1770. CHAP. of the House of Commons in reference to the MiddleXLII. sex election, but contended, that whether they were right or wrong, the jurisdiction in the case belonged to them and from their decision there was no appeal. "I distrust," rejoined Chatham, "the refinements of learning," which fall to the share of so small a number of men. Providence has taken better care of our happiness, and given us in the simplicity of Common Sense a rule for our direction by which we shall never be misled." The words were revolutionary; Scotland, in unconscious harmony with Kant and the ablest minds in Germany, was renovating philosophy by the aid of Common Sense and Reason; Chatham transplanted the theory, so favorable to democracy, into the Halls of legislation. "Power without right," he continued, aiming his invective at the venal House of Commons, "is a thing hateful in itself and ever inclining to its fall. Tyranny is detestable in every shape; but in none so formidable, as when it is assumed and exercised by a number of tyrants." Though the House of Lords opposed him by a vote of more than two to one, the actual Ministry was shattered; and Chatham, feeble and emaciated as he was, sprang forward with the party of Rockingham, to beat down the tottering system, and raise on its ruins a Government more friendly to liberty. But the King was the best politician among them all. Dismissing Camden, he sent an offer of the Chancellor's place to Charles Yorke, who was of the Rockingham connection. He had long coveted the high dignity beyond any thing on earth. Now that it was within his reach, he vacillated, wished delay, put the temptation aside; and formally announced his refusal, hoping a recurrence of the opportunity at a later day. XLII. 1770. Jan. "If you will not comply," said the King, "it must CHAP. make an eternal breach between us." Yorke gave way, was reproached by Hardwicke his brother, and by Rockingham; begged his brother's forgiveness, kissed him and parted friends; and then with a fatal sensibility to fame1 went home to die by his own hand. His appalling fate scattered dismay among the Ministry, and encouraged the opposition to put forth its utmost energies. On the twenty-second of January, Rockingham, overcoming his nervous weakness, summoned resolution to make a long speech in the House of Lords. He turned his eyes, however, only towards the past, condemning the policy of George the Third, and defending the old system of English government, which restrained the royal prerogative by privilege. While the leader of the great Whig party cherished no hope of improvement from any change in the forms of the Constitution, the aged and enfeebled Chatham, once more the man of the people, rose to do service to succeeding generations. "Whoever," said he, "understands the theory of the English Constitution and will compare it with the fact, must see at once how widely they differ. We must reconcile them to each other, if we wish to save the liberties of this country. The Constitution intended that there should be a permanent relation between the constituent and representative body of the people. As the House of Commons is now formed, that relation is not preserved, it is destroyed;" and he proceeded to open before the House of 1 CHAP. Lords, as the mature result of his long reflection, a 1770. Shrinking from the storm, Grafton threw up his office. The King affected regret, but had foreseen and provided against the contingency, being at this moment equally equally tranquil and resolved.1 Conway hinted at trying Rockingham and his friends. "I know their disposition," said the King, "and I will not hear of them. As for Chatham, I will abdicate the crown sooner than consent to his requirements." Before the world knew of the impending change, he sent Weymouth and Gower, of the Bedford party, "to press Lord North in the most earnest manner to accept the office of First Lord Commissioner of the Treasury;" and he preceded their visit by a friendly autograph note of his own. Lord North did not hesitate; and the King exerted all his ability and his ten years' experience to establish the Minister of his choice, teaching him how to flatter Conway, and "how to prevent desertion.' On the last day of January, the new Prime Minister, amidst great excitement and the sanguine hopes of the opposition, appeared in the House of Commons. "The ship of state," said Barré, "tossed on a stormy sea, is scudding under a jury-mast, and hangs out signals for pilots from the other side." "The pilots 1 XLII. on board," answered North, "are very capable of CHAP. conducting her into port." All agreed that he 1770. spoke admirably well; inspiring such confidence Jan. that he prevailed by a majority of forty. "A very handsome majority," said the King; "a very favorable auspice on your taking the lead in administration. A little spirit will soon restore order.in my service." From that night, the new Tory Party held possession of the Cabinet. Its opponents were divided between those who looked back to privilege as their old harbor of refuge, and those who saw beyond the abasement of the aristocracy a desirable increase of popular power. 1 King to Lord North, 3 February, 1770. 5 King to Lord North, 1 February, 1770. CHAPTER XLIII. THE BOSTON MASSACRE.-HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF Jan. JANUARY-MARCH, 1770. CHAP. "THE troops must move to the castle," said XLIII. Samuel Adams;1" it must be the first business of the 1770. General Court to move them out of town."2 Otis went about declaiming that "the Governor had power to do it by the Constitution." 8 "We consider this metropolis, and indeed the whole Province under duress," wrote Cooper, the minister. "The troops greatly corrupt our morals, and are in every sense an oppression;" and his New Year's prayer to Heaven asked deliverance from their presence.* The Massachusetts Assembly was to meet on the tenth of January, and distant members were already on their journey; when Hutchinson most unwisely for himself, and still more so for England, prorogued 1 Hutchinson to Sir Francis Bernard, 20 Dec. 1769. 'Hutchinson to Hillsborough, 20 Dec. 1769. * Hutchinson to person unnamed, 10 January, 1770. 'Rev. S. Cooper to Gov. Thomas Pownall, 1 Jan. 1770. Hutchinson to Sir Francis Bernard, 10 Jan. 1770. |