of the king's accession Bute was appointed to the privy council; and it was soon seen that he was in high favour with the young monarch. Every one bowed down before the favourite; among them the duke of Newcastle, who expressed the hope he would see him in high employment and declared his readiness to serve under him. Pitt was not on good terms with Bute. There had been friendly feelings until the disgrace of lord George Sackville. Bute, for purposes of his own, desired to ward off the prosecution: Pitt had refused to intervene. At the first levee of the king much dissatisfaction had been felt by the consideration shewn to lord George Sackville, known to be a friend of Bute. This proceeding was looked upon with great disfavour by Pitt and has been described as one of the causes of his opposition to the favourite. The first speech of the king to the council was written by Bute. He introduced the words "a bloody and expensive war" and expressed the hope of obtaining "an honourable and lasting peace." Pitt objected to these words; they were a reflection on his own ministry, and the former policy of the kingdom, while the expression was impolitic. Three hours were consumed in expostulation before Pitt could obtain the substitution in the printed copy of the words "an expensive and necessary war" and the insertion after the word peace," in concert with our allies."

It was on the point of peace that Bute desired to impress opinion: he had resolved to bring the war to a close by causing Great Britain to abandon her continental alliances, and to withdraw the troops from Hanover. He had no motives of patriotism in this course. It was dictated as a matter of personal advantage; he hoped to advance his ambitious views by creating a party to pursue this policy. There was strong argument by which the advocacy of peace could be enforced. The large increase of the debt; the heavy expenditure in the conduct of the war; the difficulty of obtaining men for service;

*It was a witticism of the day, within two months after the king's accession, whether the king would burn in his chambers; "Scotch coal, Newcastle coal or Pitt coal."

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ATTACKS UPON PITT.

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there was, moreover, the feeling that Great Britain had obtained all that was possible in the contest; that in future the war must be continued on the continent, where Great Britain had no object to attain in regard to territory, or disputed rights; moreover, the burdens of the war began to be seriously felt. The one object attainable was the further reduction of the power of France to make impossible on her part, any renewal of her interference with the British possessions either in the cast or west. One month after the king's accession, Bute was entering into intrigues to obtain power. He told Bubb Dodington, that lord Holderness, one of the secretaries of state, was prepared to pick a quarrel with his colleagues and resign, so that Bute could be appointed to his office in a natural way, without attracting attention. At this period the step appeared too hazardous; so it was delayed. Their great mark was Pitt, and in January, 1761, some five weeks later, it was agreed that pamphlets and handbills attacking him should be put out. On the 2nd of March, parliament was dissolved. Great bribery was exercised during the elections and every effort made to bring in the "king's friends." The government had a majority. Had the ministers been united they could have despised Bute's attempts to supplant them, and the policy of the king to obtain the government he desired. Pitts' fame was at its zenith, his genius universally acknowledged; while his honesty and patriotism made the executive unassailable, so long as it held together. In the time of George II., all jealousy had been repressed. Under the new aspect of events, discontents began to shew themselves. Legge, the chancellor of the exchequer, was no longer on cordial terms with Pitt. Many of Pitt's colleagues were envious of his popularity; others were angered by his imperious manner. In some cases there was dread and doubt as to the great expenditure which the country was being called upon to make; these views were represented by the duke of Bedford, the chancellor, lord Hardwicke, and George Grenville, Pitt's brother-in-law, the treasurer of the navy lord Temple, his other brother-in-law, acted with Pitt.

These differences were publicly known, and encouraged Bute, who was powerful owing to the influences which sustained him, to act with vigour. Legge was dismissed; he had incurred the enmity of Bute by refusing to give his aid to one of Bute's creatures at an election in Hampshire, and in giving up the seals of office he was treated with much discourtesy.

The time was now ripe for the Holderness intrigue to be consummated. In March, five months' after the date when the proceeding had been considered hazardous, Holderness resigned his office, receiving as a reward the reversion of the wardenship of the Cinque ports, held by an old and infirm incumbent, the salary of which was £4,000 a year. Bute became secretary of state. Other changes had previously been made: Barrington was appointed chancellor of the exchequer; Charles Townshend, secretary of war; sir Thomas Dashwood, treasurer of the chamber: both followers of Bute. Baron Henley, the lord keeper, became lord chancellor. Among other changes Bubb Dodington received the title of lord Melcombe. On the 8th of September the king was married, the coronation taking place on the 21st of the month.

