Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 2 (of 4)Walpole, Horace
History
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 2 (of 4)
Walpole, Horace
Great Britain -- History -- 1760-1789; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
The privy seal of Scotland thus wrenched from Mackenzie, was offered to
Lord Lorn:[144] he declining it, it was bestowed on his brother Lord
Frederick Campbell, who, with unparalleled ingratitude and indecency,
accepted it. He was nearly related to Mackenzie, had lived in the
strictest intimacy with him, and had received from Lord Bute a place
in Scotland of above 400_l._ a year for life, by a preference that had
made two considerable chiefs in that country the mortal enemies of the
Favourite. Thurlow,[145] an able lawyer, was named secretary to Lord
Weymouth; and Lord Warkworth, the Earl of Northumberland’s son, was
set aside from being Master of the Horse to the Queen, to which he was
destined by the Court, in the room of Lord Weymouth.
To complete their vengeance even on inferior offenders, the Ministers
caused the House of Lords to inflict severe penalties on several
printers, and to reprimand Justice Fielding, the blind, but only useful
magistrate, for having been negligent during the late riots. Yet as
so much persecution and arrogance could not but excite much ill-will
and mutual hostilities, it now came out that, before the loss of
their bill, the weavers, suspecting that Lord Hilsborough was against
them, had waited on him to implore his protection. To convince them
he was not their enemy, he showed them a letter from Lord Halifax, in
which the latter had begged him not to oppose the bill, Lord Halifax
having an estate in Spitalfields, which would be greatly benefited
by the success of the bill. To this the weavers had trusted; and the
disappointment had blown up their fury. How Lord Halifax came not to
support his own interest, or how it was compensated to him, did not
appear. But with this triumph over all their foes, the Ministers put
an end to the session by proroguing the Parliament, May 25th. Ten days
more crowded with events scarce ever passed; for the Regency-bill was
finished on the 14th, and between that and the 25th had happened the
riot, the King’s declaration of his intention to dismiss the Ministers,
the several journeys to Hayes, the reconciliation of Lord Temple and
Grenville, the various attempts to form another Administration, the
recall of the Ministers, and the several instances of their revenge
and insolence. The King was left a prisoner to the Cabal, Lord Bute
punished by the very instruments of all his bad acts, and Lord Holland
disgraced by his once dear allies, the Bedfords and Rigby. The only
joy the nation could feel was in seeing such poetic justice, for if
they pitied not the sufferers, they could but abhor the executioners.
If Lord Bute had advised the Peace, the Duke of Bedford had negotiated
it. If General Warrants were employed for his service, Lord Halifax
had issued them. If he had had any hand in the dismission of officers,
Grenville had executed it. And if he had authorized the severe
proscription of opponents, Lord Holland had marked the victims. Ampler
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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