The Third George: (Georgian Series) (15 page)

The King received his minister with the respect which he had always accorded to him. Pitt bowed low; they exchanged a few courteous pleasantries and then the King broached the subject,
to discuss which he had sent for his minister.

‘I have been considering the French offer of a negotiated peace,’ said the King. ‘It would seem that the country is growing tired of war and some of my ministers are of the opinion that now is the time to let counsels take the place of arms.’

‘Your Majesty has considered that the nation has never known trade as it does now?’

‘I know,’ said the King firmly, ‘that many of my ministers feel the burden of taxation on certain members of the community to be too great.’

‘Your Majesty will doubtless explain to them that all progress must be paid for.’

‘We have had great benefits and I am the first to admit this. We have done well and now perhaps is the time to call a halt.’

‘Your Majesty can we be sure that the French are sincere?’

‘We can attempt to find out.’

‘It is my belief that if we are to have peace with France, Sire, it is not for us to negotiate terms but to dictate them, and they should be in our favour.’

‘They would yield all North America and a large share of their Indian interests; and all they ask is possession of Minorca. This could be called terms decidedly in our favour.’

Pitt was momentarily silent. The war was his war. He had conceived it; he had carried it through; and he saw it as the answer to England’s problems. When he had taken charge, England had been a little island off the coast of Europe with a population of only seven million and there were twenty-seven million Frenchmen just across the Channel. British stock was low; it was linked with that of Hanover through its kings; Pitt had believed that if some drastic action were not promptly taken the country would sink to such insignificance that it could scarcely have been called a country. It might even have been a dependency of France. Then he had outlined his plans to the late King; he had been given power, and what had happened? He had turned the sphere of influence from Europe, where he knew no great gains could ever be firmly consolidated and had cast his eyes on wider horizons. He had dreamed of an Empire and had created one. In a few short years England had risen from an inconsiderable little kingdom to the greatest power in the world. The people in the streets knew this. They were singing
Rule Britannia
and
Hearts of Oak
; they walked with pride and dignity; and commerce was thriving in the City of London. The people of London had no doubt who had brought this about. It was Pitt who had wiped out nepotism, who had shown the King that armies could not be led by princes, simply because they were his sons. Pitt had carved out an Empire and the country was reaping the benefits of prosperity.

No one was more aware of this than Pitt.

He said slowly: ‘I had been considering the necessity of declaring war on Spain.’

The King looked startled.

‘I have just learned that France and Spain are preparing to make a secret treaty.’

‘For what reason?’ demanded the King.

‘Your Majesty will remember the strong family connection between the two houses. Two Bourbon kings – a kind of family compact. And the reason? Because Spain wishes to attack Portugal, who has always been an ally of ours. I see Your Majesty feels as I do. A hasty peace could be a disaster to England … particularly when we are in such a masterly position. I could never persuade my government to make peace in such a way that I know some of Your Majesty’s ministers are clamouring for.’

Pitt’s manner suggested that the matter was closed; and the King was still too inexperienced, too in awe of this man to contradict him.

*

When Pitt called a Cabinet meeting and put forward his proposals for war on Spain, he was met by a chorus of disapproval. Far from declaring war on Spain the cabinet wanted peace with France.

Pitt pointed out the disadvantages of negotiating peace. England was rapidly rising; she was the greatest power; there was no need to consider peace at this juncture. It was the French who earnestly needed it. To agree to sit down and arrange peace terms was to give up a game which they were winning. He would only agree to a peace which brought about the utter humiliation of France; and this they could do by remaining in the field a little longer. But to agree to work out a peace and give concessions on both sides – which such an arrangement would inevitably involve – was throwing away a hard-won advantage.

Lord Bute spoke against him; and everyone knew that Bute had the King behind him.

‘I suggest that we immediately withdraw our ambassador from Madrid,’ insisted Pitt.

