The Third George

Conflict with the Princess Dowager

Now began the happiest weeks of Charlotte's life. George found her amicable, eager to learn; and the fact that she could speak only German and French, which cut her off from society considerably, made her turn to him for guidance and protection. Apart from her appearance she was all that he asked of a wife; and as he was a man who could only be at peace if he believed he was doing what was right, he began to enjoy his marriage. There were whole days when he did not give Sarah a thought; and even when he caught a glimpse of a Quaker's habit in the streets he would assure himself that together he and Charlotte would be such an example to all married people throughout the land that youthful indiscretions would count as nothing.

He had suppressed his own wishes; he had married Charlotte for the good of the country; and it was his duty to make that for her good and his own. He was physically contented; he was not a sensual man, although he had a fondness for women and could always be deeply affected by feminine charms. It gave him pleasure to contemplate these and to know that a less respectable man in his position would have nourished that emotion they aroused. Not so, George. He was going to be a faithful husband and introduce a new respectability into the Court and country.

So he devoted himself to Charlotte, who congratulated herself that the most fortunate aspect of her marriage was her husband's determination to cherish her. He quickly discovered her love of music and told her that they must have musical evenings during which she could display her skill at the harpsichord and hear some of the musicians of the Court. She would love the Opera he was sure, and within a few days of the coronation he had taken her to hear one. If was a state occasion; the people were still affectionate towards their King and Queen and when they entered the royal box they received a loyal ovation.

Later, he told her, when she had learned English he would take her to the play. She would enjoy the play, he was sure; but he saw no reason why she should not see the Beggar's Opera which had just been revived. He told her the story of the highwayman and London low life to which she listened avidly, not understanding it completely, for London low life was something quite different from anything she had ever imagined.

"In my grandfather's day it was considered treasonable," he told her.

She could not understand how the antics of criminals and gaol birds could affect the Crown.

"Oh, some of the characters were meant to be caricatures of the King's ministers. But that is all different now. The allusions have no point. And we are not afraid of a little ridicule.”

He spoke almost complacently; the cheers of the people were still ringing in his ears and he believed everything was going to be so different under his reign. He drove with her a little way out into the country. She was enchanted with her new land which was so beautiful at this time of year when the leaves were russet and gold and the grass still green.

"It would be pleasant," said George, 'if we had a house where we could live apart from the Court...

well, not entirely so, but a place where we could be free from continual ceremony. I think I will buy you a house.”

"A house for me," cried Charlotte, enchanted.

"Which," George reminded her, 'you will invite me to share with you.”

They talked of houses. "I never liked Hampton Court," he told her in a rush of confidence. "My grandfather once struck me there ... and I always remember it.”

"Struck you. He must have been a disagreeable old man.”

"He was. I don't think he meant me to take it so seriously. He had a very quick temper and I suppose he thought me particularly stupid. In any case he struck me, and I have never liked the place since.”

"Then I shall not like it either," declared Charlotte.

"But I never liked it even before that incident," went on the King.

"It's too flat. I asked Capability Brown to do something about the gardens and he refused me. He said there was nothing to do there and he declined out of respect for himself and his profession.”

"Capability." she said. "It is an odd name.”

"His name is Lancelot. But he is called Capability because, when shown the garden, if he wishes to work on it he remarks; "This has great capabilities." He is a despot about gardens ... but a genius; and it is said that there is no gardener in the world to compare with him. He can transform a place.”

"And he refused to touch Hampton?”

"He refused to touch Hampton," repeated George with satisfaction.

"I want you to come to see Wanstead House which is on the market.”

How she enjoyed these excursions with the King. He brought to them a cosy intimacy. They might have been a nobleman and his wife with no state duties, choosing their first home together.

Wanstead House was enchanting.

"One of the finest houses in the country," said George. "If you had stayed here on your way to St.

James's, you would have thought the Palace a mean place in comparison.”

"It is a little farther in the country than we hoped," suggested Charlotte. "It is beautiful, I admit. I have never seen a house which delighted me more; but if we lived here we should not be able to visit it often.”

George nodded. Charlotte was proving herself to be a practical young woman.

"There would be a journey through the city," he said. "Oh, yes, you are right. It is too far from St.

James's. We should never be able to retreat without a fuss. I suggest that we go back and take a look at Sir John Sheffield's house. He wants 21,000 pounds for it.”

Charlotte was delighted when she saw Buckingham House. She declared that for position it was exactly right, being so near St. James's. They both decided it would suit them and went through the vast house talking excitedly in German about what alterations they would have made. The King took the matter of Buckingham House up with his ministers and it was finally decided that if the King would give up Somerset House, which would be used for public benefit, the country would settle Buckingham House on the Queen.

This seemed a reasonable and very pleasant arrangement, and Charlotte and George gave themselves up to the happy occupation of planning a house. Very shortly reconstruction was in progress and the house became known as the Queen's House. Happiness had its effect on Charlotte's appearance.

One of the Court wits remarked: "The bloom of her ugliness is wearing off.”

Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg grew more important every day in her own opinion. It was inconceivable, she reasoned, that these English women who surrounded her mistress should have more standing than she had. She was German; she had known her mistress when she was merely the insignificant sister of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; therefore she was a specially privileged person. Albert? He was merely the hairdresser a lower servant. Haggerdorn – a woman without spirit, meant to serve such as Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg.

She had inaugurated a new method of dressing the Queen. As it was beneath her dignity to take active part in the operation, she would direct it. She attempted to make this clear to the English women by signs and grimaces which they pretended not to understand. Then she approached Charlotte and asked her to explain to the ladies that as Her Majesty's personal attendant she was in authority over them.

In her happy frame of mind Charlotte wanted to please everyone and told the English, in French, that in future Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg would direct them. Elizabeth Chudleigh listened with outward decorum, but immediately talked over the matter with the others.

"You can see very well what is going to happen," she declared. "Everything in this place will become German. It is always the same with these Germans. They want to impose their dullness on everyone else. I shall be looking like a hausfrau very soon and so will the rest of you, and there will be no entertainment but music ... music ... music. And worse still, no one will be able to approach the Queen except through Schwellenburg.”

"The Queen seems to want to give the loathsome creature a special place in her household, so what can we do about it?" asked the Duchess of Ancaster.

"Plenty," reported Elizabeth Chudleigh; and proceeded to act. Under her devious and expert direction the knowledge soon reached the ears of the Princess Dowager that Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg had a great influence with the Queen, that she gave her orders in the Queen's apartment and that the English maids of honour were in revolt.

Miss Chudleigh was summoned to the Princess's apartment and gave her opinion that Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg was an ambitious woman and she was certain that in her odious German, in which she chattered volubly, she was making all sorts of plans to run the Court in accordance with her German ideas. One could trust Miss Chudleigh to scent trouble even if one could trust her in no other way; and the Princess Dowager graciously thanked her, implying she would be grateful for more news, that it would be well for Miss Chudleigh to work faiths fully for her since her position at Court was a somewhat precarious one, owing to her rather dubious relationship with the Duke of Kingston. To which implication Miss Chudleigh responded with equal grace and innuendo. She was in possession of some secrets concerning the King and a certain Quaker lady; and she did having helped to arrange that affair know a little more about it than most; and she was sure that in the hands of the scribblers and lampoonists it would make a story that would not amuse but shock the people of England; but she was keeping quiet because, just as the Princess Dowager wished to please her, so did she wish to retain the esteem of the Princess Dowager.

The Princess Dowager inclined her head in acknowledgement of a delicate situation. Elizabeth Chudleigh's place was safe at Court however disreputably she behaved; though Elizabeth Chudleigh would do well to remember that there were some limits beyond which a Princess would not go even to avoid involving her son in a hideous scandal. The situation was clearly understood between them; and as in moments of uncertainty, as the Princess Dowager had always done, she sent for Lord Bute.

He came quickly. She looked at him anxiously, wondering if he were changing. Was he a little less devoted? Did he spend more time with the King than with her? Naturally he must keep his eyes on the King for all their sakes, but was he slightly less attentive to her than in the past? And had the change come about since George's elevation to the throne?

As he bent and kissed her she felt it was unworthy of her to entertain such thoughts for a moment.

She was not a promiscuous woman; she did not seek a host of lovers; the liaison between herself and Lord Bute was as a marriage, lacking nothing but the benefit of clergy. She could trust him and he could trust her. Their goal was the same and they would march together towards it.

"Disturbing news, dearest, from the Chudleigh woman.”

"Trust her to scent trouble.”

"She has her uses ... if one can trust her.”

"Ah, if one can trust her! What's the trouble now?”

"Schwellenburg; she is giving herself airs, making trouble with the other women and in fact setting herself up as a little queen. You know what that can mean. Very soon she will be selling honours; she will be making Charlotte the centre of a coterie of power. You know the signs.”

"I know them full well. With the shining example of Sarah Churchill not far behind us we have good reason to be suspicious of these ambitious women near a queen. But with this one the answer should be simple.”

"What do you have in mind?”

"Send her packing.”

The Princess Dowager laughed. "Trust you to find the solution. Why didn't I think of it?”

"Because you thought to please me by letting me suggest it." She gave him a tender look.

"We had better go to see George about it, and suggest it would be better if Schwellenburg left.”

"We'll ask him to come here.”

"My dear! Sometimes I think you forget he is the King." He turned to her and there was a fierceness in his look which, while it alarmed her slightly, delighted her.

"He is still our George. Nothing can alter that. We will ask him to come here.”

Yes, she thought as he ordered a page to go to the King and request his presence in his mother's apartment, her dear Lord Bute had become more sure of himself since the King's accession.

"I do not think," said George, 'that Charlotte will care to relinquish that woman. She came from Germany with her. It is natural that she should want to keep her.”

"It is a situation all Princesses have to face," his mother pointed out. "We come with our attendants and after a while must do without them. Moreover, Schwellenburg is making trouble with the other women.”

