Most serious of all was the attitude of Pitt. He was pressed to join the government; its policy was in many respects such as he could approve, and in other matters he could almost have made his own terms. Nevertheless he refused to take office and openly declared his lack of confidence in the ministers, though they tried to satisfy him in various ways, such as by obtaining a peerage for Pratt, who was created Baron Camden. Magnificent as he had shown himself as a dictator, he was unfitted by temperament to work with others, and his natural defects were aggravated by his constant attacks of gout. At the same time his present attitude was to a large extent also a matter of principle. He would willingly have taken office if he could have simply been the king's minister, unconnected, without belonging to any party. The Rockinghams, as they were called, were a party connexion, and under Rockingham's leadership would remain so, and their character was emphasised by the inclusion of Newcastle, the chief representative of a system which Pitt hated, government based on the influence of the whig houses and not on the good-will of the crown and the people. Pitt plainly declared that he would not sit at council with Newcastle. Nor would he take office under Rockingham. Without him the ministry had neither an original policy nor a chance of permanence. Called into existence by Cumberland, it leant on him for support; he was present at all cabinet meetings, and they were sometimes held at his house. His sudden death on October 31 was a severe shock to the stability of the government. Pitt would not advise the ministers. Grafton urged that he should again be invited to take office, but the king would not enter on a fresh negotiation with him, for he had refused his former overtures and held very different views from his regarding the American stamp act.