ssage, to which his signature
was desired as a matter of course, to be brought before
Parliament the next day. His Majesty declared himself to be
decided to resist this attempt, and to push the consequences to
their full extent, and to try the spirit of the Parliament and
of the people upon it. I thought it my duty to offer to him my
humble advice to go on with his Ministers, if possible, in order
to throw upon them the ratification of the Peace, which they
professed to intend to ameliorate, and to give them scope for
those mountains of reform, which would inevitably come very
short of the expectations of the public. From these public
measures, and from their probable dissension, I thought that His
Majesty might look forward to a change of his Ministers in the
autumn; and that, as the last resource, a dissolution of this
Parliament, chosen by Lord North and occasionally filled by Mr.
Fox, might offer him the means of getting rid of the chains
which pressed upon him. To all this he assented; but declared
his intention to resist, at all events and hazards, the
proposition for this enormous allowance to His Royal Highness,
of whose conduct he spoke with much dissatisfaction. He asked,
what he might look to if upon this refusal the Ministry should
resign: and I observed, that, not having had the opportunity of
consulting my friends, I could only answer that their
resignation was a proposition widely differing from their
dismissal, and that I did not see the impossibility of accepting
his Administration in such a contingency, provided the supplies
and public bills were passed, so as to enable us to prorogue the
Parliament. To all this he assented, and declared his intention
of endeavouring to gain time, that the business of Parliament
might go on; and agreed with me that such a resignation was
improbable, and that it would be advisable not to dismiss them,
unless some very particular opportunity presented itself.

1785.

The Breach Between the Marquis of Buckingham and Mr. Thomas Grenville.

Mr. Pitt's Government was now reaping all the advantages of peace and
security. The lull that followed the termination of the American War and
the dispersion of the Coalition, enabled the Minister to consolidate his
power and develop his plans. Lord North, who had the misfortune not long
afterwards to lo