Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular WarAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular War
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
When these arrangements became known, the Tory party grew dreadfully
exasperated. But not the Tories only--there were throngs of Whigs who
had battled zealously for the same object, and with the same hope
of personal benefit, and yet they were passed over, and Pulteney,
Carteret, and their immediate coterie had quietly taken care of
themselves, and thrown their coadjutors overboard. A meeting was
appointed between Pulteney and the rest already in office, and the Duke
of Argyll, Chesterfield, Cobham, Bathurst, and some others. The Prince
of Wales was present, and the different claims were discussed. Argyll
was satisfied by being made Master-General of the Ordnance, Colonel
of His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, Field-Marshal and
Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in South Britain. Chesterfield
got nothing, professing to wait to see a more thorough change of men
before he went amongst them; but Cobham was made a Field-Marshal,
and restored to the command of the Grenadier Guards, but he could
get nothing for his nephew, the fiery Oppositionist, Lyttelton. Lord
Harrington was made an Earl and President of the Council. But what
surprised the country most was that Pulteney, hitherto the head and
soul of the party, should have been content to sacrifice himself for
the sake of a title. He was made Earl of Bath and received a place in
the Cabinet; but by this change, although he seemed to have a brilliant
career before him, he forfeited the confidence of the country, which
had always looked up to him as the most determined and disinterested of
patriots. From this moment he sank into insignificance and contempt.
Some others of the old officials remained in as well as Newcastle. Sir
William Yonge and Pelham, brother of Newcastle, retained their posts,
Yonge as Secretary of War, and Pelham as Paymaster of the Forces.
The new Ministry were now to find that it was very difficult to
perpetuate principles and measures which they had for a quarter of
a century been condemning simply because they furnished weapons of
annoyance to the party then in power. The public, still smarting under
the ruinous mismanagement of the war, returned to the charge, by
demanding an inquiry into the conduct of Walpole, whom they accused of
their sufferings. These petitions were introduced and recommended by
what were called the Boy Patriots--Pitt, Lyttelton, and the rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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