vy seal of Scotland. As regards Bute,
George at once gave the required promise, and though he was afterwards
constantly suspected of consulting with him, there is good reason to
believe that he loyally kept his word, and that Bute never again offered
him any advice.[71] He had promised Mackenzie his office for life, and
declared "that he should disgrace himself" if he took it from him.
Nevertheless Grenville forced him to give way. His relations with his
ministers were naturally strained; they complained that he did not
support them, and on one occasion Bedford remonstrated with him in
insolent terms. Again George requested Cumberland to treat with Pitt,
who had two interviews with the king and was anxious to accept his
offer, but Temple peremptorily refused to take any office, even the
treasury, and Pitt with deep regret again followed his lead. The king
found no way of escape, save by authorising Cumberland to turn to the
great whig families. Grenville was dismissed, and an administration
formed under the leadership of the Marquis of Rockingham took office on
July 16. It must have been a bitter humiliation to George after all that
had passed. Yet, though for the moment he was defeated, he did not mean
to give over the rule of his kingdom to the whigs, and for the present
anything was better than Grenville's tyranny. George respected his
character, but said he, "I would rather see the devil in my closet than
Mr. Grenville".

The weakness of the Rockingham administration was patent from the first.
Charles Townshend, who succeeded Holland as paymaster, called it "a
lutestring ministry, fit only for summer wear"; Pitt was expected to
supply one of more durable material before the winter. The old phalanx
of the whigs, tried hands at political business, was broken up by death
and desertion; their successors lacked experience and authority.
Rockingham, a man of thirty-five, a prominent figure on the turf, of
vast wealth and irreproachable character, was a wretched speaker, and
had neither genius, knowledge, nor industry. The Duke of Grafton, the
secretary of state for the northern department, was even younger, and,
like Rockingham, a great racing man. His public spirit made him a
politician, but he cared so much more for pleasure than for politics
that he was apt to be content so long as any immediate difficulty was
tided over, and he suffered in public estimation from the scandal caused
by his dissolute life. The southern d