"It is better to have a peaceful atmosphere in the Queen's apartments," said Bute softly. "It is better for the Queen.”

"Yes, I suppose so," sighed George. "But I don't care to ask Charlotte to give up this woman.”

"Your Majesty need not distress yourself on that score," said Bute promptly. "What are your subjects for but to do that work which is distasteful to Your Majesty?”

He smiled at the Princess Dowager as though to say: See how easily our battles are won?

**** Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg was incensed. "But, Madam, this is monstrous. This cannot be.

They will send me away. Who will care for you? I... only I... know how to do that! I came with you from Germany...”

Charlotte said: "This is nonsense. Who says you are to go?”

"It is orders. They come from the King. I am to go, to leave the Palace within a few days. My transport is provided. Back to Mecklenburg, they say. Oh, no, no, it is impossible.”

Charlotte was aghast. Not so much at the prospect of losing Schwellenburg, whose overbearing ways were often hard to bear, but that her dismissal should have been decided on without reference to herself. She went to the King and asked him what this meant; and what was her position here in England if she could not decide who should be her own servants.

George looked embarrassed. "It is the custom," he explained, 'for foreign servants to go back to their homes after a certain period. They come, you see, to help you settle in. Well, now I should say you had settled in, wouldn't you?”

"I do not understand this. I do not wish Schwellenburg to go ... unless I myself dismiss her. Tell me this, pray. Was it your mother who asked you to order this ?”

George admitted that this was so.

"Then will you ask her to come here so that I can hear the reasons from her lips.”

"You make too much of this, Charlotte. You shall have other women to replace her... women who understand our ways.”

"All the same I wish to speak to the Princess Dowager in your presence.”

George looked uneasy. He hoped Charlotte was not going to turn into a virago, just as he had been congratulating himself that he had acquired a pleasant, docile wife. But he wanted to please her; and secretly he could see her point. After all, as Queen she should be allowed to choose her servants surely.

The Princess Dowager came with Lord Bute at the King's summons, and when they saw Charlotte's distress they knew the reason for it.

"Her Majesty is concerned," the King explained, 'that you should have asked for the dismissal of Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg.”

"I know exactly how you feel, my dear," said the Princess Dowager fixing her cold eyes on the Queen. "Did I not suffer in exactly the same way when I first came to this country? Of course I quickly began to realize that those who had lived here longer than I knew best...”

"I cannot see what harm Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg is doing here.”

The Princess looked pained. The Queen had no manners; she had actually interrupted her. No doubt the little upstart was suffering from conceit. Where had she come from? Some little Dukedom that no one had ever heard of! When it had been known that the English ambassadors were going there, that wit Horace Walpole had said, "Let us hope they will be able to find it!" But of course these were the sort of people who gave themselves airs. The Princess Augusta did not look too searchingly into her own origins, but at least she had been absolutely docile all through her married life. And if an ambitious woman should not have a few political ambitions when she was free to do so, when could she ever display her talents? If this little Madam was the Queen she herself was the King's mother; and but for the death of her husband she herself would have been queen. No, little Charlotte must be promptly put in her place which was, queen or not, considerably lower than that of the King's mother.

"Then my dear, you must try to understand. That woman is overbearing. She is causing trouble among your attendants. It is a common enough situation and she must go.”

The young woman who had dared write a letter to Frederick the Great came to life at such an ultimatum. She herself was not so very fond of Schwellenburg that she would be heartbroken to lose her. Who could be as fond as that of Schwellenburg? But she would have to find someone to take her place. Haggerdorn was too meek; and there must be someone with whom she could speak her native tongue. No, she was not going to be robbed of Schwellenburg as easily as that if only to show her mother-in-law that she would not be treated in such an undignified manner.

"I do not wish her to go. She is useful to me. Until I learn to speak English I must have someone who speaks German with me. You cannot imagine how difficult it would be.”

"I cannot imagine," cried the Princess Dowager. "My dear Charlotte, this happened to me, but I had the good sense to accept it as the natural course of events.”

This conversation had taken place in German which George understood better than Lord Bute; but it was obvious to the latter that the tempers of both ladies were rapidly rising.

Then Charlotte went to the King and lifting her eyes appealingly to him said: "I ask this favour.

Allow me to keep Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg.”

George was in a dilemma. He did not wish to displease his mother; yet he did not see how he could refuse such a simple I request from his bride. In fact he was on her side. He could not I see why the tiresome Schwellenburg should not receive a warning that she must change her attitude and then all would be well. It was the solution. He smiled delightedly and his smile included Lord Bute who, he was sure, with masculine perspicacity, would be on his side. This was a quarrel between two women; and he felt as a husband he must support his wife, although it would be going against his mother.

He wavered for a moment and the Princess Dowager was about to speak when he said: "Mademoiselle von Schwellenburg shall stay and I know that the Queen will warn her.”

"But..." began the Princess.

"I will warn her," said Charlotte quickly.

"Yes ... yes ..." went on the King. "You must tell her that if she does not behave er...

becomingly ... she will have to go.”