Fox rose to express an adverse opinion and for some minutes these two formidable adversaries faced each other; and to his shocked amazement Pitt discovered that Fox had many supporters. Led by Fox, George Grenville (one of Pitt’s own brothers-in-law), Lord Hardwicke, the Duke of Bedford and Bute, his critics stood against him. To his dismay he found that only his two other brothers-in-law, Richard Lord Temple and James Grenville stood with him; the cabinet had defeated the great Pitt. That had seemed inconceivable and in this he was aware of the hand of Bute.

Pitt could see no alternative but resignation.

*

In the streets it was whispered with awe: ‘Pitt has resigned.’ The people of the capital were incensed. Pitt was their hero. They remembered the days when trade had been poor, when there had been no work for thousands. Pitt had made London one of the great ports of the world. And Pitt had been turned out!

It was not to be endured.

Who had turned him out, they wanted to know? It was the Scotsman. They did not want Scotsmen in England. Let them go back where they belonged, which was beyond the Border. They wanted Englishmen who knew what was best for England; they wanted Mr Pitt, the Great Commoner. They were proud of Mr Pitt. He was no duke nor earl; he did not seek honours for himself; he sought trade and prosperity for England. And the Scotsman and his mistress had turned out Pitt.

They were sure it was the Scotsman who was responsible for this. There had been jokes about the Scotsman and the Princess Dowager for years. These intensified; they grew a little more lewd, a little more cruel.

Lord Bute, riding through the streets, was recognized and mud was thrown at his carriage.

‘Go back where you belong. And take the lady with you. We can do without you both.’

Bute was shocked.

‘We don’t want Scotch coal burned in the King’s chamber. We don’t want Newcastle coal either. We want Pitt coal.’

It was a phrase which had come into being a few months ago and appealed to the people. They wanted Pitt coal and were going to have it.

Bute went to the King at the earliest opportunity and said that they must find some means of bringing Pitt back into the Government. The people wanted it. They were getting restive and he felt it would be unwise to go so strongly against their wishes.

‘Whatever a new ministry did would be abused by the people,’ he told the King. ‘They are determined to have Pitt back and I think we should recall him.’

The King was in complete agreement, for he too deplored the resignation of Pitt.

‘It was not what we intended,’ said Bute, ‘but the man is arrogant; he could not allow anything but his own desires. Therefore he thinks to discountenance us by resigning.’

‘Which,’ pointed out George, ‘he has done.’

‘There is only one thing left to us,’ added Bute. ‘If Your Majesty summoned Pitt we might come to a compromise. He could state his terms for rejoining the cabinet and I have no doubt that he is as eager to come back as we are to have him.’

*

Pitt smiled complacently when the summons came. He knew full well that they couldn’t do without him. As his carriage rode through the streets the people cheered him; they had quickly discovered that he was on his way to see the King and guessed the reason why.

‘They can’t do without Pitt,’ was the comment.

So it was with the utmost confidence that Pitt entered the King’s presence. George was a young man, in great need of guidance; but one of his attractive qualities the minister decided, was his eagerness to do his duty. If he could be weaned from Bute’s influence there would be little trouble from him.

Bute! He had been thinking of him. How was he going to break the influence of years? Bute had been George’s constant companion since the King was a child. Even in the days when Frederick, Prince of Wales, was alive, Bute had been almost a member of the household, behaving like a favoured uncle and
later a father figure. Something would have to be done about Bute.

He had made up his mind. Only if he could arrange for Bute to serve under him, could he put his reins on that ambitious man.

He gave the King that deep respect which he never failed to show in the presence of royalty and offered his terms. He would form a new cabinet; in it Lord Bute should have a place, on condition that he agreed to give unqualified support to Pitt.

When George discussed this with Lord Bute they realized what Pitt meant. The arrangement would completely break Bute’s power. He would have to be Pitt’s lieutenant; in fact it would sweep away everything Bute had been working for over many years.

It was an impossible condition, Bute told the King, and Pitt must be asked to propose some other alternative.

Pitt’s reply was for a cabinet made up of his friends. He would be Secretary of State, with Lord Temple First Lord of the Treasury; and no one who did not support his policies should have a place in his cabinet.