I cannot see evidence that Pitt was desirous of prolonging the war from feelings of personal interest. What he did desire was, that a peace should be made which would prove truly permanent, by being free from the danger of future complications. He would not have allowed the French any fishing rights in Newfoundland: he saw the dangers which were to be apprehended from such a condition. His political experience had taught him the many questionable claims which had arisen from the mischievous clauses admitted at the Peace of Utrecht, and he had avowed, no such treaty should ever again be passed while he could oppose it. His own declaration is conclusive on this point. "I contended," he said, during the debate on the treaty," several times in vain for the whole exclusive fishery, but I was overruled, not by the foreign enemy but by another enemy." After a period of one hundred and twentyeight years the ancient dispute is reopened. A painful heritage 9th of February, 1762.—138.

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PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.

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of the incapable minister whose position had been obtained by the monarch's personal favour and who, if he foresaw, was also indifferent to the future evils his concession might call forth.

In the proposition for the cession of Canada Pitt added: " and its appurtenances," so no evasion of the meaning of the article could be based on want of completion of description. From the commencement he declared the terms on which Great Britain would make peace. There was no evasion and no intrigue to interfere with the negotiations. His course was direct and unswerving; his policy was the exaction of terms which he held to be indispensable to the greatness and security of Great Britain, and he declared that he would continue the war until he had obtained them.

De Choiseul was not averse to peace, but Madame de Pompadour was still desirous of pleasing "sa bonne amie," the empress-queen. There had been proposals for peace in 1759, and the French minister had written to Canada that it would be attained. The prospect of its acceptance had also paralyzed the British provinces: in expectation of its taking place, they delayed the enlistment of men, in the hope that the expense might be saved.

Early in 1761, de Choiseul induced Austria and Russia to join France in a declaration of their willingness to treat, and proposed a congress at Augsburg. De Choiseul, however, formed the opinion that matters would be greatly advanced by France and Great Britain first entering into negotiations for a separate treaty. With this view, Mr. Hans Stanley was sent to Paris by Pitt, and de Bussy arrived in London to represent France.

When de Choiseul wrote on the subject in March, he had offered to cede Cape Breton and Canada with other concessions in the West Indies and India. Each government was to retain the territory held in possession, in Europe on the 1st of May; in the West Indies and Africa on the 1st of July; in the East Indies on the 1st of September. Pitt contended that the principle of uti possidetis should be applied at the

signing of the articles. Both argued in favour of the principles from which advantage could be drawn. The operations of the war were in no way relaxed, and Pitt determined to attack the island of Belle-Isle off the coast of Brittany. The spot was of no value to Great Britain, and the one object was to be able to urge its value as an exchange, in the settlement of the conditions. An expedition consisting of 9,000 land troops with several ships of war appeared before the place on the 8th of April. It was not until the 7th of June that the fortress capitulated. This event was followed by the taking of the island of Dominica in the West Indies, and by the surrender of Pondicherry.

I cannot myself agree with those writers who conceive that the conquest of Belle-Isle had a favourable influence on the negotiations; the settlement of the conditions depended entirely on the strength with which they could be enforced. The loss of Belle-Isle powerfully affected France; it was the re-establishment of their ancient enemies on French territory, the renewal of the days when the English held France, which the people believed had forever passed away, when Calais was conquered by Guise in the time of the Tudor Bloody Mary. The capture of Belle-Isle awoke the whole national spirit. De Choiseul availed himself of the feeling, and he secretly urged cardinal La Roche-Amion to incite the parliament of Languedoc to offer a vessel of war to the king, as in the wars of the succession it had raised a regiment of dragoons.

The vote was unanimously carried. Throughout the whole country the cry was, that the marine should be re-established. Everywhere the example was followed and on all sides offers of ships of war were made. Sixteen vessels were promised from the several ports of France. These donations amounted in value to thirteen millions of livres. Great activity pervaded the sea ports which since 1759 had remained gloomy and silent, and in every direction along the coast, vessels were to be seen in course of construction, or under repair.

The negotiations, however, continued. From this date we The list is given by Henri Martin, XV., p. 581.