became aide-de-camp to the duke of
Cumberland in Germany, and was present at Fontenoy; in the following
year he had command of a regiment at Culloden. In 1755 he went to
Ireland as secretary to the lord-lieutenant, a position which he held
for one year only; and on his return to England he received a court
appointment, having already been promoted major-general. In 1757 he was
associated with Sir John Mordaunt in command of an abortive expedition
against Rochfort, the complete failure of which brought Conway into
discredit and involved him in a pamphlet controversy. In 1759 he became
lieutenant-general, and served under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in
the campaigns of 1761-1763. Returning to England he took part in the
debates in parliament on the Wilkes case, in which he opposed the views
of the court, speaking strongly against the legality of general
warrants. His conduct in this matter highly incensed the king, who
insisted on Conway being deprived of his military command as well as of
his appointment in the royal household. His dismissal along with other
officers was the occasion of another paper controversy in which Conway
was defended by Horace Walpole, and gave rise to much constitutional
dispute as to the right of the king to remove military officers for
their conduct in parliament--a right that was tacitly abandoned by the
Crown when the Rockingham ministry of 1765 reinstated the officers who
had been removed.

In this ministry Conway took office as secretary of state, with the
leadership of the House of Commons. In the dispute with the American
colonies his sympathies were with the latter, and in 1766 he carried the
repeal of the Stamp Act. When in July of that year Rockingham gave place
to Chatham, Conway retained his office; and when Chatham became
incapacitated by illness he tamely acquiesced in Townshend's reversal of
the American policy which he himself had so actively furthered in the
previous administration. In January 1768, offended by the growing
influence of the Bedford faction which joined the government, Conway
resigned the seals of office, though he was persuaded by the king to
remain a member of the cabinet and "Minister of the House of Commons."
When, however, Lord North became premier in 1770, Conway resigned from
the cabinet and was appointed to the command of the royal regiment of
horse guards; and in 1772 he became governor of Jersey, the island being
twice invaded by the French during his