"This will not do," began the Princess Dowager, but Lord Bute was flashing a warning at her.

The King spoke with dignity. "But Your Highness must understand that I have said it shall be so.”

He looked at the clock. "And now I think our attendants are waiting to assist at our dressing.”

It was dismissal. Even the Princess Dowager had to accept it. Lord Bute, in recognition of the King's order, gave his arm to the Princess Dowager and there was nothing they could do but retire.

"Can you believe it!" cried the Princess when they were alone in her apartments. "What can have happened to George?”

"My dearest, you are always telling him that he must be a king. At last he has taken the admonition to heart and become one.”

"You mean he is going to begin setting himself up against us?”

"I saw that in his face today, which tells me that he wishes it known to us that in future if there is a difference of opinion between us, he will make the decision.”

"That gives me great cause for alarm.”

"It is a change, of course; and one of which we must be wary. We must, however, make sure that in future we all agree.”

"But if he is going to imagine that he is the King and his word is law ...”

"The last king believed all that, yet I have heard it said that it was really Queen Caroline who ruled.”

"It was true.”

"Yet George II thought he did. Why should George III be denied such a pleasant delusion?”

"You are so clever.”

"We must be, my dearest, and we must not have any repetition of that Schwellenburg scene.”

"But I have determined that the woman shall go.”

"Your Highness must forget that determination. The woman is of no importance.”

"But she is going to guide Charlotte...”

"My dear, we must see that Charlotte is not important either.”

"The Queen!”

"Yes, the Queen. She has been brought over here to fill the royal nurseries. If she does that she will be well occupied. The King does not care for women's interference. He has said so often enough to me. We will foster that and in the meantime keep our eyes on Charlotte.”

The Princess nodded. "You go on influencing the King, my love; and leave Charlotte to me.”

**** The Princess Dowager had presented the Queen with several new women.

"Because, my dear Charlotte, you set such store on having Germans about you, I am sending you Miss Pascal. She came from Germany and has served me well. I give her to you.”

Charlotte, flushed with victory over the retention of Schwellenburg, accepted gracefully. Then there was Miss Laverock and Miss Vernon.

"All excellent women," declared the Princess Dowager. And she believed that they and Miss Chudleigh would do very good service in the Queen's household for the Princess Dowager, of course; for the chief duty of these women, while they went about the tasks allotted to them no doubt by the dominating Schwellenburg, was to spy for the Princess and report to her all that Queen Charlotte did and said.

Lord Bute as always was right. There should be no more disagreements with the King. And if the Princess and Lord Bute knew exactly what was happening in the Queen's private apartments they would be able to shape their policy so much more easily; and at the same time make sure that the upstart little Queen should be nothing but the mother of the new royal family. The Great Commoner The Dowager Princess Augusta had been right when the thought had occurred to her that Lord Bute was more interested in the King than in herself. She had always regarded him as a husband; and it seemed natural that he should be absorbed, almost completely absorbed, in the welfare of her son, for she was sure that the family spirit had so engulfed Lord Bute that he thought of George as his son. Everything he did for George was for George's good and as he had pointed out to her, what was for George's good was for theirs; for their one aim was to see George reigning over his kingdom, happy and secure.

He had talked to her at length about the monarchy, and they were in complete agreement. As Lord Bute saw it, a king should be the supreme ruler. This had been the case in the past. Charles II had had great power. And what a statesman he had proved himself to be, conducting secret policies with the French behind his government's back and, Lord Bute was quick to point out, to the great advantage not only himself but his country. But then Charles was a Stuart as Lord Bute himself was, and although he could not claim direct connection, the name being the same, the link must be there. Lord Bute would like to see George absolute monarch.

"But there is the Constitution," the Princess had pointed out.

"Made for William the Dutchman. Naturally, the people wanted it then. The man was a foreigner; and they had just turned out James II, who lacked the intelligence of his brother. And after that there was Anne, who was a woman, and then they looked to the House of Hanover. Neither of the two previous Georges cared about England, and the English sensed that. But now it is changed.

Our George is an Englishman born and bred in England. It is time this country returned to true kingship.”

"And the Government?”

"Ah, my love has put her finger on the trouble. While we have Mr. Pitt at the head of affairs this country will be ruled by its government and not by its king.”

"And what do you propose, my love?”

"To rid ourselves of Mr. Pitt.”

"The people's idol?”

"The people quickly forget their idols.”

"And you think Mr. Pitt will agree to retire?”

"Mr. Pitt, my dearest, must be brought to such a pass that he can do nothing else but retire.”

"It will need very careful handling.”

Lord Bute smiled at her. "Shall we call on His Majesty.”

The Princess nodded, and rising, slipped her arm through that of the lover. Both the Princess and Lord Bute were aware of the King's new determination when they found him at his desk studying state papers. He greeted them warmly, embracing them both.

"Your Majesty will forgive this intrusion on your time," murmured Lord Bute.

"My dear friend, I am always happy to see you.”

"And your mother, I trust?" asked the Princess.

"My dearest mother, you know it.”

