I remember, my lord, that you and I once studied together the History of
England, in Question and Answer. If your lordship recollects, the year
1746 began in the very height of the celebrated rebellion. The ministers
of the sovereign at this time, were, that mixed and plausible character,
Mr. Pelham, and that immortalized booby, the duke of Newcastle. These
gentlemen possessed their full proportion of that passion, so
universally incident to the human frame, the love of power. They had
formed such a connection with the monied interest of the kingdom, that
no administration could go on without them. Conscious to this
circumstance, they had no toleration for a rival, they could "bear no
brother near the throne." From this sentiment, they had driven that most
able minister I have mentioned, from the cabinet of his sovereign, in no
very justifiable manner, about twelve months before. The same jealousy
kept alive their suspicions: they knew the partiality of their master:
they imagined their antagonist still lurked behind the curtain. The
distresses of the kingdom were to them the ladder of ambition. This was
the language they held to their sovereign: "The enemy is already
advanced into the heart of your majesty's dominions. We know that you
cannot do without us. You must therefore listen with patience to what we
shall dictate. Drive from your presence for ever the wisest and the
ablest of all your counsellors. This is the only condition, upon which
we will continue to serve you in this perilous moment." Majesty, as it
was but natural, was disgusted with this language. The Pelhams resigned.
Lord Granville accepted the seals. And he held them I believe for
something more than a fortnight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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