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
The violent discontent with the conduct of Bute and his Ministry
gave considerable strength to the Opposition, at the head of which
now stood Pitt, supported by Lord Temple and the Duke of Newcastle.
George Grenville, not satisfied with the terms of the peace, resigned
the post of Secretary to Halifax, and took his new one at the head
of the Admiralty; and Henry Fox, Paymaster of the Forces, became the
leader of the Commons. The Duke of Devonshire and the Marquis of
Rockingham also resigned their places in the royal household; and the
king, in his vexation, striking Devonshire's name out of the list of
Privy Councillors, the Duke's kinsmen, Lords George Cavendish and
Bessborough, also resigned.
Such was the formidable opposition with which Parliament came to the
consideration of this peace. It met on the 25th of November, and the
tone of the public out of doors was then seen. The king, as he went
to the House of Lords, was very coolly received by the crowds in the
streets, and Bute was saluted with hisses, groans, and the flinging
of mud and stones. On the 19th of December he moved in the Lords an
address in approbation of the terms of the peace. Lord Hardwicke
opposed the motion with great warmth and ability, but there was no
division. Very different was the reception of a similar address in
the Commons the same day, moved by Fox. There Pitt, who was suffering
with the gout, denounced the whole treaty, as shamefully sacrificing
the honour and interests of the country. When he rose he was obliged
to be supported by two of his friends, and was at length compelled to
beg to be allowed to address the House sitting. He yet made a vehement
speech of three hours and a half against the conditions accepted. The
Ministry, however, had a large majority, three hundred and nineteen
voting for them against sixty-five. With this brief triumph of Bute's
unpopular party closed the year 1762.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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