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.