"The Princess and I have been talking of the war," said Bute.

George frowned. He hated wars. Killing! he thought. Men who are strong one moment and killed or even worse, maimed the next. A terrible price to pay for power. Yet, Mr. Pitt had assured him that it was necessary for the welfare of the people.

"We were saying," added his mother, "What a blessing it would be if there could be an end to all this bloodshed.”

"I am in absolute agreement with you.”

"I fear," said Bute sadly, 'that Mr. Pitt has other ideas.”

"Mr. Pitt is of course a great statesman," said the King. "I hear that he is known throughout the country and abroad as the greatest Englishman.”

"Yes. The Great Commoner," laughed Bute. "I admit that at one time he did good work for the country, as Your Majesty and I have often agreed. Success goes to a man's head. It was the same with the Duke of Marlborough. Resounding victories throughout Europe. Blenheim, Oudenarde, Malplaquet. Wonderful, Wonderful! And all adding greatly to the glory of England and the Duke.

And Pitt? Victories in North America and India ... an Empire no less. But the trouble with these heroes is that they do not know when to stop.”

"You mean," said George, 'that first they fight for the glory of England and then for their own.”

"Your Majesty has a pretty turn of wit. Yes, that is what I mean.”

"And you think that the war is no longer necessary?”

"I think Mr. Pitt should be ordered to bring his war to an end.”

The Princess gasped. Was dear Lord Bute a little too blunt? Dare one attack the Great Commoner in such terms? What if it were passed on to the man himself? Would he turn and attempt to flick Lord Bute from his path as he might a fly? Oh, but Lord Bute was no lightweight to be flicked aside. Might it not be Pitt himself who would come off worst from such an encounter? Still, it was against their policy to emerge too far out into the open.

George was astonished at such comment on the great Mr. Pitt, for he himself, the King no less, was overwhelmed in the presence of the Great Commoner who, although he always showed the utmost respect for the Crown, in fact he was apt to grovel before royalty, always conveyed the impression that he was the first minister and real leader of the country's policy, in other words the ruler, not King George.

"I think," went on Bute, 'that Your Majesty should study the possibilities of an early peace. The French are eager for it, and I am sure Your Majesty will agree with me that it could be brought about without any loss of face.”

"I should like to see an end to the war," the King agreed. "The thought of all the bloodshed appals me.”

"I knew that Your Majesty, Her Highness and I would be of one mind," murmured Bute.

Then, with the Princess, he sat with the King at his table and they studied the state papers together. The Princess noted that although the King listened to Bute, he no longer deferred to him in quite the old way; and when they left she said: "There is a change in George. It is becoming more and more apparent.”

"It is inevitable," replied Bute complacently. "Each day he becomes more and more aware that he is King.”

"He is not so ready to agree.”

"We must be more sure of our arguments. He is still very inexperienced.”

"And Pitt ...? Do you think we were perhaps a little too frank?”

Bute's smile grew even more complacent. "When George came to the throne Pitt was supreme. He had proved his policies. He was the people's idol and the late King believed that he could do no wrong. He was the most successful politician in Europe. Such success breeds envy, and there are many powerful men in the Government whose greatest desire is to see Pitt expelled from it.”

"And you have talked with these men?”

"I have ... sounded them, shall we say. Bedford, Hardwicke, Grenville and ... Fox. They are all on the side of peace. In fact they are ready to range themselves against Pitt.”

"Fox!”

"Yes, my love. Fox himself.”

The Princess was satisfied. Of course her dear lord knew what he was doing. With these men on his side he would have a good chance of ousting Pitt and with their help achieve that for which he had cautiously and assiduously worked even before George had come to the throne. Lord Bute with Fox as his lieutenant would rule England.

**** As William Pitt's carriage took him through the London streets he was recognized and acclaimed.

The Great Commoner was the people's idol. He had brought an Empire to England and prosperity overseas meant prosperity at home. There was a war, yes; and wars meant taxation and loss of lives; but there was work to be had and even a soldier at war was better than a soldier starving in the streets.

Pitt acknowledged the cheers with somewhat disdainful dignity. Although he was almost obsequious to the King, he could be almost contemptuous of the people in the streets; they did not seem to resent this. He was the great Pitt and the more he showed his contempt for them the more they seemed to respect him. His hawklike eyes stared straight ahead and he sat very straight, so that he never failed to appear the tall and imposing figure he was. He was immaculate in full dress coat and tie wig as usual; and looked as scrupulously well dressed on any occasion as he did on this visit to the King.

He guessed the reason for the King's summons was connected with the French desire for peace negotiations; and he had made up his mind that he was not going to give way to the inexperienced young man who happened to be the King. He would have to explain to him patiently why, in his opinion, peace was undesirable at this stage; and being Pitt he had no doubt that he could do so effectively. He had enemies, of course, the chief of whom was Lord Bute, who had, at one time, declared his support of Pitt's policies. But Bute was an ambitious man and his peculiar relations with the Princess Dowager but perhaps one should not say peculiar at all, for they were, alas for the morality of the country, all too common had doubtless given him the notion that he could lead the King whither he, Bute, desired him to go. Bute must be taught a lesson in this respect.

