Chatham, who never had many personal adherents at any time in his career, appears to have discovered the mistake which he had hitherto made in repudiating the assistance of the whigs, and nothing more was heard of his former doctrine of the necessity of breaking up political parties. He and his new friends were, however, far from united in their policy, and frequent signs of disunion appeared in their ranks. On 2 Feb. Chatham supported Buckingham's motion with reference to the proceedings against Wilkes, and condemned the conduct of the House of Commons in most severe terms (ib. xvi. 816-20). During the debate on Lord Craven's motion in favour of increasing the strength of the navy, Chatham complained strongly of 'the secret influence' behind the throne, owing to which, he asserted, there had been no 'original minister' since the accession of George III (ib. xvi. 841-2, 843 ; Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III, iv. 62-3). On 14 March, while supporting a motion for the production of the civil list accounts, he declared that 'the late lord chancellor [Camden] was dismissed for giving his vote in this house.' At the instance of Lord Marchmont these words were taken down. Chatham, however, refused to retract them, and it was finally resolved that 'nothing has appeared to this House to justify that assertion' (Journals of the House of Lords, xxxii. 476 ; Parl. Hist. xvi. 849-50, 851-2). Chatham's bill for the reversal of the adjudications of the House of Commons against Wilkes was rejected by the House of Lords on 1 May (ib. xvi. 954-966). His motion censuring Lord North and his colleagues for the answer which they had advised the king to give to the remonstrance from the City, as well as his motion for a dissolution of parliament, met with the same want of success (ib. xvi. 966-74, 978-9). On 1 June the thanks of the common council of London were presented to Chatham for the zeal which he had shown 'in the support of those most valuable and sacred privileges, the right of election and the right of petition,' &c. (Thackeray, History of the Earl of Chatham, ii. 193-5). On 22 Nov. he supported, in a speech of great power, the Duke of Richmond's motion for the production of the papers relating to the seizure of the Falkland Islands. He charged the ministers 'with having destroyed all content and unanimity at home by a series of oppressive, unconstitutional measures, and with having betrayed and delivered up the nation defenceless to a foreign enemy :' and insisted in the strongest terms on the necessity of impressing seamen, declaring that 'the first great and acknowledged object of national defence in this country is to maintain such a superior naval force at home that even the united fleets of France and Spain may never be masters of the Channel' (Parl. Hist. xvi. 1091-1108 ). He attacked Lord Chief-justice Mansfield more than once during the session for his direction to the jury in the case of Woodfall, the publisher of the 'Letters of Junius' (ib. xvi. 1302, 1305-6, 1313-1317). On 30 April 1771 he supported the Duke of Richmond's attempt to expunge the resolution of the House of Lords of 2 Feb. 1770 relating to the Middlesex election, but failed to elicit any reply from the ministers (ib. xvii. 216-219). On the following day he unsuccessfully moved for an address to the king to dissolve parliament, and declared himself a convert to triennial parliaments.
During the next three years Chatham's health was so infirm that he was rarely able to attend the House of Lords. On 19 May 1772 he spoke warmly in favour of the bill for the relief of protestant dissenters, and made a violent attack upon the bishops (ib. xvii. 400-1 ; see Walpole, Journal of the Reign of George III, 1859, i. 95-6). But his energies were now mainly directed towards forcing on the government a pacific solution of their difficulties with the American colonies. On 26 May 1774 he reappeared in the house, and implored the ministers 'to adopt a more gentle mode of governing America,' while he reasserted that 'this country had no right under heaven' to tax the colonists (Parl. Hist. xvii. 1353-6). In the following month he opposed the Quebec Government Bill, which established a legislative council, but confirmed the French laws. Pitt declared that 'the whole of the bill appeared to him destructive of that liberty which ought to be the groundwork of everyconstitution' (ib. xvii. 1402-4; Walpole, Journal of the Reign of George III, i. 374). On 20 Jan. 1775 he proposed an address to the king requesting him to recall the troops from Boston, 'in order to open the ways towards an happy settlement of the dangerous troubles in America.' In an eloquent speech he told the ministers that they would be 'forced to a disgraceful abandonment of their present measures and principles, which they avow, but cannot defend.' He fully justified the resistance of the colonists, and reminded the house that 'it is not repealing this act of parliament — it is not repealing a piece of parchment that can restore America to our bosom ; you must repeal her fears and her resentments, and you may then hope for her love and gratitude' (Parl. Hist. xviii.
