Note 135 — Chapter VIII

Instead of being deserted by these noblemen, it would be more fair to say that Lord Chatham had deserted them. There is no excuse for his conduct to Lord Bristol. His relation to Lord Camden was of a different character, for the latter was under deep obligations to him; but all intercourse between them had long been suspended, and their friendship had, from Lord Chatham’s fault alone, withered into a mere loose political connection. Still, the severance of that tie alarmed Lord Camden; and his letters to the Duke of Grafton, on receiving the first intelligence of Lord Chatham’s resignation, betray deep anxiety. He writes from Bath on the 14th of October, after expressing a faint hope that Lord Chatham’s resolution may not be final, “Your Grace and I feel for each other. To me I fear the blow is fatal, yet I shall come to no determination. If I can find out what is fit for me to do in this most distressed situation, that I must do; but the difficulty lies in forming a true judgment.... I do assure your Grace that my mind is at present in too great an agitation to be soon settled, and therefore I do not give myself leave to form an opinion concerning my own conduct.” On the 16th, he writes in the same strain: “Nothing could give me so much satisfaction as to join with your Grace in one line of conduct, and yet I plainly see that our situations are different, and the same honour, duty to the King, regard to the public, operating upon two minds equally aiming at the same end, may draw us different ways, but I dare say your Grace will believe me in all events and circumstances what I really am, with all respect and unfeigned attachment,” &c. The regard expressed in this note for the Duke of Grafton was perfectly sincere, and when they met in London Lord Camden yielded to the Duke’s solicitations. Various considerations united to bring him to this decision. He was not insensible to the advantages of office. He had made no provision for children whom he tenderly loved. One of these children happened at the time to be alarmingly ill. The King pressed him to remain. The country, whose welfare he identified with the political principles he professed, might suffer from his resignation. It was an error of judgment, for with the name of Lord Chatham the Cabinet lost the distinction that attached to Lord Chatham’s policy; and the small minority in which Lord Camden found himself, lingered on for a while, suspected by the country, thwarted by their colleagues, and discountenanced by the King, until the resignation to which they were driven had become a matter of comparative indifference to the different parties in the State.—E.