The King received his minister with the respect which he had always accorded to him. Pitt bowed low; they exchanged a few courteous pleasantries and then the King broached the subject, to discuss which he had sent for his minister.

"I have been considering the French offer of a negotiated peace," said the King. "It would seem that the country is growing tired of war and some of my ministers are of the opinion that now is the time to let counsels take the place of arms.”

"Your Majesty has considered that the nation has never known trade as it does now?”

"I know," said the King firmly, 'that many of my ministers feel the burden of taxation on certain members of the community to be too great.”

"Your Majesty will doubtless explain to them that all progress must be paid for.”

"We have had great benefits and I am the first to admit this. We have done well and now perhaps is the time to call a halt.”

"Your Majesty can we be sure that the French are sincere?”

"We can attempt to find out.”

"It is my belief that if we are to have peace with France, Sire, it is not for us to negotiate terms but to dictate them, and they should be in our favour.”

"They would yield all North America and a large share of their Indian interests; and all they ask is possession of Minorca. This could be called terms decidedly in our favour.”

Pitt was momentarily silent. The war was his war. He had conceived it; he had carried it through; and he saw it as the answer to England's problems. When he had taken charge, England had been a little island off the coast of Europe with a population of only seven million and there were twenty-seven million Frenchmen just across the Channel. British stock was low; it was linked with that of Hanover through its kings; Pitt had believed that if some drastic action were not promptly taken the country would sink to such insignificance that it could scarcely have been called a country. It might even have been a dependency of France. Then he had outlined his plans to the late King; he had been given power, and what had happened? He had turned the sphere of influence from Europe, where he knew no great gains could ever be firmly consolidated and had cast his eyes on wider horizons. He had dreamed of an Empire and had created one. In a few short years England had risen from an inconsiderable little kingdom to the greatest power in the world.

The people in the streets knew this. They were singing Rule Britannia and Hearts of oak; they walked with pride and dignity; and commerce was thriving in the City of London. The people of London had no doubt who had brought this about. It was Pitt who had wiped out nepotism, who had shown the King that armies could not be led by princes, simply because they were his sons.

Pitt had carved out an Empire and the country was reaping the benefits of prosperity.

No one was more aware of this than Pitt. He said slowly: "I had been considering the necessity of declaring war on Spain.”

The King looked startled.

"I have just learned that France and Spain are preparing to make a secret treaty.”

"For what reason?" demanded the King.

"Your Majesty will remember the strong family connection between the two houses. Two Bourbon kings are a kind of family compact. And the reason? Because Spain wishes to attack Portugal, who has always been an ally of ours. I see Your Majesty feels as I do. A hasty peace could be a disaster to England ... particularly when we are in such a masterly position. I could never persuade my government to make peace in such a way that I know some of Your Majesty's ministers are clamouring for.”

Pitt's manner suggested that the matter was closed; and the King was still too inexperienced, too in awe of this man to contradict him.

**** When Pitt called a Cabinet meeting and put forward his proposals for war on Spain, he was met by a chorus of disapproval. Far from declaring war on Spain the cabinet wanted peace with France. Pitt pointed out the disadvantages of negotiating peace. England was rapidly rising; she was the greatest power; there was no need to consider peace at this juncture. It was the French who earnestly needed it. To agree to sit down and arrange peace terms was to give up a game which they were winning. He would only agree to a peace which brought about the utter humiliation of France; and this they could do by remaining in the field a little longer. But to agree to work out a peace and give concessions on both sides which such an arrangement would inevitably involve was throwing away a hard-won advantage.

Lord Bute spoke against him; and everyone knew that Bute had the King behind him.

"I suggest that we immediately withdraw our ambassador from Madrid," insisted Pitt.

Fox rose to express an adverse opinion and for some minutes these two formidable adversaries faced each other; and to his shocked amazement Pitt discovered that Fox had many supporters.

Led by Fox, George Grenville (one of Pitt's own brothers-in-law), Lord Hardwicke, the Duke of Bedford and Bute, his critics stood against him. To his dismay he found that only his two other brothers-in-law, Richard Lord Temple and James Grenville stood with him; the cabinet had defeated the great Pitt. That had seemed inconceivable and in this he was aware of the hand of Bute. Pitt could see no alternative but resignation.

In the streets it was whispered with awe: "Pitt has resigned." The people of the capital were incensed. Pitt was their hero. They remembered the days when trade had been poor, when there had been no work for thousands. Pitt had made London one of the great ports of the world. And Pitt had been turned out! It was not to be endured.

Who had turned him out, they wanted to know? It was the Scotsman. They did not want Scotsmen in England. Let them go back where they belonged, which was beyond the Border. They wanted Englishmen who knew what was best for England; they wanted Mr. Pitt, the Great Commoner.

They were proud of Mr. Pitt. He was no duke nor earl; he did not seek honours for himself; he sought trade and prosperity for England. And the Scotsman and his mistress had turned out Pitt.

