Accordingly, the Duke repaired from the minister to his
master, and resigned his office, refusing a pension which was offered
as a reward for his services, and for the large sacrifices which he had
made since he had been minister, out of his private fortunes. "If he
could no longer be permitted to serve his country," he said, "he was at
least determined not to be a burden on it: that if his private fortune
had suffered by his loyalty, it was his pleasure, his glory, and his
pride; and that he desired no reward but his majesty's approbation."
Horace Walpole says, that he retired from the royal presence
comparatively a poor man, to find how solitary and deserted could be the
mansion of an ex-minister. Newcastle had been more than forty-five years
in the cabinet, and this utter disregard to money-making exhibits his
patriotism in a strong light: few would have served their country so
long without well replenishing their coffers, especially at that age,
when the virtues of disinterestedness and self-abnegation were exotic
rather than indigenous to the human heart.
Bute had his reasons for answering the Duke of Newcastle coldly, and the
result answered his expectations. He succeeded the ex-minister at the
head of the treasury, "taking the reins of government with almost as
little experience as Phaeton, and meeting with a fall almost as soon."
Mr. George Grenville was appointed secretary of state; but he afterwards
exchanged posts with Lord Halifax, who had recently been appointed head
of the admiralty.
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