Note 131 — Chapter VIII

Lord Shelburne had been on very cold terms with the Duke of Grafton since the commencement of Lord Chatham’s illness. This coldness at length grew into absolute hostility; but it was at the instigation of the King, not less than of the Bedford party, that Lord Shelburne was removed; and such, indeed, was his alienation from his colleagues, that even the Chancellor acquiesced in the necessity of his removal, and, as the following letter shows, did not much regret it. “It does behove his Lordship (Lord Shelburne) either to be cordially reconciled or to resign, for it is neither just nor honourable to confound, much less to betray, an Administration while he remains a member of it. I should wish the first on many accounts, and yet I fear that can hardly be expected, considering what has passed, especially the last affront in setting aside his Lordship’s nomination to Turin.” (Letter from Lord Camden to Duke of Grafton, MS.) I can find no confirmation of the insinuation in Mr. Burke’s “Thoughts on Popular Discontents,” that Lord Shelburne’s removal was a punishment for the warmth of his representations to the French Court on the subject of Corsica. These representations, indeed, appear to have been fully sanctioned by the Duke of Grafton, and had they been disapproved by the Cabinet, Lord Rochford who so warmly urged them on the Duc de Choiseul would certainly not have been Lord Shelburne’s successor.—E.