They were sure it was the Scotsman who was responsible for this. There had been jokes about the Scotsman and the Princess Dowager for years. These intensified; they grew a little more lewd, a little more cruel. Lord Bute, riding through the streets, was recognized and mud was thrown at his carriage.

"Go back where you belong. And take the lady with you. We can do without you both.”

Bute was shocked.

"We don't want Scotch coal burned in the King's chamber. We don't want Newcastle coal either.

We want Pitt coal." It was a phrase which had come into being a few months ago and appealed to the people. They wanted Pitt coal and were going to have it.

Bute went to the King at the earliest opportunity and said that they must find some means of bringing Pitt back into the Government. The people wanted it. They were getting restive and he felt it would be unwise to go so strongly against their wishes.

"Whatever a new ministry did would be abused by the people," he told the King. "They are determined to have Pitt back and I think we should recall him.”

The King was in complete agreement, for he too deplored the resignation of Pitt.

"It was not what we intended," said Bute, 'but the man is arrogant; he could not allow anything but his own desires. Therefore he thinks to discountenance us by resigning.”

"Which," pointed out George, 'he has done.”

"There is only one thing left to us," added Bute.

"If Your Majesty summoned Pitt we might come to a compromise. He could state his terms for rejoining the cabinet and I have no doubt that he is as eager to come back as we are to have him.”

Pitt smiled complacently when the summons came. He knew full well that they couldn't do without him. As his carriage rode through the streets the people cheered him; they had quickly discovered that he was on his way to see the King and guessed the reason why.

"They can't do without Pitt," was the comment. So it was with the utmost confidence that Pitt entered the King's presence. George was a young man, in great need of guidance; but one of his attractive qualities the minister decided, was his eagerness to do his duty. If he could be weaned from Bute's influence there would be little trouble from him.

Bute! He had been thinking of him. How was he going to break the influence of years? Bute had been George's constant companion since the King was a child. Even in the days when Frederick, Prince of Wales, was alive, Bute had been almost a member of the household, behaving like a favoured uncle and later a father figure. Something would have to be done about Bute. He had made up his mind. Only if he could arrange for Bute to serve under him, could he put his reins on that ambitious man.

He gave the King that deep respect which he never failed to show in the presence of royalty and offered his terms. He would form a new cabinet; in it Lord Bute should have a place, on condition that he agreed to give unqualified support to Pitt.

When George discussed this with Lord Bute they realized what Pitt meant. The arrangement would completely break Bute's power. He would have to be Pitt's lieutenant; in fact it would sweep away everything Bute had been working for over many years. It was an impossible condition, Bute told the King, and Pitt must be asked to propose some other alternative.

Pitt's reply was for a cabinet made up of his friends. He would be Secretary of State, with Lord Temple First Lord of the Treasury; and no one who did not support his policies should have a place in his cabinet.

Bute, with the Princess Dowager, came to the King's apartments to discuss these developments.

Bute derisively laughed. "He'll be asking for the Crown next. Who ever heard of such a proposition. No one to have any power unless he agrees to submit to Mr. Pitt! The man's gout seems to have gone to his head and swollen it out of all proportion, though God knows it was big enough before.”

"You'll never be King, George," pointed out his mother, 'while Pitt rules England.”

George was in complete agreement with his mother and Bute. Nor was he inclined to hide his anger from Pitt. "You want to reduce me to these terms," he wrote, 'by disavowing my own act.

No, Mr. Pitt, before I submit to these conditions I will first put the crown on your head and submit my neck to the axe.”

"But," George wanted to know when this reply had been despatched, 'where do we go from here?

Could you form a ministry?”

Lord Bute was sure that he could; but he was remembering with some apprehension that mud had been thrown at his coach and that there were shouts of adulation every time Pitt appeared in the streets of London. "The people will be against us because Pitt is not with us," he complained.

"They see that fellow as a sort of God.”

He did not say what their opinion of him was, but he knew well enough. He was aware that George shuddered to hear the comments which were made in the streets about his mother and her lover, and Bute knew George well enough to fear that such constant reminders might affect his attitude towards them both since George was at heart a prude, and his great scheme was to bring morality back to England. They must be very careful.

"Our best plan," suggested Bute, 'would be to offer Pitt some recompense ... the greater the better.

It would have to be something so tempting that he could not refuse it. Then when he accepted we should make the people see that it was a form of bribe. This should reduce his popularity considerably.”

Both the Princess Dowager and the King saw the wisdom of this; and they set about planning what they would offer him.

"The obvious post that comes to mind is a governor-generalship of Canada," said Bute. "That would ensure his being three thousand miles away from England. What could be more desirable?”

"You think he would take it?”

"We could try. We could offer him 5000 pounds a year.”

"He has never been a man to take much account of money.”

"He has a special feeling for Canada. He regards it as his conquest. There is a possibility that he will accept; and once he has, we can set it about that Mr. Pitt has accepted Canada in other words, deserted England for the sake of a new country.”

