epartment was taken by Conway.
Dowdeswell, the chancellor of the exchequer, was a sound financier, but
a dull man. Newcastle, who was privy seal and again had charge of church
patronage, was no longer so powerful as in earlier days. Nor were the
ministers unanimous in feeling. Grafton was far more at one with Pitt
than with the Rockingham party; and the chancellor (Henley) Lord
Northington, Egmont the first lord of the admiralty, and Barrington the
secretary-at-war were included to please the king. Another cause of
weakness was George's notorious dislike of his new ministers, which
encouraged his "friends," the court party, to intrigue against them.

[Sidenote: _PITT ON COLONIAL TAXATION._]

Most serious of all was the attitude of Pitt. He was pressed to join the
government; its policy was in many respects such as he could approve,
and in other matters he could almost have made his own terms.
Nevertheless he refused to take office and openly declared his lack of
confidence in the ministers, though they tried to satisfy him in various
ways, such as by obtaining a peerage for Pratt, who was created Baron
Camden. Magnificent as he had shown himself as a dictator, he was
unfitted by temperament to work with others, and his natural defects
were aggravated by his constant attacks of gout. At the same time his
present attitude was to a large extent also a matter of principle. He
would willingly have taken office if he could have simply been the
king's minister, unconnected, without belonging to any party. The
Rockinghams, as they were called, were a party connexion, and under
Rockingham's leadership would remain so, and their character was
emphasised by the inclusion of Newcastle, the chief representative of a
system which Pitt hated, government based on the influence of the whig
houses and not on the good-will of the crown and the people. Pitt
plainly declared that he would not sit at council with Newcastle. Nor
would he take office under Rockingham. Without him the ministry had
neither an original policy nor a chance of permanence. Called into
existence by Cumberland, it leant on him for support; he was present at
all cabinet meetings, and they were sometimes held at his house. His
sudden death on October 31 was a severe shock to the stability of the
government. Pitt would not advise the ministers. Grafton urged that he
should again be invited to take office, but the king would not enter on
a fresh negotiation with him, for