Bute, with the Princess Dowager, came to the King’s apartments to discuss these developments. Bute derisively laughed. ‘He’ll be asking for the Crown next. Who ever heard of such a proposition! No one to have any power unless he agrees to submit to Mr Pitt! The man’s gout seems to have gone to his head and swollen it out of all proportion – though God knows it was big enough before.’

‘You’ll never be King, George,’ pointed out his mother, ‘while Pitt rules England.’

George was in complete agreement with his mother and Bute. Nor was he inclined to hide his anger from Pitt.

‘You want to reduce me to these terms,’ he wrote, ‘by disavowing my own act. No, Mr Pitt, before I submit to these conditions I will first put the crown on your head and submit my neck to the axe.’

‘But,’ George wanted to know when this reply had been despatched, ‘where do we go from here? Could you form a ministry?’

Lord Bute was sure that he could; but he was remembering with some apprehension that mud had been thrown at his
coach and that there were shouts of adulation every time Pitt appeared in the streets of London.

‘The people will be against us because Pitt is not with us,’ he complained. ‘They see that fellow as a sort of God.’

He did not say what their opinion of him was, but he knew well enough. He was aware that George shuddered to hear the comments which were made in the streets about his mother and her lover, and Bute knew George well enough to fear that such constant reminders might affect his attitude towards them both since George was at heart a prude, and his great scheme was to bring morality back to England. They must be very careful.

‘Our best plan,’ suggested Bute, ‘would be to offer Pitt some recompense … the greater the better. It would have to be something so tempting that he could not refuse it. Then when he accepted we should make the people see that it was a form of bribe. This should reduce his popularity considerably.’

Both the Princess Dowager and the King saw the wisdom of this; and they set about planning what they would offer him.

‘The obvious post that comes to mind is a governor-generalship of Canada,’ said Bute. ‘That would ensure his being three thousand miles away from England. What could be more desirable?’

‘You think he would take it?’

‘We could try. We could offer him £5000 a year.’

‘He has never been a man to take much account of money.’

‘He has a special feeling for Canada. He regards it as his conquest. There is a possibility that he will accept; and once he has, we can set it about that Mr Pitt has accepted Canada – in other words, deserted England for the sake of a new country.’

It was, agreed George, an excellent idea, and forthwith a letter was drafted to Mr Pitt. Knowing his interest in the dominion of Canada which had in fact been his conquest, the King had the greatest pleasure in offering Mr Pitt the Governor-Generalship with an income of £5000 a year.

Pitt’s answer to this was prompt and to the point. Even if he were allowed to retain his seat in the House of Commons, he would still reject the project because he intended to stay in England where his heart was.

The next offer was of the Duchy of Lancaster – an exceedingly luscious plum; since all he would have to do was accept revenues from the Crown.

But Mr Pitt was too wily to fall into this trap.

Then came the final offer. His wife should become a peeress – Baroness of Chatham; and he himself should have a pension of £3000 a year for three lives, which meant that on his death his wife would have it, then his son, and if his wife died before he died, it would go to his grandson.

The previous offers had been rejected with scorn; but over this last Pitt hesitated.

When he had told his wife of the last offer he had seen a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. So Hester would like to be Baroness Chatham! He was deeply in love with Hester and had been for some time before they married. She was one of the Grenvilles – a girl surrounded by brothers, and in the days before his marriage Pitt had often been a guest at Wootton Hall where he had fascinated not only Hester but her brothers with his eloquence and that undeniable air of greatness; he had married Hester seven years ago and they had five children – three boys and two girls – the youngest, James, being only a few months old. Pitt was devoted to his family. They and his career were all that mattered to him; Hester mattered in particular.

She had betrayed to him by a look that she would enjoy possessing the title; and it was in his power to give it to her. He knew too that she liked the idea of the pension. £3000 a year – and not only for him. They were not poor by any means. Hester had brought a large dowry; he had a little from his family; and the Duchess of Marlborough in her eccentric way had left him £10,000 for, she had written, his noble defence for the support of the laws of England. Yet with this new offer there came no conditions. He could accept it and relinquish nothing. A temporary absence from the centre of the stage might even be desirable, for he suffered excruciatingly from the gout.