It was, agreed George, an excellent idea, and forthwith a letter was drafted to Mr. Pitt. Knowing his interest in the dominion of Canada which had in fact been his conquest, the King had the greatest pleasure in offering Mr. Pitt the Governor-Generalship with an income of 5000 pounds a year. Pitt's answer to this was prompt and to the point. Even if he were allowed to retain his seat in the House of Commons, he would still reject the project because he intended to stay in England where his heart was.

The next offer was of the Duchy of Lancaster an exceedingly luscious plum; since all he would have to do was accept revenues from the Crown. But Mr. Pitt was too wily to fall into this trap.

Then came the final offer. His wife should become a peeress Baroness of Chatham; and he himself should have a pension of 3000 pounds a year for three lives, which meant that on his death his wife would have it, then his son, and if his wife died before he died, it would go to his grandson.

The previous offers had been rejected with scorn; but over this last Pitt hesitated. When he had told his wife of the last offer he had seen a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. So Hester would like to be Baroness Chatham. He was deeply in love with Hester and had been for some time before they married. She was one of the Grenvilles - a girl surrounded by brothers, and in the days before his marriage Pitt had often been a guest at Wootton Hall where he had fascinated not only Hester but her brothers with his eloquence and that undeniable air of greatness; he had married Hester seven years ago and they had five children, three boys and two girls, the youngest, James, being only a few months old. Pitt was devoted to his family. They and his career were all that mattered to him; Hester mattered in particular.

She had betrayed to him by a look that she would enjoy possessing the title; and it was in his power to give it to her. He knew too that she liked the idea of the pension. 3000 a year and not only for him. They were not poor by any means. Hester had brought a large dowry; he had a little from his family; and the Duchess of Marlborough in her eccentric way had left him 10,000 pounds for, she had written, his noble defence for the support of the laws of England. Yet with this new offer there came no conditions. He could accept it and relinquish nothing. A temporary absence from the centre of the stage might even be desirable, for he suffered excruciatingly from the gout.

The King and Bute were surprised and immensely gratified when he accepted this offer. "Now,”

cried Bute, 'we shall tell the people in our own way what has happened.”

The first move was to appoint Charles Wyndham, Earl of Egremont, to succeed Pitt as Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Bute saw that it should be made absolutely clear to the public that Pitt had accepted a pension and peerage in exchange for his office. It was written in the Court Circular: The Right Honourable William Pitt having resigned the Seals into the King's hands, His Majesty was this day pleased to appoint the Earl of Egremont to tie one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. And in consideration of the great and important service of the said Mr. Pitt, His Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct that a warrant be prepared for granting to the Lady Hester Pitt, his wife, a Barony of Great Britain, by the name, style and title of Baroness Chatham to her heirs male; and also to confer on the said William Pitt, an annuity of three thousand pounds sterling, during his own life and that of Lady Hester Pitt and their son John Pitt, Esq.

The people were astonished as Bute had intended they should be when they heard this news. Nor did Bute intend that it should rest there. Like most politicians he had his dependants in the literary world whom he used to further his own cause. Very soon a song was being sung in the streets of London a sneer at the fallen idol: Three thousand a year's no contemptible thing, To accept from the hand of a patriot King, (With thanks to the bargain for service and merit), Which the wife and son all three shall inherit. With limited honours to her and her heirs So farewell to old England. Adieu to all cares.

Pitt had no intention of being misrepresented. As a politician who, even his enemies had to admit, had done a great deal for his country, he had not been overpaid with his peerage and 3000 a year pension. But he would not have the people assuming that he had taken this in exchange for leaving his post. He had a letter circulated which told the true story: Finding to my great surprise [he wrote] that the cause and manner of my resigning the Seals is grossly misrepresented in the City, as well as that the most gracious and spontaneous remarks of His Majesty's approbation of my services, which marks followed my resignation, having been infamously traduced as a bargain for my forsaking the public, I am under the necessity of declaring the truth of both these facts, in a manner which I am sure no gentleman will contradict.

A difference of opinion with regard to measures to be taken against Spain, of the highest importance and honour of the Crown, and to the most essential National interests (and this founded on what Spain has already done, not on what that Court may further intend to do) was the cause of my resigning the Seals. Lord Temple and I submitted in writing and signed by us, our most humble sentiments to His Majesty; which being overruled by the united opinion of all the rest of the King's servants, I resigned the Seals on the fifth of this month, in order not to remain responsible for measures which I was no longer able to guide. Most gracious public marks of His Majesty's approbation followed my resignation. They are unmerited and unsolicited and I shall ever be proud to have received them from the best of Sovereigns.

When this was handed round the City and the obvious truth of it realized, Pitt's popularity shot up again; and Lord Bute's attempts to discredit him had entirely failed. All the public had to realize was that though he no longer had a place in the cabinet, he had no intention of forsaking his duty.

The Princess Dowager, unaware of public feeling, was delighted with the turn of events. With Lord Bute she called on her son and embracing him cried: "Thank God. Now, George, you are in truth King of England.”