr. Green, that the King would not have prevailed against Pitt and Newcastle, the one representing public opinion, and the other parliamentary management, had the two maintained a firm alliance. But the Whig families were already falling away from the Great Minister, dissatisfied with his rejection of the French proposals of peace because they involved a betrayal of Prussia. In 1761, he obtained information of the conclusion of a new Bourbon family compact between France and Spain; and, with the usual audacity of his genius, he proposed to declare war against Spain, to seize the treasure fleet from the Indies, and to attack at once both Havanna and the Philippines. Had his scheme been executed, Spain would have been brought to her knees, and probably the destiny of Spanish America would have been completely changed. But it was too vast for the conception of his colleagues, his PITT'S RESIGNATION. 195 brother-in-law, Earl Temple, excepted; and it was distasteful to the King and "the power behind the King." Newcastle, supported by the Court, and encouraged by the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of Hardwicke, George Grenville, and other members of the Whig party, rejected Pitt's proposal; and Pitt and Earl Temple immediately resigned (October 5, 1761). The great statesman's fall was hailed on the Continent with a burst of exultation. "Pitt disgraced!" exclaimed a French philosopher; "it is worth two victories to us.' By the English people it was witnessed with profound regret.* * When he joined the civic procession on the * In the New Foundling Hospital for Wit' is preserved the following effusion, entitled "Corinna Vindicated: "Corinna, Virtue's child, and chaste 66 As vestal maid of yore, Nor sought the impartial rites in haste, Her, many a worthless knight to wed But she, though choosing not to lead, Would not be led by-apes. Roysters they were, and each a mere They ate and drank up all her cheer, "See her by Walpole first address'd, "A pair of authors next advance, Alike for heresies fit, The filly 'gan to kick and prance, 196 ROYAL GRATITUDE. ensuing Lord Mayor's day, the crowds saluted him with the warmest tokens of attachment and admiration. As he passed along, the gentlemen in the balconies waved their hats, and the ladies fluttered their handkerchiefs; the mob clung about his carriage, and filled the air with incessant peals of applause.* Pitt, on delivering up his seals of office, was received by the young King in the most gracious manner. He was urged both by George and his favourite, the Earl of Bute, to accept some mark of royal gratitude; such as the governorship of Canada, with a salary of £5000 a year. Residence would not be required; and as the Shouts of "Pitt for ever!" were mingled with cries of "No Bute!" "No Newcastle salmon!" On the same occasion, Lord Bute was hooted and pelted as he passed through Cheapside. "What honest man but would with joy submit To bleed with Cato, and retire with Pitt?"—Churchill. A CORONET AND A PENSION. 197 governor of Canada, in the then state of the law, could not be a member of the House of Commons, a bill should be introduced authorising Pitt to hold the government conjointly with a seat in Parliament, and in the preamble enunciating his claims to the national gratitude. With wise discretion the great statesman refused a reward, that from its exceptional and unconstitutional character, would have proved an embarrassment; but he ultimately accepted for his wife a peeress's coronet, and for himself a pension of £3000 a year for three lives. Pitt's services had been so signal, his disinterestedness was so well known, and it was so generally understood that his pecuniary resources were straitened, that his acceptance of these honours, whatever might have been the expectation of the Court, did not diminish his popularity.* The * On the occasion of Pitt's retirement, a contemporary versifier gave utterance to his feelings in the following effusion :— Britannia long her hapless fate had mourn'd; At length she seeks-and casts her eyes on Pitt. 198 THE LONDON CORPORATION. corporation of London authorised their Town Clerk to address to him a letter, which is without a parallel, we suspect, in the archives of our great cities: (6 DEAR SIR, "The City of London, as long as they have any memory, cannot forget that you accepted the seals when this nation was in the most deplorable circumstances to which any country can be reduced; that our armies were beaten, our navy inactive, our trade exposed to the enemy, our credit, as if we expected to become bankrupts, sunk to the lowest pitch; that there was nothing to be found but despondency at home, and contempt abroad. The City must also for ever remember, that when you resigned the seals, our armies and navies were victorious, our trade secure, and flourishing more than in a peace, our public credit, and people readier to lend than ministers to borrow: that there was nothing but exultation at home, confusion and despair among our enemies, amazement and veneration among all neutral nations; that the French were reduced so low as to sue for a peace which we, from humanity, were willing to grant, though their haughtiness was too great, and our successes [were] too many, for any terms to be agreed on. Remember this, the City cannot but lament Great Cincinnatus thus, at Rome's request, Graves, Euphrosyne' (ed. 1776), pp. 116, 117. |